When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I need your expert advice on the proper upper and lower ball joint torque specs on my 2000 F350 4X4 that I am not finding the correct torque specs on. I have read on multiple forums and watched YouTube videos and it seems that there is much misinformation out there on the proper torques for a specific year range. There are really good write-ups on replacing ball joints for 1999 to 2004 Super Duty trucks with most documenting that you should torque the bottom to 35 lbs and then torquing the top to 69 lbs and then re-torquing the bottom to 150 lbs. I just purchased XRF ball joints and they told me to torque to factory specs but I can't really find the right answer to what that is. Trying to Google the answer is not that easy. I have a Chilton 26667 manual that I bought from the parts store and it lacks much info on what I need. The manual covers 1999-2010 Super Duty pick-ups/Excursion F-250 and F-350 gas and diesels. It is saying in chapter 10-19 that the upper ball-joint nut for 2001 and earlier is 101 lbs with the lower being the same at 101 lbs. It says that 2002 models are 69 lbs for the upper and 150 for the lower. I would hope that Chilton would be a reliable source but I had already went with torquing the uppers to 69 and the uppers to 150 lbs. reading from what I have read from other write-up procedures. What would you do? Does anybody have the proper torque specs from Ford? Chilton makes a sh%tty manual so I don't know if I would believe them either. If I do what the Chilton manual says, I would have to increase my upper to 101 lbs and decrease my lower to 101 lbs. I read somewhere (possibly not true) that once a ball joint nut is torqued to a given tightness, the ball joint can have a torque memory or something? I don't think that is critical and I shouldn't worry about it if I have to back-off on the lower ball joint nut down to 101 lbs. What is your opinion on this? What is the proper torque numbers for a 2000? Super dutys do not share the same torques from 1999 through 2004.
Upper has a cotter pin, so go to 69lb-ft, then whatever extra it takes to get the pin in.
My book (05+) says go to 44 lb-ft on the bottom, then the top as stated above, then a final 150 lb-ft on the bottom, so I concur with the 35-150 lower torque values from the SUperDutyPSD article for the 2000 F250. If I'm remembering correctly (I looked and think I found confirmation), the 101 ft-lb spec is for the solid D50 axles in some early SDs and all Excursions. If you have the D60, it's should be 69 and 150.
Upper has a cotter pin, so go to 69lb-ft, then whatever extra it takes to get the pin in.
My book (05+) says go to 44 lb-ft on the bottom, then the top as stated above, then a final 150 lb-ft on the bottom, so I concur with the 35-150 lower torque values from the SUperDutyPSD article for the 2000 F250. If I'm remembering correctly (I looked and think I found confirmation), the 101 ft-lb spec is for the solid D50 axles in some early SDs and all Excursions. If you have the D60, it's should be 69 and 150.
I just looked at my axle and my BOM is 610893-1 which is a Dana 50/229 1999.5-2000 F-250/350 SRW 4X4 with ABS. My truck was built in October of 1999 from what the door sticker says.
I guess that means that I will be torquing the upper and lower ball joints to 101 foot pounds. Do you think that Ford made a mistake in the 2001 and earlier models and that is why they changed it to 69 and 150 foot pounds in the 2002 models? Do you think it would be safer to keep it at the 69/150 spec?
Upper has a cotter pin, so go to 69lb-ft, then whatever extra it takes to get the pin in.
My book (05+) says go to 44 lb-ft on the bottom, then the top as stated above, then a final 150 lb-ft on the bottom, so I concur with the 35-150 lower torque values from the SUperDutyPSD article for the 2000 F250. If I'm remembering correctly (I looked and think I found confirmation), the 101 ft-lb spec is for the solid D50 axles in some early SDs and all Excursions. If you have the D60, it's should be 69 and 150.
I just looked at my axle and my BOM is 610893-1 which is a Dana 50/229 1999.5-2000 F-250/350 SRW 4X4 with ABS. My truck was built in October of 1999 from what the door sticker says.
I guess that means that I will be torquing the upper and lower ball joints to 101 foot pounds. Do you think that Ford made a mistake in the 2001 and earlier models and that is why they changed it to 69 and 150 foot pounds in the 2002 models? Do you think it would be safer to keep it at the 69/150 spec?
35 on bottom, 69 on top and more for cotter pin to fit them 150 on bottom for moog joints. Prior to tie rod install turn the knuckle left and right a few times to prevent memory steer.
35 on bottom, 69 on top and more for cotter pin to fit them 150 on bottom for moog joints. Prior to tie rod install turn the knuckle left and right a few times to prevent memory steer.
Do you know what the torques are for my year truck for the four nuts that attach to the four bolts on the wheel hub assembly? My Chilton says 55 foot pounds but everybody else is saying that 133 foot pounds is the proper spec.
Also, my tie-rod nut spec is listed as 52 foot pounds for 1999 through 2004 4WD models. These numbers come from my Chilton manual, what is yours saying? What is your source?
For the ball joints, the parts should be the same for D50 and D60s for those years, so I'd use the spec that comes with the parts. For Moog, that's 69 and 150 lb-ft: http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/_pd...K12_101_En.pdf
I have 133 lb-ft for the 4 hub mounting studs.
The Motorcraft book is $11 for 72-hours of access, AND you can save every file you download for later use. Ditch the Chilton POS book, get the real, current Ford manual, and then we can all be 100% sure.
The 101 lb-ft spec on the ball joints might have been a hold-over from the D50 TTB in the old body style trucks, and it got updated in 01-02 when the new, larger axle started being put in. Same ball joints, updated specs.
Take that Chiltons manual and toss it in the recycle bin.
They are so inaccurate it's silly.
Part of the reason for the low torque on the lower joint first is to help
seat the upper joint so it does not just spin as you go about torquing it.
Even after doing that they sometimes will still slip. If yours have the hex
key hole then you can use an allen key to hold it while you get a few turns
on it with a box end wrench. Then go and do the top one to spec and install
the pin. Don't back the nut off to line it up. After that then final torque the
lower nut. One thing that I did was to turn the knuckle between each step.
I thought I had the older Ford service manuals. But sadly I only go back
to 2003 for the DVD manuals.
For the ball joints, the parts should be the same for D50 and D60s for those years, so I'd use the spec that comes with the parts. For Moog, that's 69 and 150 lb-ft: MOOG Steering & Suspension Parts | The Problem Solver
I have 133 lb-ft for the 4 hub mounting studs.
The Motorcraft book is $11 for 72-hours of access, AND you can save every file you download for later use. Ditch the Chilton POS book, get the real, current Ford manual, and then we can all be 100% sure.
The 101 lb-ft spec on the ball joints might have been a hold-over from the D50 TTB in the old body style trucks, and it got updated in 01-02 when the new, larger axle started being put in. Same ball joints, updated specs.
Do you happen to have a link for the access to the Motorcraft book? I'd love to download a few pages for the work I'm doing on my front suspension this week!
Happy New Year 2016 is NOW here 
