I've been reading through this thread for a few weeks now and was bouncing back and forth about whether I wanted to attempt to replace the lower ball joints, upper control arms, and coil/shock assemblies on my own and after calling around and finding that it would cost me $517 and a good 6 hours in the shop I'm leaning more towards doing it myself (I have a mechanic friend that will probably help me out).

From what I've read in the forums it seems that most ball joint kits don't always have the right adapters in them so I was hoping on some recommendations as to what kit and more specifically, what adapters will I need to do this.

I'm fairly new to doing my own work and have only done some simple things like changing starters, alternators, tie-rod ends....but the idea of pulling the axle out (in some how-to's) makes me a little nervous. It would suck to screw up my daily driver...lol.

 

Recently did both lower BJ's, upper CA's which come with the upper BJ's in em and added the Rancho QL while I was at it. I went to Autozone and got their ball joint press kit for $99. Once I was done, I returned it for a full refund. I did have to take two trips to Autozone as the first kit they gave me had been cross threaded by the previous user. Got all my parts (Moog) from Rockauto.

I didn't remove the axles. I just removed everything from the wheel end and then strapped the axle up out of my way while I worked on the lower BJ. Air tools made life much easier also. The IWE is the only somewhat fragile part I can recall.

Collateral damage: I broke the plastic ring on the pass side IWE which prevented the hub from unlocking so I had to go get a new one from Ford. I got good at disassembling everything because it took me a couple of times taking it apart before I figured out what was wrong with the hub and the only way I figured it out was to compare it with the new IWE, that's how clean/straight it broke.

Yes, it would suck to screw up your truck, wait, let me rephrase that, it did suck! But, even with spending $120 at Ford to replace the part I broke, I was still ahead of the game financially.

 

Well I finally got all my parts in and I went ahead and invested in some tools that I'm sure will be used in the future (I have the 04 F150 that this project is on plus a 99 Explorer and 01 Expedition).

So far I've purchased 2 Moog lower BJ, 2 Moog UCA/BJ, the Rancho quickLIFT kit and Rancho RS9000XL shocks for rear. I also bought a couple of pickle forks, an impact wrench and sockets, a new racheting socket set, and a ball joint press by Powerbuilt model #648602. I'll try to post a photo of the bj press. It looks like it will have everything I need for my trucks. Was touting how it was for, among other vehicles, Ford 4x4s so we'll see...

A question for you. I took my left front wheel off this morning with the hopes of getting started and realized that the lower shock mounting bolt is freaking HUGE. I bought a 1-1/16 socket for the impact wrench but turns out that unless I want to put the impact on the bolt head I'll need a deep impact socket for the nut. I have a 24" breaker bar coming this week but if the thing is torqued at 400+ lb-ft I'm not sure I'll be able to break it free. My impact is capable of 550 ft-lb but no deep socket and I'm not sure that it will do any good putting it on the bolt head and at the moment I don't have a wrench big enough to hold the nut if I did try it. What did you do to get it off?

https://picasaweb.google.com/1092147...29503775959794

 

Your parts list is identical to what I used. If I recall, I put the impact on the bolt head and used the 1 1/16th (or whatever size it is, I have rad that it is actually a 30mm) to hold the nut. One side zipped right off. The other side wouldn't budge, I had to get the nut started with a 3/4" ratchet, but a breaker bar should work. Once it spins just a hair, the impact will take care of it. I was using an old impact, granted it was a top of the line Ingersoll Rand when it was new, so maybe your new impact will zip both off fine. No problem with turning the bolt instead of the nut.

The BJ press kit you got looks just like the one I used. After you press out your old lower BJ, make sure to apply some grease to the sides of the new one and get it started/lined up straight. I adjusted the torque on the impact down and went slow until I was sure the BJ was going in straight, then let er rip! It took less than 10 minutes a side and most of that was finding the right combination of spacers, etc. to use. Don't forget to add some snap-ring pliers to your list of tools, there is one on each BJ.

You are going to absolutely love the Rancho setup. Get the strut in before you re-attach the upper BJ, tie rod end and sway bar end link to make it easy. I also opted for new pads and rotors while was at it.

 

My pads and rotors are still in good shape and my budget is pretty much shot anyway so it's a good thing they are. Haven't picked up the snap-ring pliers yet but it's on my list.

Did you get the MyRide control for your shocks? I thought about it but decided it was a "toy" I could do without for now. I don't know how often I'll realistically need to change the settings...

I'm looking forward to getting it all installed but I don't have a garage and it's been raining on my days off...

 

Nah, no "My Ride" here, I am getting old so I just left all of the settings on 1, aka: rides like grandpas land barge of yore! I have adjusted the shocks a few times, like while towing 9700 lbs and it is very easy to reach around the tires to turn the *****.

 

+1. Skip the My Ride. It is an absolute PITA to install and get to not leak. I ended up tossing mine in the trash. Way easier to reach under and turn the **** on the shock.

I was able to get the shock mount nut off with just a breaker bar and 30mm socket. I made sure the people who did my alignment torqued those nuts back to spec because my torque wrench didn't go high enough.

Good luck

 

Thanks for the info. I can't tackle this project until next Monday between the rain and my work schedule. I was wondering about the actual size of the lower bolt. I had a 1-1/16in that seemed just a tad loose. I don't think the impact socket sets I ordered go up to 30mm so I may have to see what I can find locally.

I was also concerned about the MyRide having leaks and thought the air lines would be too exposed when off-roading and end up getting busted open anyway. It's a nice idea but short of having armored lines and some sort of compression fitting I think it's a problem waiting to happen.

My impact wrench only goes puts out around 350ft-lb forward but I've heard the bolt is spec'd out for like 405 (don't have my Chilton's manual in front of me at the moment).

 

Go here: https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...er-shocks.html