Ball joints
12-02-2015, 02:28 PM
#12
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I completed the work this weekend. When I went to pick up the ball joint press I could see that the press alone was not going to work to install the lower ball joints. The list at the store showed that the adapter set I mentioned in my first post was for use on a Ford Taurus or Mercury Sable so that wasn't going to work. There was another listing for an adapter set for Ford 4x4's with a Dana axle. I know our trucks have the Ford 8.8 axle but it looked like this adapter set would work so I grabbed it.
For reference, the ball joint press was OEM model 27023 and the adapter kit was OEM model 27165.
The UCA's went fairly smoothly, biggest issue was getting the three nuts off the top of the shock tower. I installed Autospring leveling spacers a couple of years ago and the threads on the studs were not in good shape. I had to clean the threads, lubricate, loosen a few turns, back off a couple turns, clean and lubricate repeatedly until I got them off. The spacers are built really well but the hardware must not be great quality judging by the condition in just a couple years
The lower ball joints came out without much incident, the passenger side took a little more convincing but nothing the ball joint press couldn't handle. The basic kit was all that was needed for removal.
Installation was a little more of a challenge. I thought the adapter kit I grabbed would work but when I actually went to install the ball joints I couldn't get any combination of parts to easily work. In the end I was successful but I had to use one combination of parts to get the ball joint started and another combination to press it the rest of the way in. I'm not sure what Autozone loans out but it must be better than the OEM kit.
I do have one question for those that have done this job, did you torque the lower shock bolt nut with the wheels on the ground? The manual states to "loosely install the shock absorber lower bolt and nut." and then "with the weight of the vehicle resting on the wheels and tires, tighten the shock absorber lower nut to 475Nm (351 lb-ft)." I would think it would be pretty difficult to torque that beast to 351 lb-ft laying under the truck, you can't access the nut from the side of the vehicle with the wheels on. I put a jack under the lower control arm and torqued the nut with the weight of the vehicle supported by the jack. Anyone see a problem with this?
For reference, the ball joint press was OEM model 27023 and the adapter kit was OEM model 27165.
The UCA's went fairly smoothly, biggest issue was getting the three nuts off the top of the shock tower. I installed Autospring leveling spacers a couple of years ago and the threads on the studs were not in good shape. I had to clean the threads, lubricate, loosen a few turns, back off a couple turns, clean and lubricate repeatedly until I got them off. The spacers are built really well but the hardware must not be great quality judging by the condition in just a couple years
The lower ball joints came out without much incident, the passenger side took a little more convincing but nothing the ball joint press couldn't handle. The basic kit was all that was needed for removal.
Installation was a little more of a challenge. I thought the adapter kit I grabbed would work but when I actually went to install the ball joints I couldn't get any combination of parts to easily work. In the end I was successful but I had to use one combination of parts to get the ball joint started and another combination to press it the rest of the way in. I'm not sure what Autozone loans out but it must be better than the OEM kit.
I do have one question for those that have done this job, did you torque the lower shock bolt nut with the wheels on the ground? The manual states to "loosely install the shock absorber lower bolt and nut." and then "with the weight of the vehicle resting on the wheels and tires, tighten the shock absorber lower nut to 475Nm (351 lb-ft)." I would think it would be pretty difficult to torque that beast to 351 lb-ft laying under the truck, you can't access the nut from the side of the vehicle with the wheels on. I put a jack under the lower control arm and torqued the nut with the weight of the vehicle supported by the jack. Anyone see a problem with this?
12-02-2015, 07:47 PM
#13
Timber Baron
Did you really torque it to 350 ft*lb? I did mine to probably 150 ft*lb with it in the air.
12-02-2015, 08:30 PM
#14
Senior Member
Thread Starter
