Ball joint troubles
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Senior User
Joined: May 2003
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From: Baton Rouge, LA
Ball joint troubles
Hey guys, Im in the middle of replacing my lower ball joints in a 2000 2-wheel drive Ranger. Im having trouble getting the old ball joint to clear the spindle. I have been using the ball joint removal tool to get some leverage on it but i just cant quite clear it. The only way i can see to clear it is to remove the spindle from the upper control arm, but i dont want to mess up those upper ball joints becuase they are still good. The "lower ball joint removal procedure' in the technical section is not working. PLEASE HELP!
Last edited by bassaway; May 22, 2005 at 05:05 PM.
Junior User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 60
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From: Spring TX
The upper ball joint is held on by a pinch bolt and is easy to loosen up as long as you have a jack under the lower control arm. Support the arm, remove the nut from the bolt, tap it out with a hammer and small punch, and the upper ball joint will slip out with a little tap on the spindle. Only thing holding the spindle then will be the tie rod end, but you need a remover for that. Good luck 
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Senior User
Joined: May 2003
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From: Baton Rouge, LA
Thanks,
My dad was giving me a hand while I was doing it and he insisted that I didnt need to remove the pinch bolt, just loosen it. Thats what was giving me the problems. About 2 hours later i decided to remove the pinch bolt just to make sure its not keeping the upper from coming loose and sure enough it was! It was a peice of cake after that.
After all was done I test drove it and noticed when I turned the wheel, the truck would shimmy. It does this at very low speeds as well. I did lose some power steering fluid when i was testing the steering while the front end was still jacked up. Could this be whats causing the shimmy?
My dad was giving me a hand while I was doing it and he insisted that I didnt need to remove the pinch bolt, just loosen it. Thats what was giving me the problems. About 2 hours later i decided to remove the pinch bolt just to make sure its not keeping the upper from coming loose and sure enough it was! It was a peice of cake after that.
After all was done I test drove it and noticed when I turned the wheel, the truck would shimmy. It does this at very low speeds as well. I did lose some power steering fluid when i was testing the steering while the front end was still jacked up. Could this be whats causing the shimmy?
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Senior User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 355
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From: Baton Rouge, LA
After doing a quick search on my power steering problem, it seems like its most likely air in the system considering I turned the wheel quite a bit while the engine was off. Ill try to work the air out of the system when i get home today. If that doesnt work, looks like I will be flushing the system this weekend. 
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