so i just spent the morning having tires put on getting ready for the alignment, only to have the shop tell me that my ball joints are bad. they said that for my 2002 f250 diesel it is normal for them to start going out around 100k...i have 124k on it now....shop wants to charge me 745 bucks and 4 hours worth of labor...here is my question...is this something that i can do at home....labor too intense or easy enough? should i get ford replacement parts or go after market? anybody else having these same issues or know what all is involved in the parts and the replacements? any advice would be appreciated....thanks

 

It's real easy if you have the proper tools like a ball joint press, etc.
Impossible if you don't.
I bought Ford ball joints, they now have zerks for periodic lubrication service.

 

I will be having mine done very soon. I understand its very labor intensive, 8 hours or more. The tools can be rented and made with the exeption of a press, which im sure you could have a local shop do. I am up in the air if I am going to attempt DIY or just have my local driveline guy do it. I have a Sterling w/ 4:10's laying around the garage but don't want to install it just yet because I have 3:73's (4X4) and have'nt found or want to spend the cash on front 4:10's. Maybee I will get lucky and find a front Dana 50/60 with 4:10's locally.

 

I did mine at home but I also had the use of a shop press at work. Mine is a RWD so it is a lot eaiser than a 4X4.

 

Here is an outstanding link by another FTE member;
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...ll-joints.html

 

Heres mine for RWD.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ht=Ball+joints

 

I did mine in my shop, press is needed, or simple ball joint press. If 4x4 good time to do new seals in hubs grease spindle bearing and grease slide pins and anything else you can think of.

 

Had to do mine about a month ago after doing front brakes and and tie rods. When I took the truck into the alignment shop, they said they couldn't do the alignment 'cause the ball joints were shot. I'm no mechanical genius and I found the task well within my comfort zone. I would cation that if don't have a a pickle fork or a tie rod/ball joint seperator, your going to wish you did. Not sure about parts stores in your area, but Autozone had what I needed to rent, which turned out to be a deposit only. Upon returning the tool they credited back my account the rental fee! I used BAW ball joints from NAPA and both upper and lowers came with zirks. One note of cation here, the upper ball joints came with straight zirks, which once installed would be next to impossible to get a grease gun onto, so I changed them to 45* zirk fittings. As far as having the ball joints pressed in, I simply took my steering knuckles to a local mechanic's shop and they pressed them in for me and only charged me 1 hour of shop time. While you've got things apart, I would give your tie rods a close thorough inspection, as they are known to go bad as well. Good luck on doing the work yourself, you'll save yourself a pant load of money to boot!

 

So those of you that did the work yourselves, how long did it take?

 

Did mine in a couple of evenings after work, a couple of hours to pull everything apart, take knuckles into shop and have ***** joints pressed, picked up later that day, and then a couple of hours to put everything back together. I did a bit of claening and touch up painting while things were apart, so I think I had about 6 hours total into the project.

 

Hope this link helps.https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...ll-joints.html

The other link I used and posted in the past has been deleted by another site.

I rented/borrowed the tools from Advance Auto for FREE when I did mine. I gave them my CC number and returned the tools within the time period and didn't get charged a dime.

 

i bought the moog ball joint kit from powerstrokeshop.com since its right down the road and took them and the truck to a local shop that builds world of outlaw transmissions and all kinds of cool stuff and they charged me 350 bucks to put the ball joints in and get an alignment. worth the 350 imo.......

 

The 45* zerk with get broken by your u joints. Install a straight zerk and use a 90* grease gun fitting, then you can leave the zerk in all the time!

 

If you have confidence in your ability do it yourself, mine had just been done at 117,000 when I bought my truck but did a friends 4x4 dually. No issues and it should be done in 4 or less actual working hours. More time dependent on extra things you get into, e.g. cleaning, painting, greasing etc...

Good luck.

 

I put 45* zerk fittings in mine 2 years ago, once the snow fly's I leave the front hubs locked until Punxsutawney Phil gets dragged out of his hole and haven't broken one yet.

Some trucks they work and some they don't.