I noticed on my recently purchased 2001 E150 van that there are no grease fittings for the ball joints. Did it come from the factory this way, or were these installed by the previous owner? I suspect the latter as my old 1997 E150 had the fittings.

How long do the sealed ball joints usually last? Would it be best to just wait until they go bad to replace them, or should I just do it along with my next bearing repack?

Thanks!

 

They ship with sealed balljoints. If your 97 had fittings, they were probably replaced. Doing the joints is a bitch, and you usually need a press cup sized specifically for E150s, as most kits wont have that size (but you can redneck it!)

If you DO replace the joints, use Moog. Almost every other brand is junk, including (specifically!) parts store brand parts.

 

I just take the whole part to a machine shop and have them press the old out and the new in. They had a hard time getting mine out with a 3 ton press.

 

I used my impact gun and a balljoint screw press. It was still unpleasant.