Mom has been chirping about her Explorer, so yesterday I took time away from my projects to change the rear tie rod (warranty) and rear lower bushing/balljoint. 2002 Explorer. Actually manufactured 2/02 and factory 16” wheels (these specs will be important in a minute).
Jacked it up, pulled the old tie rod in the rear (I replaced these before and it came out easily). Took it up to the parts store to replace it under warranty with the one they ordered in. Looked right, swapped it out, took it back, put a dab of grease on it and went to put it in and… it doesn’t fit. I may or may not be able to hammer it in, but knowing that there was different ones from my previous experience where I got ones that didn’t specify when I bought them but when I tried to complain about them punching holes in the rims they were suddenly listed with a note that said 17” or larger rims only. So I took a step back and looked it up to find that this one I had just got said it was only for manufacture date of 3/02 and newer. Crap. So now I have to track down the correct part AGAIN.
At least I can punch out the bushing, right? Well, the pesky ball joint center came out but the outer sleeve is seized tight as can be. Ball joint press wasn’t moving it and a large drift and 4# sledge didn’t either. I was about ready to pull out the torch when my buddy told me to sit down and drink a beer and we’ll deal with it today, so I’ll try running a couple beads of weld in the sleeve to shrink it and see if it will come out.