After nearly 400k miles the ball joints on my 99 F250 4x4 truck finally wore out. In all reality, they probably wore out sometime around the 350k-375k mark because the wear pattern on my front tires indicate that I have been driving with worn joints for some time now.

As some know....the OE 4x4 ball joints didn't come with grease fittings so I have never been able to lube them all these years. To my surprise, the Motorcraft replacement joints come with grease fittings so that is pretty cool. I ordered mine from Rock Auto (I used to order almost all my stuff from Parts Guy Ed in years past but can't do that any longer....). At any rate, Rock Auto has the ball joints for about $24 for upper and $31 for lower. Bargain if you ask me...

The upper joints come with a plug in the grease hole and a 90 degree zerk fitting. The idea is that you can use the 90 degree fitting to grease the ball joint, then remove it and install the plug. I did this on the bench but it looks like the fittings are accessible once installed in the truck....just rotate the axle shaft so the u-joint clears. Then install the 90 degree zerk, grease the joint and then remove the fitting and replace with the plug.

I didn't take any photos or a write up since there is already a great write up posted here:
Ford Super Duty Ball Joint Replacement Procedure - Superdutypsd.com

Take special note of the torque sequence when reinstalling the knuckle onto the axle. It's detailed in the write up and also shown in the factory service manuals if you happen to have a copy in print or electronically.

My driver's side went easily enough. The passenger side wasn't so lucky....the needles in the torrington bearing had exploded into tiny little pieces and it chewed up the stub axle on that side so the stub axle had to be replaced. Again, available from Rock Auto....Dana part number 2002692 for $80.79. The torrington bearing is cheap. B21110....standard part number that has been in use for years. I think it ran about $6 for the bearing.

Overall, a fairly simple job assuming you have access to the necessary tools. My 2000 F250 needs hub units replaced (225k miles on that truck) so I am going to go ahead and replace the ball joints while I am in there. I might as well take advantage of the great weather we have now in Arizona and tackle these projects before the summer gets here. Miserable to work outside in the summer around here....

 

Sure would like some pictures. Guess it didn't happen.

​​​Spicer makes a ball joint and seal kit available on Amazon for less than $200. I would entertain that if you don't want to piece it all together.

 

That is a good idea. I didn't think to check Amazon. I think I spent about $370 on my parts but that also included new drag link, tie rods etc for the steering system. Those parts were original also so I felt like it would be best to replace everything in one shot while I have the truck tore apart. Do you have a link to the Amazon kit? I am curious if it includes knuckle seals.....

I took pictures and had them on my phone. Then I deleted them all by accident before I could transfer to my computer. I can only access FTE on my computer....for whatever reason I can't get on this forum with my phone or my tablet, which is probably the reason I don't get to check in as much these days.

Forum still seems pretty active though, must be a ton of these trucks out there still.

 

Timely thread! I need to change my ball joints for the second time now. Under 30k with the Spicer ball joints...aaargh.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-to-start.html

 

@Shake-N-Bake
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00GAPDY34/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I27OCEC57J8UL0&colid=1Y4EQ5S OF11EM&psc=0

@SRB any ideas on why they failed so quickly?

 

The only thing that comes to mind is about 15K miles of towing and scaling shows the front axle carrying around 4500 lbs. This is what the truck is designed for so I don't accept that as a cause and won't buy Spicer again.

 

I used the Spicer/Dana kit pn 2020314. It includes the seals, including the yellow o ring. OEM baby!

For those disinclined to OEM the brand XRF is pretty fashionable. I went XRF on the tie rod at the pitman arm after dismal life from a Raybestos part.

Greg - What brand drag link etc did you use? Mine's only at approx 230k but with about an inch of steering wheel travel. Aside from the XRF tie rod above, the rest of the travel is cumulative slop from every other link down there. Links are on my radar.

 

The steering parts were also ordered from Rock Auto and I selected the AC Delco brand. They were good quality parts, matched my OE parts exactly. Since my truck is in a desert climate, I was able to reuse the adjusters without any issues because there was very little rust. The OE adjusters fit the replacement AC Delco parts exactly.