Lower ball joint removal 2000 4x4

[searanger1]

Hi all ,can anybody direct me on a lower ball joint removal for a 2000 ranger 4x4? Ive looked in tech and they dont show my type of front end . It looks like lt could be real easy or a real nightmare . any help would be appreciated

 

[04 EDGE]

take the knuckle off and move the cv shaft out of the way, remove the snap ring then use a big hammer and knock it out of the arm.

you need to use a ball joint press to install the new one, you should use the ball joint press to remove it but seems the big hammer is faster.

 

[Toms01PSD]

NO. DO NOT DO THAT!!! You HAVE to remove the torsion bars! You do not have to remove the cv shaft either. PM me and i'll explain it best I can.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Remove the torsion bars?? What have you been smoking?

Tie rod off, knuckle out, cv shaft to the side and hammer the old one out, press the new one in.

 

[Toms01PSD]

Think about it. TORSION. It keeps TENSION on the lower control arm. If you remove it without taking it out its gunna shoot. It's even in the Ford manual on how to replace the ball joints...Remove the tosion bar, take out the lower control bolts . Loosen then lower ball joint nut, Hammer it up a bit so it's easier to take out. Pull the lower control arm down and the ball joint has just enough room to clear the cv shaft. hammer the old ball joint out and put the new one in. Slip the ball joint in back the same way and then raise the lower control arm back into place and bolt it back up...

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Umm i'm a technician at a ford dealership and we have never ever removed a torsion bar to do balljoints on a ranger or f150. The lower control arm isn't going anywhere, the shock holds in in place. If you are that worried about it just support it by the lower control arm.

 

[Toms01PSD]

Umm i'm a technician at a ford dealership and we have never ever removed a torsion bar to do balljoints on a ranger or f150. The lower control arm isn't going anywhere, the shock holds in in place. If you are that worried about it just support it by the lower control arm.

I understand you are and i'm not knocking you. You know a hell of a lot more than I do. I went to my local dealership and talked to the tech's there. I was told that the proper procedure for replacing ball joints was to remove the torsion bars. It even says on Alldata to remove the torsion bars. What i'm saying is, instead of removing the cv shaft, I removed the torsion bars and I took the lower control arm out from under the truck and replaced the ball joints with the LCA out of the truck.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

There no need to actually remove the cv shaft from the vehicle, just front the knuckle and push it to the side. Then its just a snap ring and a hammer away from being out. With removing the torsion bar you have to get the ride height set again and align it, with leaving the lower control arm in place there is no need for an alignment if you are just replacing the lower balljoint.

 

[04 EDGE]

I understand you are and i'm not knocking you. You know a hell of a lot more than I do. I went to my local dealership and talked to the tech's there. I was told that the proper procedure for replacing ball joints was to remove the torsion bars. It even says on Alldata to remove the torsion bars. What i'm saying is, instead of removing the cv shaft, I removed the torsion bars and I took the lower control arm out from under the truck and replaced the ball joints with the LCA out of the truck.

seriously dude, your 100% wrong!

i have been fixing cars/trucks for over 20 years, i have 8 michigan certs and 6 ASE certs. there is no need to remove the torsion bar to change the ball joints on any ford truck!

i understand what you are saying, but if you do not remove the shock the lower arm can not become "un-loaded". the way I and the other guy described how to do this is 100% correct.


give it up, if you did this your way you did more work then you needed to.

 

[Toms01PSD]

There no need to actually remove the cv shaft from the vehicle, just front the knuckle and push it to the side. Then its just a snap ring and a hammer away from being out. With removing the torsion bar you have to get the ride height set again and align it, with leaving the lower control arm in place there is no need for an alignment if you are just replacing the lower balljoint.

I replaced upper and lower and tie rod ends. Of course upper was easy because it's just replacing the entire upper control arm. When I removed my t-bars, I marked where they were on the truck and the bolt to put them back in the same place. I had to realign it anyway because I replaced my tie rod ends.

 

[Toms01PSD]

seriously dude, your 100% wrong!

i have been fixing cars/trucks for over 20 years, i have 8 michigan certs and 6 ASE certs. there is no need to remove the torsion bar to change the ball joints on any ford truck!

i understand what you are saying, but if you do not remove the shock the lower arm can not become "un-loaded". the way I and the other guy described how to do this is 100% correct.


give it up, if you did this your way you did more work then you needed to.

So I suppose Ford's procedure is incorrect? And the way I replaced my ball joints was incorrect? I understand the way you guys did it, but you can't tell me i'm wrong.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

For the hell of it i'm gonna have a peek at the shop manual tomorrow just to see about the torsion bar thing...i'm not saying you're wrong about it. Ford doesn't always say to do things the smart way...

 

[Toms01PSD]

For the hell of it i'm gonna have a peek at the shop manual tomorrow just to see about the torsion bar thing...i'm not saying you're wrong about it. Ford doesn't always say to do things the smart way...

Either way it can be done, but I was told that it's procedure to do it the way I did. You guy's just happened to do it the logical way. Let me know, and i'll look it up on alldata and find it again and post it when I get to the shop.

 

[04 EDGE]

you are wrong, ford wants to service the entire arm, not just the ball joint.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Wll in that case the torsion bar would need to come out...that makes sense...i just couldn't wrap my head around someone removing the torsion bar to hammer out the lower balljoint.