Lower ball joints - 4x4 Ranger (1999) - need help

[lostpilot28]

I think I may have gotten ahead of myself with replacing my lower ball joints. I read a bunch of web pages, watched some YouTube videos, etc, on how to replace them, but didn't notice that they were all 2WD trucks! Doh! Anyway, I started taking things apart, only to stop after I pulled the plastic hub off the wheel and realize I may not have all the parts I need to put it back together if I continued!

So, back together it went. No new ball joints.

I lifted the front of the truck and did the side-to-side, top-to-bottom test to check the ball joints, tie rods, and wheel bearings. Neither side moved. BUT, when I stuck a long pipe under the front wheel and lifted the lower ball joint went up on both sides. Driver side was maybe 3/16ths of an inch, and passenger was a little less...maybe 1/8". I didn't measure to be exact...just estimating.

What's the tolerance on this up & down movement?

Do I even need to replace them?

The whole reason I even started looking in the first place is because my truck has a very slight wandering problem going down the road. Steering feels tight (no play) but it seems touchy.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[adsm08]

First, be sure that you were feeling ball joints and not sidewall flex.

Second, the play spec for ball joints is measured in hundredths of an inch. I don't bother to measure anymore, the rule of thumb I use is that if you can feel the play in the joint it is too much.

 

[lostpilot28]

Thanks, man. Yeah, I really couldn't tell you if I was feeling sidewall flex, except for the fact that every truck I've ever owned or driven seems to not wander. My truck has a 3 inch lift, so it's probably a little more touchy with steering anyway.

That said, I was surprised that none of the other front end components seemed worn except the lower ball joints. Maybe they were replaced by a previous owner...my truck has 212,000 miles on it!

So, can you tell me more about the lower ball joints? I know it's a serious problem if they break, but how likely is that? Also, they didn't seem to move at all side to side...just up and down. No torn rubber boots or anything, either.

 

[adsm08]

You will more than likely see the play up and down than side to side, the up/down is what counts anyway.

If they "break" it is very serious, yes, but they are not likely to just pop apart without any warning. I have seen ones that seemed like they were all but ready to fall apart and it was still a significant effort to remove the ball from the socket.

 

[lostpilot28]

That's great information...thanks. So, any advice on what I should do? I'm just not sure with the amount of play in the lower ball joints if it warrants an "emergency" trip to the local repair shop...or taking my truck out of service while I do it myself. I guess what I want to know is, "how bad does it have to be before you don't drive it anymore"?

Second question, do I need to replace the orange plastic dust seal that's inside the hub? Can I just re-use it? I thought the only thing I had to replace was the O-ring under the plastic hub.

 

[adsm08]

This is a 99 SLA truck with the CV shafts and not an 89 TTB truck, right?

If so you should just be able to pull the hub, remove the half-shaft retainer, and pop the knuckle out. I've never actually taken the pre-live axle IFS setup apart though, so I don't know exactly what you are looking at behind the hub.

 

[lostpilot28]

Update

Just wanted to post an update for those who may need help. My truck is 4WD and most of the info I found out there is for 2WD.

I found that to replace the ball joints, you definitely need to remove the orange circlip holding the PVH hub in place. If the stud on the ball joint was 1/2" shorter you could remove it without pulling the shaft out, but no such luck. The only parts I needed (besides the new ball joints) were:

- circlips ($40 on eBay...found them cheaper AFTER I alread ordered them )
- o-rings - there doesn't seem to be a part number, but I went to a local hydraulics shop and they had some that were the same diameter and thickness. My original o-rings looked perfectly fine, however, to the point that I couldn't tell which ones were new because I threw them into the same pile. LOL. Awesome.
- wheel bearing grease.

I pulled the wheel off, the break caliper and mounting bracket, then removed the upper pinch bolt, tie-rod bolt, and finally lower ball joint nut. Hammered (carefully) on things until it freed up, and came loose.

At this point I could use circlip pliers to wedge the clip open and push the shaft out the back. Don't bother trying to pull the clip out...It's much easier just wedging it open and pushing the shaft out through the back.

I rented the ball joint press (highly worn out clamp tool from Autozone, but it did the job)...got the new ball joints in and put it back together.

This short write-up may sound over simplified, but it's really not that hard to do. I noticed that my truck feels a little more solid in the front, and the "thunk" noise when turning is gone. It didn't improve my touchy steering at all...I'm going to chalk it up to the sidewall flex. My other car has low profile tires so the feel is very different...must've been that I was making a subconscience mental comparison of the handling or something.

Best of luck if you do this...it's easier than it looks!

 

[Mcleary316]

Ball joints aren't that hard as much as they are annoying to do. Just time consuming really. With the right tools, almost nothing is that hard if you know what you're doing.

The side to side pull that you're feeling is the suspension swaying most likely. The taller the vehicle the more it will rock back and forth going down the road. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[riss6270]

If im thinking about the same ball joint. its is connected to the steering. Has a threaded piece with a nut that tightens it in place. There should be a castle nut on the bottom with a cotter key. Remove cotter key and castle nut, should pop up out of the ball joint. I have a ball joint seperator (can use a socket) and pop it out. I have had to take the wheel hub assembly off one time to get the ball joint off. That can be a pain in the butt. I had both of mine done in about 2 hours (Beer time included). If you have any problems let me know. I could maybe send some pics