Replacing Ball Joints

Gen X

Gen X

First Fill-Up (of many)
Supporting Member
Location
Ashburn, VA
I need to do driver side upper, and both on the passenger side. The process looks easy enough that I can do it. But, only if it can be done without taking apart the hub, cv, etc. I don't want to remove the rotors and need to repack the bearings. Can I get to the ball joints by just removing the wheel? Looks like the upper can be done this way but I'll have trouble getting the lower out given the size of the ball joint socket? Is there enough space to get that lower top nut off without taking the whole thing apart?
 
Gen X

Gen X

First Fill-Up (of many)
Supporting Member
Location
Ashburn, VA
From watching several Youtube videos, it looks like I can get to everything without massive disassembly. What about torque specs? I found the wheel lugs should be torqued 80-100, top ball joint nut 78-147, lower 118-191. Does that sound correct? Seems to be quite a wide range. Is there a link where all this can be found?
 
Gen X

Gen X

First Fill-Up (of many)
Supporting Member
Location
Ashburn, VA
So upper ball joints were no problem. Toughest part was getting the press and its pieeces in place with only two hands. Lower ball joint is a different story. After taking the lower nut off, there isn't enough space to pull the knuckle off. The CV axle prevents this. Since I didn't know how to pull the cv, I threw in the towel with only the uppers done. Plus its damn cold outside. Gotta research how to pull the half shaft then will give it a shot. To get it pulled from the hub, do I need to take disconnect it from the diff? To pull from the hub, I just take apart the wheel like doing rotors right? Once the snap ring is pulled, the shaft will just slide out from the back right?
 
Gen X

Gen X

First Fill-Up (of many)
Supporting Member
Location
Ashburn, VA
Got this done today. A lot easier than I thought. Had to disconnect the knuckle from the upper ball joint and pull the cv from the hub aas well as the inner axle. If I had a tie rod puller, I probably would have disconnected that and pulled the knuckle with the cv still attached rather than taking apart the hub. I don't like doing that for some reason even though it's not hard. I noticed the outer boot on my cv was torn, so looks like I'll be tak7ng everything apart again soon.

I'm still hearing a pop when turning the wheel while stopped or while slowly pulling into or out of a parking spot. I thought it was one of the ball joints, but those are all done now. I noticed the center link on the driver's side looks worn where the post connects. Not sure what the correct name is, but it's the part that looks like a small ball joint. Would this make a popping sound? I can feel the pop under the driver floorboard. What should I be checking? I also noticed the two bushings in the front dif mounts look bad. I found this on Amazon, . Is this what I need? Is it the same for both mounts?
 
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