kennyblatz

Is a ball joint replacment something a guy can do on his own. are there speacialty tools involved? thanks.

01DodgeDiesel

Putting ball joints in is not at all an easy thing to do. I work on heavy Cat equipment and i had some big rams to do it with and i wasnt for sure if i was gonna get them out but i wouldnt try it unless you have some specialty tools to do it with. Thats the best advice i can give ya.

kennyblatz

thats all i wanna know thanks

kawi600

I did mine with some air tools and a ball joint press. Wasnt too bad.

bigboyky

I am by no means a meachanic.... with that said I did mine. Borrowed the press from auto zone. And used the trick from here to get the hub off the knuckle. Wasn't to bad and I saved 800 for the labor, put that to better use! If you have any knowledge at all about removing ball joint have a go at it!

MeanGrn

whats the trick for knuckle removal? i have to do this soon, i have done quite a few on dana 44 stuff, and cant think its much different, i use a ball joint press and some hand tools, easier with 2 peeps for sure

jimk403

Mine was not a big pain, but time consuming. I bought the press because I will need it again. A BFH is a must. I did not seperate the hub from the axle, just unbolted the 4 bolts on the knuckle and slid the whole thing out. If this link works, it shows pretty much everything.
http://tinbenders.org/articles.php?wgo=show&wval=2

kawi600

Youll want to get a pickle fork tool kit and a ball joint press kit with a bunch of different receiving cups to do the job right.
take the nuts off the joints and beat on them with a pickle fork and a BFH until you get them to pop out of the axle yoke. alternating between the two joints so they both pop. Then you use the press and cups along with an air impact wrench (or big vise) to press the ball joints out of the knuckle. I thought the air tool thing worked best. turns the press into an impact driver.

2500

nice link! couldn't be clearer...

Paul Winey

You don't need a pickle fork to release the steering knuckle from the yoke. Remove the castle nuts top and bottom then with two 3# hammers hit the yoke on both sides at the same time as hard as you can where the ball joint slides in. A tap or two on top of the ball joint threaded end will get them to let loose. Didn't believe it would work until I tried it myself. You can also do this to release the tie rod ends without problems. Sure beats hammering on a pickle fork for an hour. Infidel's trick (give credit where credit is due).

You can usually take the knuckle down to a local shop and have them press out the old and in the new.

Dodge dealer wanted >$400 for four ball joints plus labor. Did my own with lifetimes from NAPA for $200. Takes time but worth it.

mike4089

how do you know when your ball joints have gone bad??

J Lent

I blew a wheel bearing hub a few weeks back in front of a Monroe muffler shop. The guy replaced it & pointed out that my upper balljoint needed replaced also. I asked him how much he would need to replace it & he said $80. I won't even bother with doing it myself for a $80 fix.

wcbcruzer

Taking the ball joints out does not look easy...

2500

it's $80 because he pretty much had everything apart. no way any shop will tackle a ball joint job alone for $80.

come time when I need joints... wait a minute, since my joints are pumped full of grease all the time. odds are I will not be needing any new ball joints.

jta

I did mine. It was a big job but was worth it. Not sure what the split is for the joints being in the axle vs the knuckle but if you can take the knuckle to a shop and just have them do the press work I would do that.