Ball Joints

[3/4 Ton Joe]

My next days off I am goin to replace upper and lower ball joints on my F350. I did a search on it in here and am wondering if I need to rent me a ball joint press for this year of truck. All the search threads I have read are on new trucks. It is 4wd. I do have a ford wrench (BFH) I also see that I have to take the top one out first and put back together other direction. If I think of it I will do pics of the project as it goes along.

Thanks
Joe

 

[kiwi f150]

Its best to use a splitter Joe - saves strees and agro.... a tool like this will do the job and is pretty cheap.

But if you feel the need to hammer away hit it just like this and 2 or 3 whacks with a medium BFH will sping it out ..... normally any way - sometimes when i'm doing them i will use the tool and put tension on it then give it a tap with the hammer just to spring it.

Hope this helps .

 

[3/4 Ton Joe]

Cool will have to give it a try.

Thanks
Joe

 

[3/4 Ton Joe]

After reading some other posts in here and trying the little test of pushing pullin on the sides and top and bottom I caome to the following. Ball Joints seem good, Tie rods must be bad. They really move left to right not top to bottom. So time to order some different parts.

 

[3/4 Ton Joe]

Do you have to take the brakes off and the rotor to do the ball joints? If so how do you get the brakes off????

Thanks
Joe

 

[kiwi f150]

No you won't need to take brakes off - if you use the tool i put a pic of in the second post you will have no trouble.

 

[3/4 Ton Joe]

So if I pop the tie rod end off Ill be good to go?

 

[kiwi f150]

No you won't need to drop the tie rod to change out the ball joints - just jack up the truck and put some wooden blocks under the frame rails and remove both front wheels at the same time so that it's easier to turn the hubs ... make sure you use blocks and not jacks to hold the truck up and chock the rear wheels too - idk what the front of one of these things weigh but i'm sure you aint gonna be able to lift it off yourself if it falls off a trolley jack .... been there and seen the results - NOT pretty.

Ok with all the safety drama out of the way remove the split pin from the castle nut on the ball joint take off the castle nut and then put it back on the ball joint upside down - screw it down so that it is level with the top thread on the ball joint .... what you do this for is to give the ball joint tool more "meat" to get a grip on then fit the ball joint seperating tool to the ball joint and tighten it up - if you are lucky it will seperate with a loud bang but more than likely you are going to need to do the ball joint splitter up as tight as you can get it then tap the housing around the ball joint with a hammer - you may need a drift or a punch to access it ... when you hit it give it a bloody great whack and it should spring the joint out .

 

[kiwi f150]

Hey Joe - i was just rereading your original post and saw you were 4wd - just check first and see if you have kingpins or ball joints in there .... maybe post a pic

 

[73F100Shortbed]

If there is no play in ball joints just leave them alone and change the tierods if that is where the play is and grease the whole frontend.

 

[BuzzGun79]

i reccomend the use of a good grade jack stand to support the vehicle,mine are cast iron & are suitable for up to 4 ton of weight..do not substitute wooden blocks {sorry kiwi} or even concrete blocks for jackstands.they may crack or break with the weight of the vehicle.been there done it.dont take chances with your life! a good pair may run you about 50 bucks which is way cheaper than a hospital bill or worse.work safely!

 

[kiwi f150]

i reccomend the use of a good grade jack stand to support the vehicle,mine are cast iron & are suitable for up to 4 ton of weight..do not substitute wooden blocks {sorry kiwi} or even concrete blocks for jackstands.they may crack or break with the weight of the vehicle.been there done it.dont take chances with your life! a good pair may run you about 50 bucks which is way cheaper than a hospital bill or worse.work safely!

No worries - you are right about using axle stands...... i thought about that after i posted - i use 12 inch by 12 inch blocks at home and do have a pair of axle stands i use at the workshop.

 

[BuzzGun79]

i just want you all to work safe man..."life can change with a blink of the eye" take it from someone who knows all to well

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Stands don't work so good on dirt or asphalt (in AZ in the summer), I use
cement blocks and wood. YMMV

Not all tie rod ends and ball joints that are loose have to be changed out,
some of them can be hammer-mechanic-ed back snug again. LOL
Fixed a lot of 4-wheeler/quad and VW/dune buggy tie rods that way.
Cowboy buddies did their trucks like that too.

It just depends on the vehicle and your money situation and frame of mind.
-You been brain washed or not?

Do you do your own thinking?

Before somebody tries to nay-say this away, just think about how it -was-
being driven just fine with -loose- steering before the "not playing by the
parts seller's rules" hammer-procedure was performed.

1) first determine how loose it really is*
2) remove it from the vehicle
3) remove the zerk
4) hammer it snug again
5) reinstall

*seen 'em before where they were scary-loose and not good candidates
for hammering snug again! ...(real ball joints with 5/16" of in-n-out play
in 'em!

Hammer mechanic in AZ

 

[BuzzGun79]

well Alvin if you ever had one go,like i did,you will use jack stands.i use to do it your way.i was very lucky to escape serious injury.i heard the concrete letting loose & got the hell out of there before it fell.the stands i have will work on all surfaces,they have a wide bottom, they may dig into asphalt or dirt but a flat piece of strong sheet metal at the base of the stand & ground will cure that..Bob

 

[Alvin in AZ]

well Alvin if you ever had one go,like i did,you will use jack stands.
i use to do it your way.i was very lucky to escape serious injury.
i heard the concrete letting loose & got the hell out of there before
it fell.Bob

What in the heck did you do?
Lay the hollow blocks on their sides?
...or was the surface they were based on hard and uneven?
What?

Alvin in AZ

 

[Mil1ion]

Stands don't work so good on dirt or asphalt (in AZ in the summer), I use
cement blocks

That is the worst suggestion you could ever make my Ford friend

 

[Truckin4life]

Cinder blocks are not such a great idea, they are brittle. A true concrete block though, yea i would use one. If i could get it in there... Then again cinder blocks and some wood used in the right fashion will work in a pinch.

 

[Alvin in AZ]

That is the worst suggestion you could ever make my Ford friend

I know guys that's used jack stands and had trouble and we've never had
trouble with 8x8x16 cement blocks. Got a set of jack stands my stepfather
gave me and he tried using them -one- time and the legs sank into the
asphalt and scared the crap out 'im. LOL

I just consider 'em scrap iron. YMMV

So don't go using blanket statements that cover "ever'body" because we
ain't -all- got permafrost for soil like you have at your house year-round.

--------------------------

When I was 4+1/2 years old I remember my dad coing in cussing me and my
older brother for not coming out after the car fell on 'im. Yeah, we heard
him yelling but he did a lot of that working on our cars and trucks and that
was a sure sign -not- to go out there! LOL

He got a few broken ribs from it.
He'd used stacked rims.

Hey, we were playing cards (Go Fish) and couldn't be interrupted danggit!
LOL

Can anybody else on here remember back to when they were 1+1/2 years
old? Or am I the only freak? :/

Alvin in AZ

 

[BuzzGun79]

Please Heed my Advice fellas....you may get away with using concrete blocks & wood many many times....it only takes that one time,then your life will change..if you survive that is.WORK SAFELY!!!!! ive seen enough people get hurt or worse!! over the years.BELIEVE ME!! if you dont think it can happen to you, YOU BETTER THINK AGAIN!