All balls and TRE

[croatankid]

I'm going to replace all ball joints and TREs. Is there a best order in replacing them? Maybe the balls first then the TREs.

 

[6.2]

doesnt matter?

 

[Dirtman]

Unless you're removing the control arms to do the ball joints (i.e 98+ 2wd) it doesn't matter.

 

[croatankid]

Thanks!

 

[croatankid]

Well I changed all four ball joints and all TREs. I also did a at home front end alignment. I steers better than it ever has. It wasn't very hard with using the Advanced Auto Parts loaner tools. What a help they are. I couldn't have done it with out them. Also, YouTube was a big help as is TRS. I didn't have to do this myself. I can afford to pay someone to do it. I grew up watching my daddy work on cars and stuff and while he wasn't good at it and didn't have the right tools, it imprinted me with working on cars. So I did it for the joy of the challenge. At nearly 71 I pretty pleased with myself.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

 

[croatankid]

After driving my truck for a while I decided it wasn't right. So I took it in for an alignment. I was told the camber was off and that the only way to fix it is with an off centered upper ball joint. I did some searching on google and found something about jeeps but that's it. Do you know anything about them? Also, the camber is off by -.51 and -.65. Is that even worth bothering with.?.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The upper ball joint is in a bushing that is off centered already. Changing the bushing changes caster and camber. There is a multi-adjustable bushing inside a bushing that will do both at once.
Scroll down to the steering section, there are two that you should look at;

Wheels, Tires, Brakes & Steering - The Ranger Station

DISCLAIMER: Activities and vehicle modifications appearing or described at The Ranger Station and it’s pages may be potentially dangerous. We do not endorse any such activity for others or recommend it to any particular person – we simply describe … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

 

[croatankid]

I now see that. I don't think the guy even looked at it. He is young and inexperienced. I suspect he didn't know what he was doing. So I got an angle finder and checked it. I found that it was just about perfect. I checked the toe and found that he had mess that up. I carefully readjusted it got it as close as possible. Took it for a drive and it was fine. I'm finished with the front end.

 

[croatankid]

after 8 months of driving I find that I must have messed up something in the frontend. I just noticed that the inner thread of both front tires are worn off and the steel wire is exposed. WTH! What does that mean? Toe in/Toe out?, camber, as the garage guy told me?

 

[Dirtman]

Not to mock you... but depending on what you bought I've seen chinese crap front end parts dead in less than 8 months. It's just a fact of life now, 90% of aftermarket parts are absolutely trash not worth buying.

Buy oem or you deal with this kinda stuff. Even the good brands like moog and trw are now complete crap.

 

[4x4junkie]

after 8 months of driving I find that I must have messed up something in the frontend. I just noticed that the inner thread of both front tires are worn off and the steel wire is exposed. WTH! What does that mean? Toe in/Toe out?, camber, as the garage guy told me?

Toe-out, and/or negative camber (most likely it's toed way out if it only took 8 months to happen).

Since you're inclined to DIY, have you looked at this article?

TRS Magazine - Steering Tech - An in-depth discussion about TTB Steering and Alignment

www.therangerstation.com

From what you described happening to your tires, it sounds like potentially the suspension was bound up slightly when you adjusted it 8 months ago... This shows (about halfway down) how to relieve any bind or tension between the two front tires so your measurements will be accurate (the binding can come from a number of reasons, one of them being bad toe, another simply from how the truck was parked). It's written for a 4WD, so the part about beam pivot height likely won't be the same if you have a 2WD, but everything else is essentially the same procedure.


×2 on the garbage auto parts... there's a ton of shit out there now. Given the current dismal state of the ball joint market, I wouldn't trust anything not having the Motorcraft name (hopefully they're still available).

 

[croatankid]

thanks for the information. as soon as it warms up a little i'm going to look at it again.

 

[croatankid]

could worn out rubber bushing in the front end be the cause? both tires are very worn out at the very inner part of each tire.

 

[Dirtman]

Wait, did you ever actually get it aligned after doing the original work? By that I mean by a machine and not fishing line and a plumb bob...