2 Wheel Drive Lower Ball Joints How-To w/pics
#41
cool, congrats on replacing your ball joints. im doing both sides of my dakota. 2003 4.7 2wd. all four control arms, Im replacing all ball joints and all 8 bushings. I called Dodge here where I live, 570.00$ for one lower control arm!!! The same for the other 3!! Yea, Id say you saved a pretty penny.
#42
#43
Tool Question
Great post, I need to get a corded drill (my old one died and have been getting by with cordless but not for this)to do the exact same repair. I was looking at hammer drills. Since you've been through this do you think the hammer drill would be any better then a regular drill ?
#45
answer
Did you torque the nuts down? yes
Nuts and bolts come with the ball joints but make sure they are in the box
Do you think the hammer drill would be any better than a regular drill? It may Im not sure I rented my drill 1\2 in Drill you need power thats for sure no whimpy drill
Check all the other posts on this its very informative.
Nuts and bolts come with the ball joints but make sure they are in the box
Do you think the hammer drill would be any better than a regular drill? It may Im not sure I rented my drill 1\2 in Drill you need power thats for sure no whimpy drill
Check all the other posts on this its very informative.
Last edited by 98DAKAZ; 02-20-2012 at 03:32 AM.
#47
Get the hammer drill if you can, i drilled with a 1/2" hammer drill first on regular drilling for about an 1/8" deep then switching to hammer mode,drilling about 3/4 through the rivet then upping the bit size, then hammered the rivets out with a pin punch. All seven for one side upper and lower took about 1 hour. The grinding took as long or longer, more to rest the hands a little than anything else.
Last edited by mac54; 10-09-2011 at 04:49 PM.
#48
A vid that helps
A vid that helps 2WD
A vid that helps 4X4
A vid that helps 4X4
Last edited by 98DAKAZ; 07-15-2012 at 03:28 PM. Reason: more info
The following users liked this post:
V8Cowboy (02-12-2022)
#50
I’m updating this
I finished replacing the passenger side ball joints finally with the same brand and I also replaced both sides top control arm bushings and new coil spring isolators this time but not the bottom control arm bushings. This will be my last front end suspension job except I will be buying new bottom control arms in two or three years those bushings still looked good this time.
The Ball joints are holding up just fine replacing the top control bushings made a big difference in bringing back that like new stiff front end feel.
All in all the only hard part is the rivets all the rest is not hard at all just a lot of work.
The Ball joints are holding up just fine replacing the top control bushings made a big difference in bringing back that like new stiff front end feel.
All in all the only hard part is the rivets all the rest is not hard at all just a lot of work.