Joshua White

Hey guys, I've got an '89 Pickup 4x4 that I'm doing the ball joints & tie rods on & I've got a couple questions.
Is it necessary to use one of those rental presses to install the ball joints? I've already got the passenger side upper & lower joints in & they seem to have gone in fine without it, I just dropped them in & torqued all the nuts to spec but I wanted to find out before going to much further.
While doing the upper joint for the life of me I couldn't get the 2 bolts holding the brake line bracket out & don't imagine the other side will be any easier. That makes it a very tight fit to tighten the 22mm castle nut on the joint. I was just able to slip my smaller torque wrench on it but it measures in inch pounds & only rated 960 (80 ft. lbs). The handle twists a bit farther than the 960 mark so I twisted it as far as it would go & cranked away on the nut until the wrench clicked and then as best I could past that. The nut seems very tight but do would you try to tighten it further using a crowsfoot adaptor on my larger torque wrench or an open ended wrench? Would either of them be able to handle the 105 ft. lbs of torque the castle nut should be torqued to without slipping off?
Thanks in advance.
Josh

arlindsay1992

iTrader: (8)

The rental tools are not necessary, but they can help if you don't have a big enough hammer or a pickle fork. The only tool you'll need is commonly sold as a pitman arm puller. It's the perfect size to push the ball joint studs out of the tapered holes. This allows you to remove the ball joints without tearing the boot if you plan to reuse them.

Don't worry too much about the torque on the castle nut. Once you reach 105 ft-lbs you still have to turn it farther to line up the holes for the cotter pin. Just use good judgment on the castle nut. I wouldn't use a crow's foot or an open ended wrench for fear of it slipping off and rounding the nut.

The two large bolts that hold the brake line bracket and steering arm have Loc-Tite applied at the factory. They are a paint to remove. I wouldn't try unless totally necessary.

Joshua White

Getting the old ball joints out isn't a problem, I have the pullers, pickle forks, & a BFH. My question about the press was in about installing the new joints, do they need to be pressed in or just dropped in & torqued down?

arlindsay1992

iTrader: (8)

The tapered stud always gets dropped in and torqued down. The press tools I think you're thinking of are used for a different type of ball joint. Ours the body just bolts on. The press tool is used for ball joints where the body is pressed into a hole then typically a circlip is used to retain it.

Joshua White

Ah, thanks for the clarification.