Morning guys, yesterday I discovered a little play in my drivers side upper ball joint so I'm going to order up a full set for the front end. XRF, Dana/spicer, Moog, Synergy???
Also I guess I should prob do needle bearings, seals, axle seals, etc etc.. Anybody have a line on a complete kit? Any concerns, suggestions, etc would be welcome..
Im wondering if I should go with ball joints that contain delrin or if I should go w an all metal set seeing as how I've got quite a bit of leverage w these 12" rims..

 

I used XRF ball joints when I did mine last summer. Don't put a lot of miles on my truck, so we'll see how they hold up. I have read that they are very good quality. Spicer would be my only other choice. I only use Spicer axle joints and Timken bearings. That's just my preference.

 

Thanks Bill, seems like the XRFs are widely endorsed. Anybody know if you have to pull the carrier to swap the inner axle seals?

 

I have heard of people doing it but never seen it in person. I would probably pull the carrier if it were me.

 

My buddy TJ said they usually pull the carrier..
I got a couple XRFs ordered up and he's got the seals in stock.. I'll keep this thread alive throughout the course of these ball joints miles so people can get an accurate idea of how they perform under the load and leverage of a truck like mine...

 

Just finished rebuilding a ball-joint D60 to install in my F250. I learned a few things.

1) Napa pressed the old ball-joints out and new ones in for $40. Well worth the spend in my book.
2) Rent the spindle socket and slide hammer to remove the spindles. Turns hours into an effortless couple of minutes.
3) You'll need a 36mm spindle nut socket and a 200lb+ torque wrench to go with it.

You can't change the inner seals without pulling the carrier. You should consider doing the u-joints while your axles are out and check your track bar bushings. You'll need hub seals too.

Hope that helps,
Bob

 

$40? Heck yes. Wish I would have known that.

I lifted the carrier out with my engine hoist and reversed the steps putting it back in. I may have had to use a dead blow hammer to get it started and seated.

 

There is a SD version of the inner seal that supposedly is better. Modifying it to fit was not hard. Getting it seated was a major challenge for me. There is a tool to press it in, but couldn't find one for rent. Pulling the carrier starts in post #18 in the link in my sig file.

 

Thanks fellas, all good info.

 

I will echo what other here have said about the parts and the procedure.

I've not used XRF as of yet, but I have used Spicer parts and had good success. I didn't do the ball joints on mine, but I did the seals and whatnot. Those are the only two brands I'd consider over Motorcraft parts.

I did, indeed, pull the carrier on mine when I did the inner axle seals, but it wasn't a bad job. Take the bearing caps off and run a rag up in the gears then turn the carrier with a pry bar and it works itself out. I also went with the SD "upgraded" seal design and I have had no issues. They cost about 3 times as much as the OBS D60 seal and while it's not a bad job to modify them you have to ask yourself, if the old one lasted 200k miles, do you really need an "upgraded" design? That being the case, I don't know if I'd do the upgraded design again.

Rent the slide hammer, spindle puller, and hub nut socket. They are the right way to do this job. Take the time to clean things up and put some paint on it while it's apart. It's well worth the time it takes. If it were me, I'd take the extra time to go through and replace all the bushings in the front end while it's apart as well. With any mileage on the truck, it's well worth the time.

Let me know if you have questions or issues, I took lots of pictures of the job when I did the seals on mine.

 

Appreciate that Nate! She'll get whatever she needs!