I will be tackling this job this weekend. I'll update how it goes.
And yes I'm a new guy. First post.

 

Can somebody tell me what size pickle fork to look for? I have seen a bunch of articles that say to use the pickle fork to separate the upper ball joint from the knuckle but I am not sure what size to use. I have a 2004 Dodge RAM 2500 Diesel that I will be doing this to - so very similar to the one in this article. Any ideas?

 

Freeze the ball joints prior to install...word has it that it is easier to get them in when they come out of the freezer. (no experience with it, did mine at room temp).


I had not seen anything different than the fork I have, it was the only one at the parts store. I can measure it if needed (provided I can find it).

 

Ok cool - I am going to NAPA today to start my items list. I have $1,000 in tools planned and about $2,500 in parts . Doing the whole front end pretty much with these ball joints. And it needs it! Thanks for the reply to the OP! Great article!

 

Thanks Steve for the hint on the freezer. I did this one time before on a '72 El Camino. Used heat on the A arms and then froze the ball joints. they went in very smooth that way.
It was harder to find Moog ball joints then I thought. My local NAPA found them but had to order them in. Both of the stock ones they handle are foreign. And my diesel guru said to only put foreign stuff in if I was selling the truck tomorrow. he put ball joints in his '02 that were foreign and they were out of specs after install.
He owns a diesel performance shop so I'm guessing he knows.

 

Well I finally got it all together to tackle this job.
Everything went pretty smooth. It was very similar to the writeup Steve did. The big difference was the ball joints were pressed it the steering knuckle instead of the axle. Everything came apart very easy as I treated it with PB Blaster for a week before hand. I did need to use the Saw z all to shorten the lower joint for the press to get them all the way out. The receiving tube was not tall enough. Other then that it went as smooth as a job of this magnitude could be.
It drives now like it did when I first got the truck.

 

This write up helped me out so much! Got mine done last weekend. Man is that a pain but with your write up it saved me in so many spots that I would have been screwed
Thanks mucho