first time doing ball joints

Sicktight722 · Apr 1, 2008

hey yall
I took my '89 ranger 4x4 to get an alignment and the shop said my ball joints, both upper and lower were wore extremely bad, half inch play. Anyways, they wanted to put in new ball joints and possibly new steering knuckles and caster bushings (could have said camber bushings) if they needed replacing, all to the tune of $800 for labor, and $107 for the ball joints. Didn't add in the prices of the other parts as he wasn't sure if they needed to be replaced. Well since I don't have $900 to spend, I'm going to do it myself and I'm only doing the ball joints for the time being. I'm ordering the parts on Rockauto.com and I'm going to get the ball joint service tool from harborfreight. I'll be following my haynes manual and the article in the tech library to help me.

some of my questions:
Do I need the 4wd tool, or will the 2wd work?
Will only doing the ball joints and maybe the bushing be okay?
What do I need to look for to judge the condition of the steering knuckle?
is there any tips that i need to know?

Thanks yall, I'm sure I'll have more questions later on in the week.

mkpecor · Apr 1, 2008

when you get the knuckle off put it in a vice take the snap rings off the ball jionts and smack them out witha hamer and 2'' pipe, put them in the same way they came out. its really easy just did mine, get the greasable ball joints, napa.

mkpecor · Apr 1, 2008

yes you need the spindle tool , you will be fine just doin joints and seals, check your wheel bearings and repack with grease be for you put them back in. i dout your knuckles were bad, it taks alot to mess one up. if the ball joint snug in the knuckle then your knuckle is messed up but 99% it should be fine, they just want more money. if you need help pm me.

metalmacguyver · Apr 2, 2008

I just did my ball joints two weeks ago. Used the rental ball joint tool from Advanced Auto. My cordless impact wrench made it a cake walk. put Clamp deal in the vice, set it up, used it to remove the old ones and put the new ones in all told I did both knuckles in about a half hour.

MAKG · Apr 2, 2008

You DO NOT need the spindle tool. My favorite method is to use a pair of junk manual hub spindle nuts I keep around (just for this purpose). Thread them onto the end of the spindle and whack them into the next dimension with a hand sledge.

You'll need to pop the knuckles off (a picklefork works, but you WILL trash the balljoints -- not an issue if you're doing all four).

You DO need a C-frame (balljoint) press; these are not expensive at Harbor Freight, and can sometimes (not always) be rented.

And when you're done, you'll need an alignment.

Sicktight722 · Apr 2, 2008

as for the ball joint press, i'm assuming I need the 4wd one, and not the 2wd one. they look the same in the pics on harbor freight, except that the 4wd ones have a few extra 'parts'. I've also noticed while looking for bushings, that they have different degrees, any idea on which ones? And as for the alignment, i have a lifetime alignment at Firestone, and i have a picklefork that was my dads, he'll be helping me also, but he just had major hand surgery, so he'll only been giving advice and info.

Capt Jay · Apr 2, 2008

The bushings don't go bad. They only need to be replaced if your adding a lift.

Totalled · Apr 2, 2008

You don't need the 4wd kit to do the ball joints on these rigs. The standar HP one works fine.

Sicktight722 · Apr 2, 2008

thanks for all the info guys. I'm glad about the bushings not going bad and the standard ball joint press working, should save me some pocket change. As for the parts, is there any real difference between Spicer (Professional Grade) and Moog, other than the fact that Spicer is a couple of dollars cheaper. My dad remembers Moog from way back when, and is telling me to get those.

slammer67 · Apr 9, 2008

Don't know if your still looking for info on this, but I got a front end kit from PST a couple years ago that had all the ball joints and all the suspension bushings for the ttb for around $250. plus the harbor freight ball joint tool for $50 and I had my front end done for $300.

Sicktight722 · Apr 11, 2008

slammer67 said:
Don't know if your still looking for info on this, but I got a front end kit from PST a couple years ago that had all the ball joints and all the suspension bushings for the ttb for around $250. plus the harbor freight ball joint tool for $50 and I had my front end done for $300.

I already bought moog from rockauto. I'll be starting on my truck tomorrow. so far i only have about 200 tied up in it.

Sicktight722 · Apr 13, 2008

ok, so i got them in, but not without some trouble. Once I took the steering knuckle off, I saw that the caster bushing were broke on both sides. like the tabs on them were broke :pissedoff:

. On the driver's side both tabs on both sides were broke, on the other side, only one tab was broke. So while I was out trying to find some (found out no auto part store in Florence carries them :flipoff:

) my brother tried to remove the balljoints. He had been drinking, and ended up putting the tool on wrong, and put enough force on the C-clamp to bend it :damnit1:

. So once I got back and saw that, i had to go and rent one. So once I got back i took over the job of removing the ball joints and promptly told my bro i didn't need his help :nono:

. But yea, i had to order the caster bushings, which means I have to go back home next weekend, and I'm stuck driving the taurus again. I do have one question about the caster bushings though. I ordered the same type that was on my truck, but they also had some hex-shaped ones. Whats the different in them? Nobody could really tell me at the auto-parts stores.

4x4junkie · Apr 14, 2008

The hex ones were probably for the D35 axle.

Sicktight722 · Apr 14, 2008

i guess that would make sense, lol.

TrexMex · Jun 4, 2008

Well, Taking advantage of this thread, and having to replace my ball joints....

MAKG, Is the Ball Joint press absolutely necessary or can I get away with a pitch fork? Autozone and Checker charge about 75 - 90 bucks for them!!!

I guess I could rent one too...

Thanks

first time doing ball joints

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