Yesterday I started noticing that on left hand turns whenever I hit a bump a large knock would result. Today I pull the tire and took a peak. The upper ball joint had about 1/2 inch of play in it. I looked at the other side and found a little bit of play. Just what I need.

So what exactly does it take to do ball joints? Should I go ahead and do lowers right away? What's this I hear about some being held on by rivets?

Thanks ahead of time.

J

 

IF they have never been removed/changed before, I think they have to be chiseled out. Otherwise a pretty straightforward job. A Service manual helps a ton.

 

time for SAS!

 

haha, yea i have that kind of time and budget. I am a junior at michigan tech (mechanical engineering) and i am going to be a dad in under 2 weeks.

 

first off, congrats!!

secondly, if its an upper ball joint, its not too bad of a process, look up instructions on how to install ball joint spacers (that should get you 90% of the way). If its the lower ball joint, taking it apart is easy (4 bolts) but getting everything to line up to put those 4 bolts back in is a major pain.
While you're working on it, remember that the torsion bar attaches to the UPPER control arm not the lower (like most IFS trucks/cars with torsion bars) which means you'll need to put a 2x4 between the bumpstop and upper control arm to give yourself some room, I would remove the upper bumpstop before wedging the 2x4 in.

I would really recommend having 2 jacks available one to support the lower control arm (assuming the truck's weight is sitting on jack stands) and one between the upper and lower control arm, until you can put the 2x4 in there.

I would assume that you get a fair amount of rust in Michigan, so the use of a pickle fork would definately be needed. Even out here in sunny California it took a few good whacks to break the balljoint loose from the control arms.

Good luck.

 

mechanical engineer, and asking how to change ball joints. hmmmmmmmm

you must be in the eight year program.

















just kidding. it is a drag the first time. just be careful of all the energy stored up in the torsion bars while separating the upper and lower arms.

 

Uppers are cake. As mentioned try to jam a board in between the UCA and the bump stop so that when you unbolt the ball joint you can just lower the assembly away from the UCA and the ball joint will be right there. There's no rivets and no chiseling. You'll need a pickle fork or a ball joint puller (the correct one). I'd have both so you have options.

There's a guy on ebay that sells front end rebuild kit for our trucks that will give you all the ball joints, tie rods, idler arm and pitman arm for about $250. I used his kit and have been satisfied with the results. For a struggling college Dad to be, it's hard to beat the cost of the kit. If the uppers are worn out chances are good everything needs replacing and you can do it this way for the cost of 4 ball joints.

I'll dig you up a link.

 

Here's the kit I bought:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ball-...9087QQtcZphoto

Notice the guy has over 9000 feedbacks at 100% positive.

Just an idea...

 

Thanks guys. Once I can get the parts (nothing is ever open around here) I will see what I can do. ovrrdrive-I think i will just stick with the ball joints. Little bit cheaper and also I need the truck on the road as soon as possible (gotta go home for deer hunting!)

J

 

I got the ball joints done, but my cv got separated inside the outer boot. Is it possible to get it to go back on? I put the splines together, but there is still about 4 inches of play because it is not locked on. What's the easiest way to do this? The other axle has about 1/4 inch of play because it is locked on.

J

 

The CV's can be put back together but usually you have to take all that stuff apart again to have enough play to get the joint back together.

You can replace the studs that attach the inner CV with regular hardware which comes entirely making it easier to swap CV shafts. There is a chance that if you knock out those studs, you can remove the shaft without disassembling your suspension.

If all of this suspension surgery is affecting your alignment I have instructions on our site you can follow to align the truck yourself. www.sdori.com

Frank

 

I got the joint back together, it just won't lock in. Is there a way for me to lock it without taking it out?