Having never been into the front end of my X in was nice going here
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/354091-how-to-replace-your-super-duty-ball-joints.html to give me a hand.

Starting on the left I found I had an inside brake pad down into the rivets. The PO said he had just done the brakes and the outside was perfect. I've only put on 18K so I didn't expect to find any brake issue. I have never felt a grind or heard a squeal. The left BJ also was toast. Moving the the right I found the BJ tight but....the unit bearing is junk. I'll be getting the ProSteer ball joints pressed in tomorrow. I had considered getting the tools but a buddy said he'd do it so..why not?

ProSteer here Dynatrac ProSteer Ball Joints

The budget is taking a bit of a beating so I'm going to have to go back together with stock brakes. I'm a bit bummed but you can't have everything.

Between having a bad unit bearing and a bad ball joint, I'm expecting to have much better steering. I'm hoping to cut down on the wandering. I did the steering box mod and it helped substantially.

Mrs. Digger is going to have to wait on the new .380 she wanted.
<O</O

 

I just did ball joints on mine and actually was sadly disappointed that none of the wanded went away. I had tried the steering mod but was concerned about tightening too much, not knowing squat about engines/drivetrains about what too tight might sound like (aka grinding etc). I also have D rated tires which are underinflated which will cause a lot of wander on larger tires. When I get my new tires on and get them inflated near the max and a front end alignment I know I will start narrowing down the remaining wander. After getting the mechanicals down, I will then switch over to some minor cosmetic stuff I have been meaning to do.

On a side note, I just picked up a set of Wagner thermoquiet pads to throw on the front, Ended up costing me about $38 w/tax
for the pads at Advance auto parts....was $51 and then a $15 rebate. They also had the ceramic Pads for $68 plus a $15 rebate.

 

So the job is done but not without it's challenges.

I replaced all the seals, 1 rotor, both sets of pads, 1 unit bearing. The knuckle seals were a #$%@&!! I couldn't do this without a press. I eventually took them to my buddy (he also pressed in the ball joints). He has done tons of these rigs and said these seals were the toughest he's ever done. He even wiped one out during the install.

After I thought I was ready to finish up the install, I found a seized slider pin. This, obviously, was the cause of the premature brake pad failure on the left side. After nearly 90 mins of trying to free up the pins, including a torch and a BFH, I checked into my options. It didn't take much research to discover this is a very common issue. The huge, cast iron, caliper bracket is easily found at nearly every auto part store. I could only find it with a caliper but that was OK. I expected it to be expensive but with a unloaded caliper it was less than $75.

After installing the new bracket and getting the brakes finished I took it for a much delayed test drive. The results were fantastic. The truck seemed much more stable with less wandering. The frontend was also much quieter.

Given the problems that seem to be common with these frontends, I recommend that you have more resources ($$) and time available when you dig into one of these rigs. As I can attest, a simple project can turn into a money pit with your rig on jackstands for much longer than you originally expect.