Hello,

I think my lower ball joints are shot on my 1995 Dodge Dakota Sport 5.2L 2WD. Haynes manual says I should remove the lower control arm to do this. Is this necessary?

 

no it is not necessary. Haynes manuals are good for one thing; rip out a few pages at a time set them in your grill, lay charcoal onto them saturate with lighter fluid and toss a match into the grill.

 

Depending on the method of ball joint removal your using then you may. If your using a shop press to press in and out the ball joint from the control arm then yes it needs to be removed. If your using one of the rent a tool presses from Autozone ect then you can press it off and on with the control arm still on.

Also it is best but can be costly to replace the tie rods ends too when you do the ball joints so that all is nice and tight.

 

I looked at the Haynes and the Factory Service manual. Both seem to recommend removing the spring and shock to do this. Personally I don't see why this is needed if a jack is kept on the control arm to keep it compressed.

Is there a danger of the spring coming loose when the knuckle is disconnected? Or am I missing something?

 

Not if you put the jack (or better yet stand) as far out towards the tire as possible. wih the shock going thru the middle of teh spring the spring aint goin nowhere. You may need a long prybar though when you reassemble as tpring will "spring" a little, when you pop the BJ from the spindle.

 

Thanks for the info. Trying to mentally prepare myself for the job. Will be the first time doing this and this is my DD. Would take it to a shop, but I am broke right now and I know it will be probably 800-1k as the shops always soak me.

I plan to borrow the ball joint press and to press those suckers out while on the vehicle. I'm in Canada so I don't know if we have Autozones here. Usually go to NAPA or Carquest (Quebec).

Figure I will buy lowers, uppers and tie rod ends so everything is tight and balanced.

Couple more questions:

1) Are the lowers pressed OUT from above or below?
2) Are the uppers pressed OUT from above or below?
3) Are the uppers threaded in on this vehicle or is a press job as well? If they are threaded, does this require a special tool?

This is a 1995 Dodge Dakota Sport 2WD with the 5.2L. Any other tips would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help!