I took my '94 in for an alignment - fearing it wouldn't be that simple. My fears were right.They quoted me $825 for upper and lower ball joints, front axle Ujoint and alignment. Well, I have more time than money (understatement), so I'll be going at the ball joints myself. Never done 'em before, but I"ll figure it out. Anyway, for curiousity sake, does that sound like a reasonable estimate?

Should I be replacing my front brakes while I do the ball joints? Seems like it would make sense.

Thanks for info. Like I said, never done balljoints before. Any tips from the experts here?

 

Ball joints are around $80 a pair, that's $160 just for those, and you add in labor at $60-$80 per hour, and it gets real expensive.
I would replace the pads as well, fairly inexpensive.
Most expensive words when working on Bronco's: "While I'm There"

 

the 'ol Haynes manual will be worth it's weight for this one...Any tips/tricks to look out for?

 

scootin,
The place you took your truck to for all that work sounds reasonable, I say that because my friend spent about $1200 on his '96 Bronco. They did 4 ball joints, one u-joint, new camber sleeves and put new manual lock hubs. Wish he would waited for me to do the work but someone else did it and still can't get the alignment right.

I did all the work on my '96 and did put in a bit more with parts and spent about $800. I replaced all the u-joints (3) on the front axles, put new dust shields, abs sensors, axle pivot bushings, camber sleeves, ball joints and put in new rotors. I would replace the rotors and pads while you have everything apart.

If you're mechanically incline then this work shouldn't be a problem. It's going to be a big job, it took me 3 days on my truck. Anyway if you have the right tools and a good repair manual then you're all set to go. Good luck.

Warren

 

Get the info on this site about r&r for balljoints. I remember in my Chiltons for my 87 bronco they had it backwards. I'm not sure which one (uppper or lower) has to go in first but the book was wrong.

Whoever did the writeup here knows what he's talkin about.

Billy

 

I'm not looking forward to it, but it's gotta be done, and I don't have the $$ to have the shop do it. This write-up makes it pretty clear. Heres the tech article by a guy named Keith - I assume it's ok to post it here. Thanks to Keith...

http://www.off-road.com/ford/bigbron...balljoint.html

 

Treat the abs sensors with care. I broke one of mine during disassembly. It set me back an additional 55$.

 

remove the spindle castings and take them to a shop
have them remove and replace the ball joints
my made in china hydraulic press could'nt do it
but 30 min and $40 at 4wheelparts I was good to go

 

Nah, just rent a press. $100 deposit at Auto Zone and whenever you bring it back you get a full refund so it costs you nothing. If you're using a 1/2" drive ratchet you'll need a cheater pipe, i usually use my 3/4" drive ratchet set on ball joints and rarely need a cheater pipe.

 

I just did my whole front end 300 $ for everything and a whole days work saved a butt load of money I disconnected the abs sensors at the end of the harness and worked around them then paid the 70 $ for the allingment. not to hard to do lots of help in this forum need a 1 5/16 wrench or socket for the top joint Good luck peter

 

After you do your work, if you plan on keeping your Bronco for a couple of years, take it to Firestone and get a lifetime alignment. It's less than $125.00 and you can take it back every 5,000 miles if you want to. The guy at Firestone recommended me get mine realligned every time I rotate the tires and since I have the lifetime, I do just that. I have used the lifetime probably 9 or 10 times so far.

Good luch with the joints. Ball and u's that is !