Ball Joint Replacement

[CurtShannon]

2007 4X4 Quad Cab, 5. 9, 6 spd,

My right wheel upper ball joint is really loose. I plan to replace the lower one too but my maintenance book isn't too detailed on the issue. Looking at it I'll need to remove everything down to the bare axel housing. I remember reading another post a long time ago about removing the hub and wheel bearing assembly.



Can someone point me in the right direction? I'm not "cheap" but I am frugal. I also hate to let someone else work on my rig.

 

[jhenderson]

Use the search feature.

 

[AMcCormick]

break it all down and get a good press. be patient not rocket science just nuts and bolts. be gentle when putting the axles back in to not bugger up the seal. the spindle nut on the unit bearing can be a pain. i have heard of guys removing the whole knuckle at once and leaving the spindle on the knuckle. I broke two 1/2 drives getting the spindle nut off. Finally used a 3/4 drive and a 4 ton bottle jack then gave it a whack with a five pound sledge

 

[Wayne M.]

Fortunately, I have access to some heavy artillery at my job. I borrowed the 1" drive socket and breaker bar. Something you can do regardless of what you have, is to loosen that hub nut as the first thing you do before you jack it up. Set the brake, put it in first. I would up putting the handle from my floor jack over the breaker bar for leverage. I was standing out past the bumper and still had to put some welly into it.

One thing you should know, the lower can make the upper look bad. The upper stud is designed to slide in and out of the housing. The lower does a lot of work. Good luck geting the hub bearing out. You should search that topic.

 

[mwilson]

2007 4X4 Quad Cab, 5. 9, 6 spd,

My right wheel upper ball joint is really loose. I plan to replace the lower one too but my maintenance book isn't too detailed on the issue. Looking at it I'll need to remove everything down to the bare axel housing. I remember reading another post a long time ago about removing the hub and wheel bearing assembly.



Can someone point me in the right direction? I'm not "cheap" but I am frugal. I also hate to let someone else work on my rig.

Here is my DIY dooryard ball joint replacement procedure... .



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211822&highlight=ball+joint+replacement



Mike.

 

[bilyum73]

hi mwilson how are the moog joints holding up I got one side of my truck done today and I'll do the other side next weekend, I am using moogs as well. I want to thank you for the write up you did and pics with out that I wouldn't have got it done it was my first time.

thanks, Bill

 

[mwilson]

Hi Bill,



Ball Joints have 50,000 miles on them so far, truck now has 121,000 miles total. Still tight, the only thing that I notice is after the truck sits for a week or more it is a little twitchy for the first 30 miles or so. Then it is fine.



But, it may be that I drive the '97 with a loose steering box 650 miles a week and have to relearn how to drive something tight when I dig the Mega out... .



No complaints at this point.



Glad the write-up helped, it is nice to hear that it made the job easier for you.



Mike.

 

[CurtShannon]

Mike and Bill,
Thank you both for your input. Mike your photographic post is great--I really appreciate that. Did you have something similar for removing the wheel bearing? I've read most of the "horror" stories on TDR about hub removal. Plan is to do the joints next weekend. I'm starting now by spraying all the nuts and fastners with penetrant.

 

[mwilson]

Curt,



What part of the country are you in??? If you are in a rust-belt state then start spraying the area where the bearing sits in the knuckle. That is where the wild *** nasty rust grows and seizes the bearing into the knuckle.

See photo #6, the center hole is the area to pre-treat. You can see the rust on mine, and I had to use the power steering method to force the bearing loose.



I wish now that I had added the procedure to the ball joint post.



Mike.

 

[CurtShannon]

Mike,
I live in Montana but the truck started out in Colorado. I had already started doing the back side. I figued it would be part of the problem.

Can you give me some hints on the Power Steering method? People have talked about using a bar or socket to help wiggle it out but where do you put it?

 

[mwilson]

I will in the morning for you, no problem.

Mike

 

[CurtShannon]

First, I want to thank everyone that provided some imput here. And a special Thank You to Mike Wilson for the photos and narrative.

Second, don't shy away from this. I was down to the bare axel the one hour point. Maybe it was the spraying of the nuts bolts and mounting areas for a week or maybe I was just lucky. It took about four hits with a dead blow hammer on the bearing hub attach bolts that had been backed out so there was still quite a bit of thread in the hub, and I had daylight between the steering knuckle and the back of the hub. I was even able to get the 250 ft. lb. or torque on the caliper brackets and the 265 ft. lbs. on the axel nut--that 3/4" DR torque wrench really helped.

I also lathered the mating surfaces up with anti-seaze on reassembly.