Are the ball joints needed for a 99 f250 2x4 the same as the 4x4?

And also, how can I tell if I have a 'monobeam' up front. If its not the 'monobeam', what would it be?

Thx!~

 

I believe the mono beam is only on the 450 or 550?
You should have the twim I beam on a 250.

 

No the ball joints are not the same. As mentioned, you have a twin I beam on your truck.

 

A couple of months ago, Parts Guy Ed tried to find some greasable ball joints for my 2WD and couldn't. So, I have a set of non-greasable Motorcraft ball joints waiting to be installed.

 

XRF makes some, but if you have some Motorcrafts already paid for I wouldn't worry too much. The 2wd isn't nearly as hard on ball joints and the 4x4's seem to be.

 

No, the 2wd and 4wd ball joints are not the same.

The 2wd joint studs are a constant diameter from bottom to top and are held in the bushings by pinch bolts.

The 4wd ball joints have a tapered stud.

 

Thanks Chris, I wondered about that. After sending PGE on a wild goose chase, I felt sorta obligated to buy the ball joints from him. I'll keep that in mind for next time.

 

Roland and I replace all four of my ball joints with greasable Moogs.

 

You could always drill and tap those ball joints for grease fittings before installing them.

 

good info, thanks.

 

that's the ones I put on mine

 

Not sure where everyone is getting their ball joints but i got mine at an oriley's here in Houston with the grease fittings. Might be worth ordering from them online?

 

I think it's funny how everyone makes this big fuss over greaseable stuff like ball joints and u-joints.

The greaseable stuff sucks.

Really.

 

I disagree. Some of the greasable stuff is great, but most of the time the non-greasable stuff isn't quite as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

Would you rather have wheel bearings you can actually service or do you like the sealed unit bearings on the front wheels that have to be replaced instead of just repacking them or changing a bearing and race?

 

It's not so much that aspect of the unit bearings that sucks.....

But the fact that the bearing races themselves are half the distance apart as the fixed-spindle counterparts. I HATE the idea of unit bearings in hubs...it is cheaper and faster for assembly (hence the reason they're used). On the flip side, how many people do you know that actually take the time to disassemble and repack their front wheel bearings (or trailer axle bearings for that matter)? But this discussion was about ball joints, not wheel bearings.

There's a reason that the factory u-joints and ball joints typically last so much longer than any greasable replacement you can get (and it's not because of crappy materials in the aftermarket stuff).