1999 Ford Ranger 4.0L 4x4 ball joint help

[TMNTmastrsplinter]

Hello,
Im working on my 1999 Ranger 4.0 L 4x4. I am not extremely experienced in auto repair but i have done basic things like wheel changes, oil changes, air filter changes, break pad a rotor replacement. Things of that sort. I am now attempting to replace upper and lower ball joints. A task that has proven difficult so far. I have my wheel off, the entire break assembly off, the splash shield off, and i am attempting to remove the hub bearing assembly. It appears to be held on with 3 bolts, accessible from the back side. Ive got the lower bolt closest to the rear loose but cant seem to get the right combo of ratchet, extension, or ratchet pivot to get the bolts off. Ive also tried using open ended wrenches to get them off and cant seem to get them on far enough to break the bolts loose. Any suggestions? Ive also removed the shield that protects the rubber boot to gain more access to these bolts but it didn't give me much more room to work with. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. thanks
Casey

 

[TMNTmastrsplinter]

Update, after soaking the bolts in question with liquid wrench i have been able to free up two on the driver side, the top and bottom rear, and one one the passenger side, bottom front. It seems to be a matter of getting the right leverage on the bolts. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of room the get leverage on a wrench under the wheel wells, and i cant find a cheater, or any thing to use as a cheater, the right length to get the job done. Im going to soak them over night with a healthy dose of liquid wrench and try to tackle the remaining three in the morning. If nothing else ill be heading to the hardware store for a piece of steel tubing to make a sufficient cheater to loosen these stubborn bolts. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Casey

 

[kennykenny]

Have you tried this for more leverage?

 

[99RangerOffRoad]

You don't have to remove the hub bearing assembly to replace the ball joints. At least I didn't.

 

[F8LBITE]

Don't know if this is of any help:http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_yo...ball_joints_on_1999_through_2002_Ford_Rangers

 

[kennykenny]

You don't have to remove the hub bearing assembly to replace the ball joints. At least I didn't.

You have to knock them out from the top. It shouldn't be loose enough to get out any other way.

Edit: I see what you mean after giving it more thought, just the axle has to come out of the hub assembly to take the spindle off.

 

[TMNTmastrsplinter]

Kenny,
No i haven't tried that and i feel awful dumb for not.
99RangerOffRoad,
I dont see how i can avoid removing the bearing assembly. In order to get the knuckle off the spindle dont i first have to remove the bearing assembly? or is there a way to avoid all of this? I know in order to get the lower join out i must first gain access to it by getting the knuckle out of the way. Is there a way to get the knuckle and bearing assembly off all in one shot? Bear in mind that my truck has the vacuum locking hubs. If i remove the c clips from the inner part of the hub off of the spindle will i be able to slide the knuckle with bearing assembly attached off of the spindle? I may be way over thinking all of this. Thanks for all of your responses.
Casey

 

[kennykenny]

If you remove the vacuum hub (from the bearing assembly) you should be able to remove the clips off the axle and slide it out when you remove the whole spindle from the upper and lower ball joints. You won't have to remove the bearing assembly from the spindle.

 

[TMNTmastrsplinter]

Thanks again Kenny
I was able to remove the C clips and the axle appears to be free. Now Ive run into yet another problem. I used the two prong ball joint separator tool to separate the lower joint form the knuckle and went to do the same with the upper but once i pound the tool on, it seems that there is too much gap between the joint and the part of the knuckle that it attaches to. I have pounded the tool on as far as it can go and there seems to still be some play. When doing the lowers the tool never did wedge in completely until the joint was free. Ive talked to my local parts store to see if there is a larger (thicker) separator tool i can rent and they acted like i was crazy for asking. I also asked if there may be some applications where two wedges might be necessary and they said they hadn't ever heard of any. The joint is definitely not free because the knuckle is still rock solid and wont budge. Im beginning to think that i may be in way over my head on this project. :-/
Casey

 

[hondaxr650]

The upper joint doesn't have a tapered stud like the lower. Remove the pinch bolt from the knuckle and drive a chisel or a prybar into the crack where the pinch bolt goes through to spread it a little and smack the control arm upwards with a hammer. A good shot of penetrating oil can't hurt either.

 

[TMNTmastrsplinter]

hondaxr650
Success! Thanks a bunch dude. I was able to get one loose prior to reading your thread using raw rage and anger yanking up and down on my pry tool. This forum has been a life saver. Ive got the joints in on one side now its just a matter of putting that side back together and installing the new ones on the other side and putting it back together. Thanks every one for all of your helpful guidance.
Casey