Conveniently enough, it's the obvious you are looking for. If it moves, and shouldn't, then it needs replaced. Ball joints *might* have a bit of up/down movement, buy ANY side to side movement means they are bad.

 

My son and I both took turns pushing and pulling on the wheel with the front end off the ground. We do not see any movement in the ball joints. We can feel and see the wheel/hub wiggling around but nothing else. I watched some you tube videos on checking ball joints, and I don't see anything going on like is in those videos.

I put those rotor/hubs on in in April of last year, to include bearings. (I found my receipt and notes) As mentioned earlied, I Replaced the bearings and races this week.

 

Torque the nut down some more. See if it is even possible to get rid of the slop.

 

When checking ball joints, you need to take the load off by jacking vehicle up by the lower control arm. Jack the vehicle up an inch or so and use a long pry bar under tire. You could also use a long pipe on the spindle with the rotor off (protect the threads) to see if the play is felt, thus eliminating the wheel bearing component.

 

I torqued the spindle nut to 40 ft/lbs and then backed the nut off a 1/4 turn and I believe I have eliminated the bearing play.

Following Mark's guidance, I believe the top ball joints on both sides need replacing. We (my son and I) determined this by observing "some" give/movement in the ball joint while concurrently pushing/pulling on top of the installed tire.

Using a 3 ft crow bar, we observed no movement in the bottom ball joints while prying up and releasing numerous times.

Proceeding now for top ball joint replacement. What do you all think about replacing the bottoms ones while I am "right there?" Those are Moog ball joints I replaced 7 years and 78K miles ago.

 

Replacing the lowers while you are there, is indeed a good idea. It ain't gonna get any easier.

 

Good news; good news

All (upper and lower, both sides) are bad. I can easily manipulate the studs my hand. AND I have the receipt from doing this on Nov 9, 2009 and Advance Auto is going to honor the lifetime warranty!

Question: I pulled the tie rod ends out of the steering knuckle and noted the studs were loose, as I described the ball joints. Should they should be good and tight also, like new ball joints?

Geez, no,wonder my truck was wandering around so bad.

Thanks for monitoring my progress. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

 

If you think they are too loose, replace 'em. Ain't gonna get any easier than it is right now.

 

Glad you are making progress on your truck. Front end components with some miles on them will move easier then new ones. The key is if they have sideways movement (end play). Usually a worn joint will also show signs of dryness and rust, but not always. Steering components are best checked with wheels on the ground and someone moving steering wheel back and forth. I know that can not be done now that it is apart. Doing the work yourself saves labor costs, but I don't want you to get carried away and replace acceptable parts. I hope you are going to use a ball-joint press for the ball joints. It does the job easily without any damage to components. The auto parts store probably rents or loans them.

 

I appreciate the advice. In retrospect, I believe I needlessly replaced the steering box because I really didn't know what I was looking for. I have learned a lot on this evolution of "This Old Truck"

I am tending to use Hey You's advice here: if in doubt replace them. I have discovered I don't have enough experience to accurately diagnose problems. Additionally, I gotta think after 181,000, they prolly need replaced. It's worth the $250 I paid for tie rod ends just to do it while it's all right there. I am using Moog parts from Advance. I noticed they also sell TRW. I think TRW is OEM on a lot of Dodge and Chrysler and the stuff seems to last a LONG time. Any thoughts on replacement parts?

I am curious about your comment about pressing those ball joints. Is there any other way to do it? I guess you could pound them in and out with a BFH, but not me! I luckily live about a mile from both an Advance and Autozone. I got a loaner press to remove them, but have had to step away for a couple of days. (My job really gets in the way sometimes&#128512

My Haynes manual says to pull the control arms and take them to a shop and have the ball joints pressed in. I'm really glad somebody invented those press kits. 👍👍

Speaking of needlessly replacing parts and control arms, is there any of that other "stuff" I should be looking at while I'm down with all tore down?

Thanks