Lower Ball joints

M

Marine

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Well, after putting up with the most god awful shreiking sound for a week, I replaced the lower ball joints last night. Here's how:

Remove tire, disassemble brakes, remove caliper and caliper bracket. Remove sway bar end link and speedometer sensor and the tie rod. Once all these items are removed, remove spindle assembly from the upper and lower control arms, also remove the nut from the torsion bar that runs up to the radiator frame. Once the spindle is free from the car, lay it on it's side and use a LARGE pickle fork to start seperating the lower ball joint from the spindle. I used a hammer to strike the threaded part of the ball joint to get it out of the spindle. Once seperated, reattach the spindle to the upper control arm, reassemble the brakes and the speedometer.

At this point, you have the lower control arm out, there is only one way to get the old ball joint out, that is to press it out with a HUGE hydraulic press. I have access to one, because all military bases have hobby shops, where you can take your car to do work. So I took both my lower control arms and new ball joints in to have them swapped out. The guy was nice enough to do it for me and not charge me a cent! If you dont have a hydraulic press, then find a Machine shop or a garage where you will probably have to pay to have it done, but it will be less than the price of buying 1 lower control arm assembly. Once the new ball joints have been pressed in, replace them on the car and have it aligned.

If you have any questions about how I did it, or the method I used, just ask. It took me 3 hours, and would have taken less had I removed the spindle immediately. I had a narrow pickle fork, and it would not seperate the spindle from the ball joint. This replacement saved my life. I cannot express how bad the squeal was. I paid $26.99 apiece for the ball joints. The new control arms from Maxx were over $100.00 apiece. This is a fairly easy job, and I believe even a "Rookie" could do it fairly easily. Sorry for no photos, I was racing the clock.
 
Let me add that I have also replaced the upper control arms, and the Sway bar end links, now I am having trouble getting it aligned, apparantly I need to replace both inner tie rods and strut rod bushings. Yaaay.
 
Marine said:
Let me add that I have also replaced the upper control arms, and the Sway bar end links, now I am having trouble getting it aligned, apparantly I need to replace both inner tie rods and strut rod bushings. Yaaay.
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If you are doing all this, save yourself some time and money and get the poly bushings for the front end. The ONLY bad thing is that the bushings you need to replace do not come in poly....YET (according to mn12 Performance). Go to MN12 Performance and order the front end poly kit for the Mark VIII. Not only will the bushings (except again the strut rod bushings) last longer, but it will help the car to perform much better....and hey, you have most of the front end ripped apart anyways....this stuff only takes an extra hour or so to replace, and you need to align the car anyways....... :Beer
 
My suggestion is to do the inner and outers at once cuz you don't have to unbolt the outer till you would get it out, just unscrew it from under the boot, its real easy, just have a big enough crescent wrench, bench vise and a can or to of PB.
 
Got it done, now my steering wheel is 90 degrees off, but it tracks alot better, I aligned it with a tape measure and some chalk. I'm waiting for the alignment rack (a hunter) to be fixed, apparantly after my car came off the rack the other day, the next car broke it. The car rides soooooo smooth
 
Markviiiedrea said:
thats good to hear, the tie rod are easy, just wait till you get to the upper ball joints! hehe!
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I did mine two weeks ago. Replace the upper control arms, Stabilizer Links, ball joint, and air bags, and rear shocks. After that, I certainly needed an alignment.
 
I replaced the upper control arms a week before I did the lower ball joints. I'm done with the front end, except the &*@! ING motor mounts
 
Squeal from ball joints up front - dealer rip off?

While traveling my car developed a load squeal and a dealer replaced the upper control arm which did not solve the problem, but a little grease with a needle attachment did. I am in a battle with the dealer over replacing the wrong part, here is my letter to West Memphis Ford:
Dear Darick Russell:
While traveling thru Memphis my car developed a load squeak when I turned the wheel. I dropped into you service center around 7:30 am on April 27, 2006 and was greeted by Susan Campbell. I had to wait until 8:00 before a mechanic arrived. I told both Susan and the mechanic, who Susan did not want me to talk to that it need some lubrication. After waiting until around 9:30, I was told that in order to fix the squeak that they would have to replace the steering control arm and it would cost $375 and would take most of the day. I reluctantly agreed and rented a car from Enterprise. I was told I would be called when the car was ready. I received nothing in writing; Susan had the estimate scribbled on a sheet of paper. This is strange because I normally get a written estimate as a matter of standard practice.
I never received the call that I was promised and was on my way back to my motel room, so I just dropped in. At that time I was told the bill would be around $440. I immediately objected because the estimate was $375, after a long discussion agreed to take to shop consumables off the bill. I was told the consumables consisted of the paper they put in the car to keep it clean and some cleaners; for which $30 seems outrageous. There was no mention of consumables or tax when the estimate was given. I paid the bill using my Discover card and went on my way to Nashville. I understand that it is illegal to exceed an estimate by over 10% without informing the customer and getting his consent. Susan tried to do this.
The very first parking lot I turned into in Nashville the squeak or squeal started again, and was even loader. I called your service department and talked to Susan, who suggested I take it to another repair facility. The next morning, I went to Packard’s BP on 2417 Lebanon Road, Nashville, TN 37214 phone 615 883-0606 and was helped by Jeff; who after listening to the sound asked me to pull the car over to the garage where he jacked it up and lubed two joints using a lube needle and the problem went away and has not come back, even after finishing my 3000 mile journey. His total charge was $0.0. Isn’t it strange that a small gas station mechanic could diagnose a problem in 2 minutes and repair it in 5 minutes while a big Ford dealer took all day and charged $410 and did not fix the problem? Some thing is wrong.
I called back and told Susan of the results and she argued that the car needed the part, well my car may very well need a rebuilt engine, but I did not ask to replace needed parts, I asked to have a squeaking joint lubed, which was not done. Instead I was told that a part needed to be replaced, which did not fix the problem. I then asked for the service manager and was told he was out till Monday. I also asked for the General Manager and he was also out till Monday. I called back again and both were out, I called a third time and left a message. My call was finally returned on May 15, 2006 by Mike Garcia who left a message on my answering machine, stating that he had received something from Discover and needed to talk to me. He said he tried to reach me at 302 999-9999(number is private), but there is no record of any call from him to that number. If he called he left no message. I called Mike back the next day and he has not returned my call.

I do not feel that I owe your dealership one cent and would like to be reimbursed for the rental car fee of $30.63 and motel room $45.29. I also lost a day of my vacation which was almost ruined because of your dealerships actions. Thank goodness for honest people like Jeff at BP. I have considered filling a complaint with Ford Motor Company, the Attorney General, and the Better Business Bureau, but will hold off any action until I hear from you or June 1, 2006, which ever comes first.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, I THINK I WAS RIPPED OFF
 
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