Hello,
I have just purchased a used Ford Think and am getting ready to replace ball joints which I ordered on-line. I assume the control arms must be removed and these ball joints pressed out. If there is a way of doing it without removing the control arms, please let me know. All advice appreciated. Also I did not notice a cir clip holding the ball joint in place.
Thanks for your help.
Joe
I know this is an old thread but hate unfinished threads as well. I just did both upper and lowers. They are the same ones. I used my harbor freight press. They are on there pretty tight so not sure if you can do them on the vehicle without a special tool.
I knew the ball joints were needing to be replaced and bought 4 replacements. The lower ball joint, driver side broke while my daughter was driving the cart - everyone is fine :). My question in looking at the suspension is, can the upper and lower ball joints be replaced while the control arm is still on the car? It appears like there is enough room and I would think it would save a ton of time and hassle.
Any advice on the job would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Well for anyone doing this job, be prepared…While it is technically easy, it is time consuming and you will 99.99999% chance need a press. I replaced the lower two ball joints. Save yourself time and hassle and just remove the lower control arm (coil spring is not under compression so you should be fine) and press out the old and press in the new. I wanted to do the upper control arms as well, but the inner plastic fenders need to be removed to get the control arm bolts out. The inner fenders are zeus fastened in and would have take more time than I had to drill out.
If I remember correctly the nuts on the lower control arm were a mix of standard and metric - 15 & 18mm, 13/16, and 21 mm for new ball joint.