Ball Joint Replacement Procedure w/pics

[mwilson]

Here is the method I use to change my Ball Joints. Was a little nervous when I did the right side as I never done one with the ball joints pressed in the axle before so figured that a post of doing the left side might help someone else.



Picture 1 * Stripped down knuckle



Picture 2 * Loosen, but don't remove nuts. They will catch the knuckle when it drops.



Picture 3 * Pickle Fork. Use on upper, then lower, then upper. Should drop at that point.



Picture 4 * Knuckle dropped down.



Picture 5 * Knuckle off.

 

[mwilson]

Steps 6-10



Picture 6 * Knuckle finally laying on the ground... .



Picture 7 * Remove the snap-ring from the lower ball joint.



Picture 8 * I cut the lower ball joint stud off so that I can use my Dana 60 adapter and shallow OTC clamp that I already own. You are gonna' throw it out anyways...



Picture 9 * I pressed the lower one out first. Start this way until it breaks free, then switch to set-up in picture 10. Do this with a wrench or long handle ratchet so that you can feel what is going on. If the clamp starts to flex and you can't pull any more, then hit the end of the forcing screw. It might take a couple of whacks before it starts. Keep checking the tightness of the screw between each blow.



Picture 10 * Switch to this and finish pushing it out.

 

[mwilson]

Pictures 11-15



Picture 11 * Lower ball joint out. Oh Baby... ...



Picture 12 * OTC C-Clamp, Dana 60 adapters and various 3/4" drive sockets.

Get creative, it's cheaper.



Picture 13 * Press out upper ball joint. If you take the lower one out first then the forcing screw can be run up thru the lower ball joint hole. Much easier.



Picture 14 * Just another shot of the set-up. Long handle 1/2" drive ratchet is all that is needed.



Picture 15 * Upper ball joint out. Oh Baby again...

 

[mwilson]

Pictures 16-20



Picture 16 * Bare axle end. Will be wire brushed and coated with Never-Seez shortly.



Picture 17 * Knuckle cleaned and ready to be installed.



Picture 18 * Meet your new best friend. Don't be afraid to apply it to all of this.



Picture 19 * Set-up and pressing of upper ball joint. Remove grease fitting before starting.



Picture 20 * Close up of 19. Getting better at this. Have to keep stopping and take off rubber gloves before touching wife's new Kodak. If I get any Never Seez on that camera then I will be living in the Red Dodge.

 

[mwilson]

Pictures 21-25



Picture 21 * Top ball joint in and seated. Re-install grease fitting on top.



Picture 22 * Set-up for lower ball joint install. Orient grease fitting hole as shown below in picture 25 before you start pressing it in. Make sure truck is jacked up high enough so that you can get ratchet on the forcing screw. (Go ahead, ask me how I know that??)



Picture 23 * Spacer and plate change.



Picture 24 * Final push with hollow upper adapter.



Picture 25 * Ball joint installed, snap ring on and grease fitting in place. Place it about 5 degrees inboard from center.

 

[mwilson]

Pictures 26-28



Picture 26 * This is the most frustrating part right here. Getting the grease seal on the lower ball joint and not tearing it. Be patient, if that gets ripped then you have a real problem. Best method I have found is putting a little Syl-Glyde in the boot and then work the back part on first. Then use the water pump pliers gently to pull up the outside part of the seal as shown. You may have to work your way around the outside edge with the pliers and it will still pop off about 10 times, then when it is ready it will pop right on. Take your time.



Picture 27 * Assemble knuckle, tighten lower nut to 35 ft lbs, then tighten upper to 70 ft lbs, then tighten lower to 160 ft lbs. Install cotter pin, tighten it a little more to align cotter pin hole if needed. Never loosen it. Throw all of the other Never-Seezed parts in there and you are done.



Picture 28 * All done and now I can grease it all. Whew!!! Hope this helps somebody that hasn't done this style before.

 

[Ducman82]

real nice write up!

 

[jdbecker2]

Thank you very much! This will come in very helpful sooner rather than later...

 

[mwilson]

Your very welcome. This site has helped me many times and I wanted to do something in return that might help someone.

 

[EDankievitch]

What you went cheap No Carli's uppers????? Lol. Very nice job great pics.....

 

[rbattelle]

Excellent writeup. I always thought the lower joint was pressed UP and out. I guess down and out makes sense with the snap ring.

Are the ball joints sitting in tapered holes?

What brand joints did you use?

Ryan

 

[mwilson]

Carlis next time if these don't hold up, I promise.



Ryan,

The holes are straight and the joints are a press fit. Those ball joints are Moog brand, K7460 upper and K7467 lowers.

 

[DPalmquist]

Mwilson, AWESOME PICS and write-up, these will be helpful to alot for a long time. I'm in the middle of mine now, I can recommend that you use the Moog lower's As the Spicer/Raybestos lowers I got come with a plug and a Zert fitting. take the plug out and put Zert fitting in, for grease time. I can see from your pics. these will be BS for greasing. I'll be picking up Moog lowers tomorrow. Thanks much for all your work, Dave

 

[TimothyLong]

Great write-up and pics!! Thanks for taking the the time to post these!

 

[DBentley]

Thanks for the detailed steps and pics.
Good job.

 

[champspa]

thanks for the details mine has 261k on it now . its needed everything else but no joints yet.

 

[CumminsPower98]

I just did all 4 joints on an '05 3500 using the OTC 8031 kit that I just got. I agree, that upper boot was driving me nuts until I finally rounded up a piece of pipe just the right size, which slipped those boots on real quick with no worry of damage. I had them lubed up with silicone grease, which works well on rubber. I too used the Moog joints.



A quick tip for the rest in case it hasn't been mentioned (didn't read every word). Once you have the press real tight take a big hammer and give the outside of the joint bore a few good raps and you will get a big pop as it breaks loose. This will break the joint loose without possibly over stressing the press and it just makes it easier. The ones I did were so tight/rusted that the C-frame was begining to flex out of line just a tiny bit.

 

[Fisherguy]

My 06 has 5kk km on it and all 4 are shot already, this thread will come in handy if I gotta change the fricking things every 3 years.
(Dealer's doing it this time I hope)

 

[WoodChuck]

I used the Moog lowers and after one time off road they are worn out already, with only 2,000 miles I've got . 016" play on the driver side and . 030" on the passenger side.

The Moogs suck, I wish I would have gotten O. E. or Carli's if they were available.

 

[mwilson]

I hope that mine do better than that, but time will tell. Had heard that Moog had issues earlier but corrected them. I will say that the whole front end is a poor design and has poor geometry. Mine were within spec but the upper right hand joint had frozen up. I figured at first that that it couldn't rotate, but now believe that it could not go up and down. If you unhooked the tie rod you could not turn the spindle by hand. Not good.