mgrek
SDD Junior Member
Can someone tell me when you need to change the ball joints on a 2002 superduty 4x4?
2002 superduty balljoints
- Thread starter mgrek
- Start date
Tail_Gunner
CRJ & ERJ A&P Mech.
There's no hard fast rule. It depends on how the truck has been driven. A truck that has seen nothing but highway miles, won't need ball joints as soon as a truck that has been on rough dirt roads or off-road a lot.
You'll have to get the front wheels off the ground and check for looseness in the ball joints.
You'll have to get the front wheels off the ground and check for looseness in the ball joints.
sikodiesel
SDD Junior Member
ball joints
I agree. Your gonnna have to get the wheels off the ground and rock the wheel up and down in a 12
o to 6 :00 motion, Any looseness is usually ball joints.
I agree. Your gonnna have to get the wheels off the ground and rock the wheel up and down in a 12
o to 6 :00 motion, Any looseness is usually ball joints.JSchuricht
SDD Junior Member
Wiggling them doesn't always work. I replaced mine when I put my Dynatrac kit on. Ball joints were stiff, but as soon as we hit them with a hammer all the rust that was holding them together came out.
iracemine
black and tan
dont use just any ball joint, unless you like doing ball joints every month or so. I used moog from recommendations from here and they have been holding strong for over three years. and it took a lot of force on the wheel to get the ball joint to wiggle. AND DID IT WIGGLE!!!
mgrek
SDD Junior Member
Thanks for the quick reply. I wondered if any looseness is permissable, but according to you, it`s not. My truck has 114 000 km of mostly pavement driving. It`s very disappointing to have to spend 1000 dollars on ball joints this early in its career.
Tail_Gunner
CRJ & ERJ A&P Mech.
You can save a lot of money by doing it yourself. A lot of auto parts places have the tools for borrow /rent. I bought an inexpensive 12 ton press that I used to do mine. It cost me about $120. But when you keep in mind, shop labor would have likely been over $600, it was a bargain.
The hardest part was getting the bearing/ hub loose from the steering knuckle. I had a serious case of "ferrous oxide adhesion".
After liberal use of penetrating oil, bit of heat and a BFH applied to an old deepwell socket on the already loosened mounting stud nuts, I was able to work it loose.Word of advise, there is no such thing as "too much anti-sieze" north of 45 degrees north latitude.