Braggs

Well, we are working on the same repair. I replaced the ball joints on the driver's side last weekend and will be doing the passenger side and steering linkage before this weekend. Being a 4x4, it required disassembling the hub, removing the spindle, and then taking off the knuckle. While I am there, I also am replacing the front axle U joints.

The reason I started this repair was because of quite a bit of wandering on the road, a wobble after turning a corner, and brake pulling to one side. The only defective part I've identified so far is the lower ball joint on the driver's side. It drives better after replacing it, but the passenger side feels weak too now. Figured I better do them all at once or I'd be doing the repair again soon.

84ordF150

If You can see your way clear with it....a Redhead Steering Gear is highly advisable. When they rebuild the original casings, they install shaft bearings where Ford did not. A bit pricey, but well worth it in the long haul.

Peva

FYI - The AC Delco left and right tie rod ends are on wholesaler closeout on Rock Auto at $5-6 each (normally $35-40) - and this is their "Professional" line - not their "Advantage" (translation "cheap/budget") line. I placed my order for those and some Moog adjuster sleeves last night. Going to be watching for a bargain price on better-quality center link and inner tie rod over the next couple of weeks. It looks like ebay has the best pricing (including free shipping, from sellers with good feedback ratings) on the AC Delco "Professional" center link and inner tie rod - probably what I will end up going with if no better deals crop up.

Braggs

Good on ya! I've never used the pitman arm puller on the tie rod ends... I figured it was for the pitman arm... The hammer method worked well on my tie rods. The centerlink-to-pitman-arm required the use of the fork. A little hammering on the end of the fork and it came apart pretty easily.

Peva

Good to know about using the fork on the center link to pitman arm. I wasn't sure there was room to get the fork inserted and be able to hit it from the end.

By the way, for those who couldn't read my mind, the wholesale close out on the tie rod ends is at Rock Auto. I left that out of my previous post but just now edited it to correct that.

Peva

I did that steering linkage job, and it went very smoothly. I used the pickle forks - zero problems - very easy.

I made a point of buying the 'Professional' line of AC Delco parts (vs. their low-end/cheaper "Advantage' line). From the AC Delco site, I found out that they have a counterfeit part team that investigates suspected mis-labeling and substitution of cheaper parts as their parts. Since I bought them at a savings off of ebay, I sent them photos of the parts and packaging to assess whether they were genuine AC Delco Professional line. Their report came back saying they were. Nice to have that confirmed.

That fixed the steering slop, but made it very obvious that I also need shocks judging from the body roll that I get when zigging and zagging.

Also going to replace the motor and tranny mounts to hopefully fix the clutch chatter that it has always had since I bought it about 7 years ago. Hopefully that's the last thing it will need for quite a while (put 4 new tires on it last year). All stuff that's probably never been done since it was new (except of course for the tires).

Thanks again for everybody's help.