Learn from my mistakes!

I just replaced the ball joints on my 86 f150 after much cussin', hammerin', cussing, cussing, and a little bit more cussing and hammering thrown in for good measure.
At first, even though I read and thought I was informed I was actually hammering and pressing the wrong way.

Who knows how much aggravation I could have saved if I'd done it right the first time. I spent about 1/2 an hour hammering the lower ball joint with a 4 lb mini sledge on the bottom of the joint thinking it would pop out the top.
Then when I figured out you have to press them down I hammered the top one flush with the spindle. (The metal spread.) Once I had the spindle removed it wouldn't fit over the spread out metal threaded part of the lower joint that I had been wailing on with my sledge...Insert hack saw and another 10 minutes of my life wasted.

So this is how to do it right. Or at least how I did it once I figured out what to do.

Ok, remember PB Blaster is your friend. Use it liberally and use it often. Get the big C Clamp press thingy from Auto Zone or if you're really into it go buy it at Harbor Freight for $40. Get a big breaker bar or cheater pipe and let the fun begin!

>Remove the snap ring on the top joint and remover the cotter pin and the castle nut on the upper joint. It takes a 15/16 wrench and no, your 1/2" drive socket wrench won't fit. Prepare to be here awhile.
>Loosen the lower joint nut with a 1 1/8" wrench but leave it on so that it catches the spindle when it drops instead of your foot.
>Now you have to remove the spindle by whacking it a bunch of times to break it free. Make sure you mark the location of the camber adjuster before you break the spindle free.
>You should now be staring at 2 ball joints covered in rust and mocking your attempts to remove them.
>Upper joint first, lower second. They press out DOWNWARD!
>The press might work the first time or you can use the threaded bolt as a punch to get the thing moving like I did. Hammering in anger is fun right?
>When in doubt use more PB Blaster.

Here's a link to a video of some guy using the clamp press. I was clueless about how to use this thing properly and I even broke one of the recieving cups. So this really helped me out. (Mods if links aren't allowed I'll edit it out.)
How to Press Out a Truck's Lower Ball Joint | Expert Village Videos
And here's how to get the new ones in...
How to Install a Truck's Lower Ball Joint | Expert Village Videos

Just don't hit your hand with your sledge hammer. It hurts!

 

I appreciate this post. I am going to try to keep track of it till I get to a high speed connection, so I can watch the video. I just bought a balljoint press myself.

 

Glad it's useful to you.

I know part of the fun in fixing stuff is figuring out for yourself, but once I saw the videos I realized I had figured it out wrong!

 

is this the proceedure on replacing them on a 4x4?

My truck gains negative camber when I go in reverse, and I'm thinking it's the balljoints that need replacing.

 

Just jack up the front underneath the axle, and get someone to wiggle the tire with their hands at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions. You will see play in the balljoints right away if they are worn.

Frontends are a little strange and complicated as far as geometry and the forces on the parts. I just had a strange experience with mine. I have a old used alignment lift I bought and put in my garage, and it has the roller ball pads on the front that the tires sit on. I had my 89 sitting on the pads, and I took the steering linkage loose. Boy was that a mistake. The front tires got away from me and turned. I could grab either front tire and force it around straight, but if I let go it would swing back. I guess this doesn't happen if you work on it on the ground, but those roller pads made it show up right away. I am assuming what is causing this is the caster built into the frontend. I didn't realize the linkage has that much pressure on it all the time, even driving straight.

 

It's similar, but look at this page to see the differences.

Bronco Ball Joint Replacement - Trucks 4x4 @ Off-Road.com

I have a 4x2 so my write-up is aimed at replacing ball joints on the rear wheel drive trucks.
If you grab the wheel by the top and bottom when it's jacked off the ground and there's front and back play, it's most likely your ball joints. But it could be your wheel bearings and since they're around $20 total for the inner and outer, you might want to replace them too if you're doing your ball joints.

It would really be a bad day if you lost a wheel goin' down the highway cuz your bearings were shot and you had new ball joints. Ask me how I know that...

 

[quote=Franklin2;6812484]Just jack up the front underneath the axle, and get someone to wiggle the tire with their hands at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions. You will see play in the balljoints right away if they are worn.

Oops I repeated what you said. Well, at least we're on the same page.

 

The neg camber when backing up is an illusion, they toe way in, from my experience, this is a "normal " thing for ford suspensions and I have seen lots of trucks that do that and drive fine with no play in steering or suspension

 

wow seriously?

I had the front end apart last weekend when I threw the new steering linkage kit onto it (drag links + ti-rods, everything in front of the pitman arm).

I grabbed the tires when I had each up and gave them a tug as hard as I could from 12/6 and 9/3 positions and there wasn't any play once I had it all back together. There was lots of play from 9/3 with the old ti-rods/steering arms.

I swear the front tires lean WAY in when I backed up and parked it on the driveway later.

My toe settings are probably off, as the tires howl a bit going down the road, but they're 35's and really soft so I had trouble finding a reference point to measure and just matched the new steering arm lengths up with the old.

I don't want to pay for an alignment until I know I've got everything sorted and tight on the front end...

 

The negative toe and camber in reverse thing is normal, especially on a truck with a lift, that's just the nature of the beast.

 

Quote : "I don't want to pay for an alignment until I know I've got everything sorted and tight on the front end..."
If your tires are howling a little you will be buying tires soon and paying for an alignment. The shop should tell you if you have any other problems before they do the alignment

 

haha I don't think tire wear is an issue, it's my #4 vehicle and I've put about 20 miles on it since owning it.

I have next friday off, and will try to get it aligned then, but I think I'm going to try centering and adjusting the steering box this weekend if it isn't raining, otherwise I'm going to find some mud