Got back from my trip up to Canada last weekend and the ball joints were bad when I got home.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ance-trip.html

So Friday afternoon, I went to O'Reilly and got 4 replacement joints under warranty and a press. Cost about $290, which I'd return the bad joints and the press afterward for a full refund.

So I lifted the front end up and got both sides on stands. After inspecting the passenger side, which was the worst, found out that the caster/camber bushing had worked out of the pinch bolt while driving. Not terribly surprising as the same thing happened on the other side when I replaced them in April. When the joints get excessive play, they must just work out. I know the bolts were tight because I check them and they also have the locking nut.

Anyway, I call up O'Reilly and they find the part I need over the phone, but it can't be shipped to the store until Saturday morning. Still no biggie. So, I get the driver's side changed with no major issues. Made the mistake of trying to save work by dropping the knuckle off the axle with the brake rotor still on the spindle. Trying to lower a 10-20lb knuckle with a 50lb disc attached was not a good idea! Plus trying to use the BJ press while the knuckle is rotating freely doesn't work.

Saturday morning, I get to work early replacing the joints on the passenger side, which come out and go back in with no issues. I run up to O'Reilly to return all the joints and the press and pick up my caster/camber bushing. When I get back, I'm trying to fit the bushing into the pinch joint, and it is not working at all. So I give O'Reilly another call, and have them check the application for the part number. Turns out that the other store shipped the wrong part. They shipped me a bushing for a monobeam axle 4x4 with 1.25 degrees of adjustment. I needed a bushing for a twin I-beam axle 2x4 with 2 degrees of adjustment.

So I drove back up and returned the part and we searched and found the correct bushing, but we just missed the shipping cut off and I had to wait until the next truck came at 5:30. Unfortunately my friends and I had planned to load the grill in the truck and tailgate before the homecoming game, which couldn't happen. Got the part around 6, and had everything back together, truck dropped and cleaned up by about 7:20. Which, I should have been finished before noon, and had to back out of my plans.

And on top of everything, we got a ridiculous amount of rain this weekend. Some areas of town had 5-6" of water standing in the roads. So, my cheap POS party tent I had set up to work under collapsed and just filled my toolbox with water, and soaked everything. All in all, the total cost of this job was about $14 plus too much of my weekend in labor and cleaning and drying my tools and toolbox.

Moral of the story: Make sure you have all the right parts before you get off the phone and leave the store, and work in nice weather if you can.

Hopefully someone will learn from my mistakes if anyone decides to do this, and to everyone else, hopefully you can get a laugh out of it!

 

I hate days like that...at least its done and over with now though...

 

Amen. And it feels pretty good driving the truck and seeing your hard work pay off.

 

Those are the days when i feel like setting something on fire, of course im the one on fire already. In the end you got it done even with all the trouble, job well done.

 

I know exactly how that feels farmboy. Yesterday was one of those days. I was about ready to just sell the truck lol. It seems like something is always needing work on the truck. Fortunately, I've been able to do it all myself. Hopefully now, everything is good and I can focus on the upgrades that I want to do!

 

I put a new 5th wheel plate on my truck yesterday and made the 50 mile trip to the dealer to get the new 5th wheel plate and it is supposed to come with new bushings and wear pads for the top of the riser. I saw the bag zip tied to the plate but didn't think to check to see what was actually in it. I got home and went to finish the install which should have took about 20 min and when I opened the bag it only had the metal spacers and none of the other parts I needed. So I had my wife make a second trip to get the missing parts.
It did end up working out for me though since I was able to mow the lawn while she was gone.

 

Bummer...I hate days like that. Seems like we all have them every once in a while though. Anyways, despite your issues, glad to hear that you got it done and can now enjoy the fruits of your labor. Thanks for sharing your story.