What is the recomended way to check for worn out ball joints on an open knuckle Dana 60 frontend in a 79 F-350 ?
thanks, Gene

 

With the truck safely and securely up on stands, pry under the tire with a bar while a helper watches for movement.

It takes some leverage to move even bad ones.

 

Yup, you should use the bar because wiggling it by hand isn't enough sometimes..

 

Thanks Guys , thats the same as checking the ball joints on a passenger car.
Gene

 

Does your '79 D60 really have ball joints? I thought they had kingpins up until 1991.

 

Good call lol.

 

The earlier truck had a closed knuckle frontend that turned on a ball and the later trucks have an open knuckle frontend. So if you don't call them ball joints what do you call them ? Arn't kingpins what the spindal turns on in a solid beam axle 2 wheel drive truck ?
Gene

 

Yes, that is correct, however 4x4's also used kingpins in some instances, yours being one them. Checking for wear is the same procedure

 

I looked at an old Motors manual and it showed a Dana 44 and called them upper and lower ball sockets. whatever we call them I stick a long pry bar under the tire with it raised off the ground and pushup and down to check for wear.
Thanks , Gene

 

there should be a spec floating around somewhere....the proper procedure is:
-front axle on jack stands
-wheels/tires removed, and tie rod/steering linkage disconnected from the knuckle.
-pull from the tie rod end hole with a fish scale in a left right motion
-should take about 40 lbs of resistance before the knuckle spins.

exploded view:

Part 46, the upper spring was under-rated even originally, and it holds the whole assembly in compression. Google "king pin washer shim", its very common to preload it with big fender washers. If its original, it is surely worn out and needs replacement.
Part 48, the plastic cone washer, is also a major wear component. They are a couple bucks a piece to replace.
PartMike.com has everything you need, last I checked the entire rebuild kit is only around $200.

Due to the design of the king pin knuckles, you aren't likely to get any play using the 12 and 6 o'clock method of shaking. If you had that much wear, the truck would likely be un-driveable. You might get a little vertical play, but do to the spring a little of that is always going to be there anyway. Hence, the pull scale method to determine preload on the lower bearing race...just think of the whole thing like a slow turning wheel bearing. Proper preload is KEY.

 

WOW !!!!! Thats interesting , not what I thought and I see Kingpins.
Gene

 

its a good setup, you have a good axle.

One of the mods that is popular in the more extreme off road crowds these days is to use caps that eliminate the spring and preload the plastic cone with a bolt. this fixed a LOT of the driveability issues I had on my old 1-ton bronco. Here's a set I made years ago before vendors were really offering manufactured ones.