96ranchtruck

I have a 1996 XLT with a 3" lift and 35" tires. I need to replace all of the following....

What is the best order to replace. Hope to have all done within a months time.
Tie rods and drag link
Shocks
Ball joints.

Thanks.

fltdriver

Do the shocks first, they are quick and fairly painless.

Tie rods and ball joints require an alignment after you are done so do those together with an alignment scheduled. Some people have problems getting the BJ's out, I didn't, just "borrowed" a BJ press from Oreilly's and used my impact gun to push them out/press them in. There is an order to removing them because you won't be able to fit the press screw in there if done backwards, I think it's lower then upper to remove then same order to install because the press gets flipped around.

96ranchtruck

Fantastic advice. Thank you sir!

ajcarson11

Yep -- BJ's make the biggest difference if they are wasted. To remove the BJs, remove the lower first (remove snap ring and use the rented (autozone, advance auto, etc) press to press it out), and then the upper. The upper has no snap ring and is held in really tight. You may need to crank down until the press stops and then beat on the knuckle with a sledge to get the BJ to bust loose. I had trouble getting the upper ones to budge, and needed the sledge as the press wasn't strong enough on its own after 20+ years of rust holding the old BJ to the knuckle.

Install the new upper BJ first, and then the lower after. If you have trouble getting the new upper BJ in, you may want to crank on the press, add the sledge, crank, add the sledge, etc until the BJ fits into the spindle completely.

But yes, otherwise I would:

1. Buy all the parts because you don't want to take apart the truck multiple times.
1. Replace BJs
2. Inspect radius arm and axle bushings. Replace if necessary.
2. Replace Tie Rods after reattaching spindle to knuckle (but before putting wheel on!)
3. Replace shocks