Me and my brothers friend who is very mechanically inclined were gonna replace the ball joints on my 92 f150 4x4. I was wondering if anybody could give me a link to a website that would have step by step instructions.

Thank you

 

Don't have a link but a great tool to help you is a Balljoint Press. You can rent them at most Auto parts stores, Oreilly's, Autozone, maybe Carquest. You will find it makes the job very easy and will keep you from losing your sanity.

I would check the u-joints in the steering knuckle since you are going in that far. It will be easier to replace them now if you can.

 

i just had my cousin replace them in my 89 4x4 and he had to have a special $250 socket from ford and he had to cut out some of the bolts and had to order special bolts at $37 a piece bc everything was so rusty. be aware!!!

 

I am unaware of any sort of a $250 socket to do a ball joint job
I could see a special socket IF one was taking the hub off the spindle, which I did, I just used a hammer and a punch do get the spindle nut off.


But x2 on the press. A pickle fork is nice too for your tie rod ends.

 

Alright
Thanks guys

 

the only ''special" socket i have is a spindle nut socket that i got from auto zone. it was like 20....

 

Yeah, the spindle nut socket is super handy to have. I still soaked the entire hub with penetrting fluid and still had to heat the hub up to get it to break loose with the socket and a 2x4 and a big hammer.

If the hub assembly has never been removed, take your time and don't get in a hurry. You may find yourself with more work if you damage the threaded in of he spindle.

Do it rght and you have saved yourself mucho $$$$'s!

 

you had to heat the hub up? I sure hope you replaced the bearings and races after that! I have NEVER seen a hub nut that needed to be heated with out there being damage to the hub or bearings before hand. I have seen axle shaft U joints locked up and take heat and BFH to get out of the shafts. Maybe if its a junkyard axle and it's been under water for a while. There should not be rust inside the hub!

Good lord what was so bad that you had to heat up the spindle nut? I also don't understand what the 2X4 was used for with a socket and hammer?

 

Ok OhioFarm, you completely mis-understood my Previous Post. I used those tools, heat, 2x4, and a BFH to remove the Spindle HUB from the Steering Knuckle. I didn't quiet use the correct wording in my previous post.

But YES, I did replace all bearings, races in both Hubs and spindle bearing on both Spindles.

Next time, maybe you could ASK for clarification on a previous post instead of ranting, and not Posting anything POSITIVE for which the thread began with.

I'm sure that is why WE (FTE MEMBERS) are here to LEARN and to SHARE in our experiences and our FAILURES.

 

You know what your correct next time when someone post something and does it unclear and a bit scary I'll just keep my mouth ( or keyboard ) shut and this board can get filled with wrong, unclear info, Instead of someone showing concern that things might have been done wrong or unsafe.... Let me know how that works out.

 

Your still missing the point. It's your attitude. You're still blowing a gasket. I always check back on post(s) when I leave one. I make mistakes, but when I do, I accept them. When one goes in the deep end about it, it appears a personal quest by you to ensure others feel be-littled and foolish. But since you're unable to be calm and collective, I'll let this be.

Sorry Waffle17 that this has gotten off topic. We shouldn't be hijacking your thread over such by my mistake on the difference between the spindle hub and the spindle housing.

 

On my sons 20 year old F150 we had to heat the knuckle around the hub and then use a 2x4 to protect the hub while striking with a 5 pound hammer. We had soaked all steering linkage and knuckle Assemblies for 2 weeks before hand with PB Blaster. The drivers side spindle just did not want to come out without some heat on the knuckle. Heat evenly and Don't let it turn red hot. Afterwords let it cool down slowly on it's own. NO WATER.
You don't need a ball joint C clamp if you have access to a shop press it will work just fine. Wich ever press you use it works well to put a good amount of pressure on the old ball joint and then heat the knuckle around the joint just a bit. You should hear a snap as it breaks loose.

 

Just did Ball joints among many other things on the front of my 94 F150 4X4. If you're doing balljoints you might as well do the front u-joints too, check the condition of your tie rods if they're old and wore out replace them too, this is also a good time to check the condition of your front wheel bearings and replace or repack them as well.

I can give you the basic step by step instructions.

First remove the 6 allen head screws that hold the hub cover in place, there will be 2 locking rings (snap rings) holding the hub in place, one clip directly in the center securing the axle shaft, and anther clip around the outer edge of the hub assembly. Use a pair of spreading snap ring pliers to remove the ring around the axle, use a small pick or screwdriver to remove the outer ring. Once the rings are removed you can thread a couple of the bolts back into the hub and use them as handles to pull the hub straight out.

With the hub out of the way you'll need the special socket to remove the wheel bearing retaining bolt. The socket can be substituted for a hammer and punch or similar object, save yourself the aggravation and just rent or buy the socket, its well worth it. With the retaining bolt removed you can pop off the outer wheel bearing and slide the brake rotor/wheel stud assembly off and out of the way. The inner wheel bearing/seal is pressed into the rotor assembly.

Next remove the 5 bolts holding the spindle in place, PB blaster or other penetrating oils come in very handy here. Once the bolts are removed you'll more then likely notice the spindle assembly is rusted in place. I had to heat mine with a torch to remove it. If you use heat only heat the mounting surface of the spindle, DO NOT heat the bearing race area of the spindle. If you must use heat allow the spindle to cool off naturally once its removed, just set it aside and let it cool, don't go splashing water on it or anything, doing so can crack or warp the spindle assembly.

Once the spindles are removed you can slide the axle shafts out and set them aside. Removing the axle shafts is the only way you'll be able to access the bolt on top of the lower ball joint.

If your truck is anything like mine the ball joint retaining bolts will be rusted in place and a complete pain in the butt to remove. I busted the head off my 3/4 drive breaker bar (with the assistance of a 10 foot cheater pipe) before the bolt turned. Once again PB blaster, and a high power impact, is your friend. Once you go through world war 3 to remove the damn bolts you'll notice that the balljoints are crusted in place in the steering knuckles. Use a pickle fork and drive it inbetween the knuckle and balljoints with a hammer, you can also use a big hammer to bash ontop of the knuckle driving the whole assembly downward, it took a 4 pound minisledge and several good whacks before either of mine broke free.

Once the steering knuckle is removed place it in a vice and use a ball joint press to press out the old ball joints. If your unfamilar with a balljoint/ujoint press it looks like a big thick C-clamp that you turn using a socket and breaker bar or impact. There will be a big snap ring that you'll need to remove from around the bottom of the lower balljoint. Like was mentioned above you'll hear a nice loud snap as they break free.


Reassembly is basically the reverse of what I mentioned. I would highly recommend changing your front ujoints while out got the front of the truck tore apart if they've never been changed before.