Wow, every young man should have to replace ball joints at least once in his life! I noticed the front wheels on my '94 "sagging" so I figured it was time for some new ball joints. I called a local garage and asked how much it would be to do it for me if I supplied the ball joints. I know the guy pretty well as he does alot of towing for us so I figured he'd do it for me pretty cheap, well 200 bucks isn't cheap to me so I decided to do it myself. I watched a video on youtube of a guy doing it and it looked pretty straight forward and simple for him. I should have known it wouldn't be that way for me cause nothing ever is and this has been no exception! I got the auto locking hubs along with the snap rings washers and bearings out fine but everything else has been a bitch! I'm at this point now:


Getting the castle nuts off of the ball joints was hard enough but I cannot get the ball joints to break loose so I can sepearate the knuckles! I've beat and banged until I'm blue in the face with no success. I gave up for the night and gave them a good dose of Parts Blaster to soak over night. Anyone have any tips or suggestions?

 

I've done the job once, long time ago, I know there is a pretty good thread floating around regarding ball joint R&R...I'm a kingpin guy tho try a quick search. Might find what ur looking for

 

Get a pickle fork type ball joint seperator, only a few $.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...-u-joints.html Here is a link to a good writeup.

 

Oxy-Acetylene! Or propane, the only difference is speed.

Before I had my O/A torch I used a decent propane plumbing torch and it worked eventually. For propane, give the knuckle around 10-15 minutes of heat right at the ball joints (yes, the plastic/rubber boot will smoke, if its still intact) top AND bottom.

Combine heat, knocking a pickle fork into the bottom joint, and smacking the upper stud wih a BFH for best results!

Absolute worst case, you can cut the studs off between the knuckle and axle with a hacksaw or big cutoff wheel, then the knuckle is free. You still have to get the leftover pieces of stud out of the axle ears, but at least you're only fighting one stud's friction at a time.

Once the knuckle is off the joints can be a b**tch to get out of the knuckle, you can press tem out with a big vise, but I highly recommend renting a ball joint kit, makes it quick and easy. Great for doing U-joints too...

 

If I remember correctly, mine were stuck also, and I think I had to rig up the ball joint press and some adapters to kinda press them out. I remember beating with the hammer did nothing but destroy the top joint... but after I got the knuckle off, the rest went very smoothly!

 

I got the left knuckle off this morning by driving a pickle fork in where the rubber boot is on the ball joints with a 4 pound hammer. I'm letting the right one soak in parts blaster until I get back home Sunday.

 

pretty cheap was right! i would have gladly scratched the $ together to let him do it for that.
that said,id never attempt the job without heat.
good luck!

Federal Mogul - Moog Upper & Lower Ball Joints #K80026/#K8435
for your 93 or 94 4wd f250

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...-u-joints.html This may help

 

Well I got back in town today and finished getting the knuckles apart. The passenger side wasn't quite as bad as the driver's side. Driving the pickle fork in there with the 4 pound hammer did the trick. As you can see in the video one ball joint on each side was REALLY bad! I'm glad I tackled this job just so I can say that I've done it but if I ever have to do it again, I'll gladly bay 200 bucks to let someone else do it!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sLxSyLIAAwg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

that $200 for installing all 4 sure looks nice looking back now doesn't it.

yeah,no fun at all.i don't care who you are,that's not a fun job lol.you'd have to be a pretty hard core gear head to enjoy doing that crap.
this is why i researched for hours on ball joint brand reviews all over the internet.
a 2wd truck is nothing,shoot id toss in any local part and call it a day.but the heck with that,i put moogs under my 4wd.don't want to do it more than a couple times during my 10 yr ownership.though plowing a bit with a D50 i don't think i'll get so lucky,BUT im giving myself as much chance as i can at least.
what did ya go with for joints?

now you owe the guy at the garage a favor,knowing just how much of a brake he was willing to give ya.
maybe let the guy off for speeding once or twice..........or heck,even sell CRACK! lmao.
seriously though.you can go back in and thank him for that price quote anyway.

 

only a 4 pund hammer no wonder u could get it out i have a 15 pound lead hammer and i love it hehehe real men have hammers that weight in the double didgets

 

ive got a 20 pounder. i only use it for finer adjustments

 

I've got a 35 pounder, hehe that thing takes some serious UMPH to get it to swing haha.

 

I went with moog ball joints. They were a little more expensive but I'm like you, I don't have any desire to do this again anytime soon!! The guy was definitely giving me a good deal on putting them in! He's on the rotating wrecker list that we use when we impound vehicles so I'll have to try to throw him a little extra business! If it was just the ball joints it would be bad enough but all the crap that has to be took out just to get to the damn things makes it 10 times worse!

As far as the small hammer goes.........I've worked with small tools all my life so I'm use to it! Lol

 

So are you finished with the ball joint job? I am curious if it helped with your alignment.