I have to replace the lower balljoints on my 97 F150 4X4. I have never attempted the press fit ones before. My friendly neighborhood auto parts store let me borrow a tool to press out the old ones he said with a chuckle have fun!
how long can I expect this job to take and are there any tips or tricks that may save some headaches? Thanks for any help.

 

I'll be replacing my lower ball joints this afternoon along with a tie rod end. Cost of parts were only $102 at Napa. Conrads wanted $570 to do it. I'll let you know later today how it went.

 

It took me two hours, a blowtorch, sledgehammer and sweat&swearing.

 

Hey guys,
I need to replace the lower ball joints as well (97 f150 4x4). Unfortunately, i have to have pay to have it done. I have gotten estimates telling me that it requires taking off the whole knuckle assembly in order to get at the lower joint and will take a full day of labor ($700+). From looking around myself i was expecting closer to maybe $300 parts and labor. It'd be great if you can tell me if i am getting hosed. Can you do it w/out taking the whole wheel assembly apart, about how long did it take, and do you need to get an alignment after this?

Thanks!!

 

I happened to have an old wagon hub that fit over the ball joint fairly well,and i put the ball joint in the lower control arm.then, i used a floor jack to put pressure on it and hit the lower control arm with a 2lb hammer to drive it onto the ball joint.worked pretty good.and you do have to take the whole steering knuckle off to get to it.

 

Took my dad and I about 3 1/2 hours. Tie rod end was replaced in like ten minutes. As long as you have the right tools, you can do it.... its just time consuming. We only did the drivers side today. Torch, impact, sledge hammer and pickle fork really came in handy. My Chilton book actually said the lower ball joint is not servicable, like you would have to replace the whole control arm. The upper ball joint is definately not servicable! If my dad wasnt a mechanic, I would have gladly paid for someone else to do it. Like I said, Conrads said they would replace both lower ball joints and one tie rod end for a total of $570 parts and labor. I got my lower ball joints and tie rod end at Napa for $102. Yeah, pretty much everything had to come off. Since I know how we all like pics...




Yup, we did the same thing, cept we used a 3 pound hammer.

 

that's why they call em ford wrenches,cause sometimes all it takes is a good hit and it'll go right together.it really isn't a novice project cause if you screw it up it can break and then you will be in real trouble.but its not hard if you use common sense,a little mechanical abillity and a big hammer.

 

Well it was not all that bad. Did passenger side first. that took about three and a half hours Mainly because it took a lot of aerokroil and really twisting on my three jaw puller to get the spline end of the shaft out of the hub. It took a little work to figure out how to get the knuckle and lower arm seperated. I got MOOG joints that came with clear easy to follow instructions. I went ahead and put new pads on while I had it apart. The drivers side went alot faster. About two hours.
Only problem on that side the Rotor had alot of corrosion and would not clear the hub to come off. Never seen that before! took a little work chipping rust off and cleaning it up to get it off.
I am going to have to say with out the press I borrowed I would have had a difficult time with it . I had the 5 lb. hammer out but never needed to use it.
By the way The folks that inspected the truck wanted 470.00 to replace the joints another 70.00 for alignment and 89.00 for brakes. I spent 121.00 for all parts and part of a saturday . Besides sore knees and stiff back it was well worth it to do myself.

 

 

a good way to seperate the knuckle from the ball joint is just hit the side of the knuckle with a hammer,breaks em free real quick.i think there was a flat spot cast into it.works good on tie rod ends too(the tie rods have a good flat spot to hit too) i just hammered out my old joints and used a big socket so i wouldn't hit the control arm.

 

I used my ball joint seperator to break it loose my problem was actually getting the clearance to get the spindle away from the lower control arm. I figured it out.

 

I had to get mine replaced, with only 60000 easy miles. Not too impressed with the non greasable factory joints! Unfortunately, I am currently homeless (staying in a crash pad), so no place to work. They estimated over $700. Said that to align it, the upper A arm had to come off to install some adjusters, which ads a lot of extra labor. Turns out, they installed the lower joints, checked the alignment, and it was perfect, so I got out the door for just over $500. That also included a turning of the rotors, as mine (at least one) were warped. The brake pads were still good, around 3/4 left. At least now I can grease them! $120 for parts and doing it my self sure would have been nice.

 

i don't like using pickle forks cause they tear the boots,no matter how careful you are and they're still a bitch half the time,a good wack with a hammer and they'll loosen up pretty quick

 

New joints. New boots. No problem. I didn't want to beat on it just in case I had to put it back together .

 

Y'all do realize that heating suspension with a torch parts tends to fatigue them, right? Right?

Fortunately I don't live in a rust belt state, but everytime I've replaced them, I supported the lower control arm with a hammer and beat the joint out. With a big socket or something supporting the new joint, whack around the control arm (carefully) to drive the new joint in. I don't do enough ball joints to warrant buying a press, and this has always worked for me.