Howdy,I have 90,000 miles on my truck,bought it new,used mostly for towing 5th wheel,replaced all steering parts,have DSS,03 track bar upgrade,tightened steering gear and new shocks.Front end still seems a little loose,checked ball joints by tugging on tires and all seems tight,could they be shot, without feeling any looseness.thanks

 

get the wheel off the ground and grab the top and bottom of the tire and try to move it, then get a pry bar to pry up under the tire. Any movement is time for replacement.

 

can they come out with out a press?

 

I had my drivers side replaced at 57000 and the passenger side at 102000. I could tell mine were **** due to a clanking in the front end when I put the brakes on or went around a tight turn. Best to do them if they are original, and put Moog greasables in. Drives much nicer now.

 

In my case it took a press and at the same time as I was craking on the press my kid was beating on them with the air hammer. It took both to make them budge after 100,000 miles of sealing in there. When we replaced them I put anti sieze on the new ones so we don't have to go through that again.

 

Her ya go: http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/balljoint.php

The press in that link can be picked up from harbor frieght for about $40. On sale they are $30. Well worth it. Not a bad job, just takes time. Spray penetrating oil on them every day till the press gets delivered. Follow the instructions in the link and you will be set. Kevin

 

I am having mine replaced today. An indy shop is doing it as my dealer service center would simply replace them with OE joints. Problem is, last fall the same shop put in an offset on the top passenger side when doing alignment. So after the dealer did their work (quoted $1000+) I'd STILL have to take it back to the indy shop to have them take one of the new one's out and put in a new offset joint and align it. Here's my REAL rub. My dealer cannot align my truck. Their machine is not large enough to handle it. They recommended that I take it to the shop it's at now. They send their large stuff there. So now, do you think that the dealer would do what they could to make me a satisfied customer? No. All they could say is "Well, you might want to take it over to Capital City Tire and see what they think..." I understand that DC sells ball joints in pairs. But for crying out loud! They make camber adjustable ONLY with an offset ball joint and then sell OE ball joints in pairs when someone might need something different?? How stupid is that?
Anyhow, the upshot is that Capital City Tire is doing the joint job as we speak, replacing the bottoms with lifetime guaranteed Moog joints and will warranty the offset joint they put in last fall. Joints and alignment will run me $730.
I have currently 81,000 on the clock.

 

the harbor freight press works on 2000 dana 60? Quad4x4 is selling a press as an add on for thier ball joint kits for $275. It sure would be nice to trim a few dollars by using a cheaper press. Have any other actually used the harbor freight press on 2nd gen 4x4's?

 

OK. Total cost $860. The replaced an ABS switch on one of the fronts, had to put another offset on the driver's side and it took them about 2.5 hours longer to do the job than they figured. Still, job is done.