lovetharunner

Hi everyone,
I am been on a quest to identify some front end rattling & looseness in the steering. So far I have replaced all 4 tie rods & the idler arm. While these seemed to help, I am still experiencing the same symptoms. Finally after some further investigation, I believe I have found the culprit:

Front Diff - Front end rattling:
My passenger side CV boot has been torn for the last year. The CV axle is in such bad shape you can almost separate the CV axle at the upper joint by 1/4". I noticed that the part of the axle that attaches to the front differential has some play in it. I can move the part of the differential that turns up and down by about 1/8".
1) I plan to replace the CV axle. Is there anything wrong with my differential? Is it normal to have this much play at the end of the of the differential?

Ball Joints - Front end looseness:
I discovered that my lower driver's side ball joint seems to have some play. All others appear to be fine.
1) If I am going to tackle 1 ball joint, would it be a good idea to replace the other 3 while I am at it?
2) Will I need to relax the t-bars to get the clearance I need to remove all 4 ball joints?
3) Is it possible to remove the brake calipers before uninstalling the ball joints and removing the knuckle? I really don't want to bleed my brakes since I am only a 1 man team.

Any help would be appreciated. I plan to take this project on next week while my wife is out of town.

Oh, and pictures for clicks. This is probably the picture that is literally responsible for all my problems:



Joshua

myyota

If your going to replace one ball joint, might as well do all of them. You can unbolt the brake caliper, use a piece of wire to hang it from the frame or some were out of the way, DON`T let it hang by the brake hose.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

www.ncttora.com/fsm

Ardent

Why even remove the caliper at all? Do them one at a time-

Place a 1x3" piece of wood between the upper a-arm and bumpstop.
Lift truck and support on jack stands.
Remove tires.
Un-bolt upper ball joint from spindle.
Place bottle jack 1" under the lower a-arm .
Hit the spindle with a hammer until it releases from the ball joint (you may also find one of the many ball-joint tools useful).
Lower the lower a-arm on the jack to pull the spindle away from the BJ.
If necessary, (won't be if you're replacing your CV shafts right now. which you should be doing right now if you're going to do it) tie the spindle back to the frame as to not seperate the CV.
Unbolt the BJ from the upper a-arm.

Replace with new joint in reverse order.


Lower:

Unbolt the lower BJ from the lower a-arm.
Hit with hammer until the arm releases from the BJ.
Unbolt the BJ from the Spindle/hub assembly.
Replace with new BJ.

Proceed to the other side. Rinse. Repeat. Done. Easy Peasy.

Good Luck!