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I have a 1975 Highboy 250 4X4 with bad U-joints and ball joints. Have any of you done this front end work? I recently was laid off and have been quoted 1200.00 to do this work, I have a big long sob story, got divorced, lost my house, shop and don't have many tools left. Blah, blah, blah. But me and my little boy are trying to rebuild. I cannot afford to have this work done. I think I can borrow the tools and I have a press kit, but have never done this job myself, both sides need to be done and this is my only rig. Can any of you give suggestions or maybe have seen a video? Suggest better brand in ball joints than others so I am not doing this again in a year(same with U-joints)? Are upper and lower the same, so I order 4 of the same ball joint? I see keywords such as "spanner wrench to set preload". I just don't want to get into this job and do it incorrectly and eff something up and have it unsafe. Any suggestions are welcome and thanks in advance.
My son and I did the front U-joints on his F150, and it wasn't too bad. However be prepared for a tough time getting the old ones out. For us, my father in-law carefully used a cutting torch to get the old joints out. Getting the C-clips and the caps to budge with a press would have been rough.
Luckily our ball joints were okay. We were prepared to replace them. I bought a spanner wrench from Napa (50.00) that I didn't have to use. And yes at least on the F150, upper and lower are different.
Make sure you soak everything with Kroil or Pb blaster a couple of days before you start.
Might also consider all bearings too, since you will have it all torn apart.
Check Rock Auto for parts. I'm not sure if they carry the spanner wrench. From Napa it was an OTC brand.
Did the ball joints and front shaft U-Joints this last summer on my 76 F250, wasn't to bad. I did use a press for some of it and a separator/puller tool for the u-Joints, bet I didn't spend more than $500 including the tools, cheap shop press from Harbor Freight will do you wonders. Lots of good videos out there for U-Joints and Ball Joints, and lots of folks on a budget. You can do u-Joints with a hammer on some sockets if your really motivated. Ball joints take some more loving... Oh and the tool they are talking about for pre-load can be ordered for about 30$ and looks like this. I used Spicer Ball joints and U-Joints, and don't use or install a grease Zirk on the front axle shaft u-Joints, they don't have enough clearance and will wack the yokes. All the torque specs can be found in a manual or poking thru posts online, shoot me a message if you want more details and such, hell ill even mail ya that little socket if ya just send it back when your done, I have a little journal i kept when I did mine.... Just hola if ya need info... https://www.summitracing.com/parts/m...CABEgKKuvD_BwE
