I had to replace the two upper ball joint on my 93 Aerostar. Drilling out the rivets to remove the old ball joint was fairly easy since I have a drill press. My hat's off to you guys who did it without a drill press. From what I remember, some of you even did it with the control arm still on the car. That's something I could never do. Now the question from me is how much torque do you put on the bolts (which replace the rivets) when you put the new ball joint back on. The new ball joint didn't come with any specs for torques.

Another question is the upper control arm bushing. Yes those are busted too! After calling on my brother's help with his "incredible physique," I was able to wrestle the bolts and removed the brackets. Upon installation, the Haynes manual specified 145 ft-lbs for the the front bolt and 155 ft-lbs for the rear one. That kind of torque seems OK for the two rear bolts and one of the front bolt. However, the other front bolt is a dinky 10mm bolt, how can it take 145 ft-lbs. Does anyone have the correct torque for the small bolt on the front backet that houses the control arm bushing?

Thanks

 

I'm looking at my factory manual. It lists the Upper Control Arm Bracket-to Body Rail Bolts at 35-46 ft lbs, Upper Control Arm to Adjusting Arm Nuts at 70-100 ft lbs, and Crossmember to Frame Rail Bolts (Six M16 Bolts, Front and Rear Upper Control Arm Brackets) at 145-195 ft lbs. This is probably what your Haynes manual states.

When I did ball joints I drilled out the rivets with the control arm still on the van, hammer and chisel finished them off. As you've discovered no torque spec on the replacement bolts, I just tightned them down as tight as I dared. The bolts aren't that big.

Sorry I couldn't' help more.

John

 

Gonefishen

Thank you. I just used 30 ft-lbs on the balljoint-to-control arm bolts. They are 5/16" bolts and I don't want to take chances. It is the Upper Control Arm Bracket-to Body Rail Bolts I was worrying about. As you said, it's 35-46 ft lbs. Thanks again.

Regards