Hello all,
Just wanted to introduce myself to everyone by showing you the new used 1994 f150 xl 5.0 I got from my wife's grandfather. Only 96K. It was his oilfield truck before he passed, so it's pretty beat up, but I think I can bring her back.

First off let me list the items of Issue I will be trying to tackle in the next month. Fortunately this is a hobby/weekend truck for now and I have a daily driver.

Tie Rods - left right and middle are shot
Ball Joints - upper and lower need replaced
I-beam pivot bushings - ..... shot.

I really only plan to replace the tie rods, tie rod ends, and ball joints for the immediate moment. Hopefully I will be able to update this thread as time progresses.

I wanted to give a little background. I used to play with imports and that is where I learned to take things apart. I guess if you take a throw away car from someone and sell it working fine... you probably learned something along the way. Please don;t judge me by my previous interests.

The internet is great and I have spent this evening watching great Ball Joint replacement and Tie rod replacement videos that have left me confident in the idea I can complete these tasks. I'm hoping to contribute the the great knowledge base I have already found on this site as well as the internet as a whole.

You can plainly see my front end is about as sturdy as a rubberband. I just got some budget Patherfinder SUV Sport tires on today to find out my suspension is in shambles. To drive straight, my wheel is ****ed 45 degrees to the left.







Tune in.... this should be interesting. I'm going to start buying parts tomorrow and try the replacements/fixes the mon & tues after Christmas...... with the help of my new air compressor.

 

Here's some daytime pics... Prior to the new tires.

 

Okay, all done with the front end replacement.

New Shocks
New tie rod ends
new tie rods
new upper ball joint
new lower ball joint
new rotors
new brakes

I'll try to take some pics tomorrow, but I wanted to let the average driveway mechanic know some of the variances I found on my 1994 ford f150 xl 5.0 L.

- the upper ball joint had no snap ring
-The upper ball joint replacement had a snap ring but was not used in the install.
-The upper ball joint had a nice metal sleeve that didn't sit flush once installed.
-The lower joint had a snap ring.
-the shocks came out super easy
-the upper ball joints required serious hammer action to free the old ones
-the new upper ball joints required 2 180lb+ men to stand on an 80lb vice while a 260lb man viced it in
-don't mix up your ZERG ( grease nipples) it took us 15 min to match the right nips to the right tie rod or ball joint
-the $1.99 grease packs for the rotors are awesome. I call bs on two wheels, it really is enough for the inner and outer on on wheel. buy 2
- old tie rods require love taps from a real hammer on the top of the bolt for somoem ball joint splitting forks (pickle forks) to work
- Brake cleaner is your friend
- Fast orange is a better friend

 

Missed when this thread was started, but must say sure it shows some signs of wear and tear (more so underneath), however for a work truck that is around 16-17 years old its actually pretty sharp . Thanks for posting the info, welcome to the site, and look forward to more updates as you progress.