Ball Joints

[ranaumo]

Y'all, my truck now has over 150K and the front end has started to shake a lot. I recently packed the bearings and suspect it's the ball joints.

How much work is involved with the ball joints, is it something the home guy can do?
I do not have a press, or torch to heat the ends up.

If not, what are the going rates to have it done?

Thanks, Ron

 

[oi8228oi]

umm im pretty sure thats a shop thing... and around me i hear in the range of 700 cheapest....

 

[3-StarJ.R.]

Ron, is yours a 2-wheel drive? I did mine in my driveway this time last year. replaced all four ball joints. Five hours tops. Moog upper and lowers @ O'Rielly's 125.96 + tax. Rental on ball joint press, 100 dollar deposit, fully refunded, Autozone. Pitman arm puller @ northern tool $6.50. Mine is a two wheel drive which I understand is easier, but you will definitely save some bucks.... If you don't have one, try to pick up a service manual cd on E-bay Ford CD's less than 15.00 bucks delivered. Very good step by step with pics on the how to.......

Uppers...moog...K8432t
Lowers...moog...k8433

You have to get creative with the rental joint press, but it is very doable. Also get 90° grease fittings to replace the straight ones supplied with the moog b-joints....How long ago was your last front end alignment? If yours is two wheel, there is an off set bushing on top that may need to be replaced with another alignment, especially if the aligmnet was done with very worn joints.....just a heads up on the alignment.....Do you know how to check Ball joint wear? Jack the tire off the ground, push/pull the wheel @ the bottom and the top, any movement will be in the worn ball joint itself. Let us know if you tackle it, we'll be here to help if you run into any snags........

 

[johndeerebones]

How good are you with a wrench? I replaced mine, but I am a mechanic by profession. You can rent a ball joint press from the zone you get a full refund on it if you return it in good condition.

You need to verify that is your problem first though. Jack it up, at frame or axle is fine to unload the ball joints. Try to wiggle the tire in all directions, if you have play, inspect to see where at.

If you recently repacked the bearings, my bet is that they backed off though.

There are shops around me that will put the joints in for around $500, it really not a bad job if you have a good assortment of air tools and hand tools and a good shop to work in. The ball joint press is the main thing need, just mark the caster\camber bushings if you are gonna pull em out.

 

[ranaumo]

Ball Joinnts

Yep, it's a 2wd. Bushings eh, Oh well. it's been a while since aligned.
I'm getting almost 1/2" movement on the right and 1/4" on teh left wheels.

Ron

 

[3-StarJ.R.]

Yep, it's a 2wd. Bushings eh, Oh well. it's been a while since aligned.

That is a good thing that it has been a long while since the alignment, means that you can reuse those camber/caster bushings and with the new B-joints, it will get it very close to being in good alignment again.....Had you just recently had it aligned more than likely they would have changed those bushings to compensate for worn ball joints.

 

[ranaumo]

The movement was on the top and bottom direction, so I'm assuming it's the ball joints.

My air compressor is lame and will not work for this. I am currently wireing my garage to upgrade the air compressor so I can do the work.

Worse case, can I drive it with this movement so I can get the newer aircompressor installed and use my air rachets?

Ron

 

[3-StarJ.R.]

I guess it all depends on where your priorities are, 1/2" in. of play is pretty nasty, tire wear has been going on for sometime, it has to track pretty bad on poor road surfaces which is a safety issue and who's to say that under the right circumstances the worn out ball joint could separate and that would be real ugly....there is nothing there that dictates the absolute need for air tools, I don't even own any air tools and I've changed the balljoints, tranny, injectors (2 upgrades), and installed every mod you see in my sig....by myself and I no pro wrencher by any means...With the advice of the good people that are on this site, I was able to do all of this.......

 

[johndeerebones]

Did you make sure it is from your ball joints? Wether its joints or bearings, if you have that much play get it fixed asap, either one could make a wheel come off (absolute worst case scenario, but possible and not pretty. Thankfully, balljoints that seperate usually do it in parking lots or something with high loads such as low speed tight turns. If its your bearings though they should be making some noise with that much slop.

 

[ranaumo]

Ball Joint Work

Thanks for the info.

On JOATS page, he lists -
F350 Upper Ball joint '94-'97...K80026...Moog/Fed Mog
F350 Lower Ball joint '94-'97...K8607T...Moog/Fed Mog

3-StarJ.R. lists -
F350 Upper Ball joint Moog K8432t
F350 Lower Ball joint Moog K8433

Which one works best with my 95 F350 Dually 2WD?

I will look at getting a pickle fork and ball press. Anything I need to look for with the press to see if the specific parts I need are there?

Also, since my tie rod boots are old, I may as well look at replacing the boots.
Energy Suspension lists for the F250 as model 9.13101 (size 1 3/8"). Anyone know if the F250 and F350 tie rod ends are the same size?

Anything else I need to look at while under there? I'll prob take off tomorrow so I can make sure to have the truck in for an alignment on Saturdsy.

Thanks all,

Ron