lower ball joints r/r

[bh11]

How do you change the lower ball joints? Do you do just the joint or the whole arm. What about bushings & other parts? If only the joint do you still need to pull the arm and get to a press? 95mtx is the intended victim.

 

[shoon]

Ball joints are built into the arm. The new arm comes with new bushings as well as the joint, no press is needed.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1138957,parttype,10070

easiest way to pop the ball joint out of the knuckle IMO, is to wrap a chain around the control arm, then slide a long bar underneath the chain and push down on the bar till the ball joint pops out of the knuckle. **** everything up first and remove the bolt on the knuckle that holds the ball joint in, once its cracked loose the rest is fairly easy.

 

[WI93SHO]

I recommend pulling the LCA and strut rod out in one piece. It's a PITA to get them apart if they are original, because the strut rod rusts and expands like a balloon inside the LCA bushing.
Get:
new LCAs (w/ ball joints) should come with new pinch bolts too
new strut rods -only ~$55 each from dealer and actual OEM not the universal part, so no alignment needed afterwards
new front strut rod bushings -MOOG ones, the blue thermoplastic
the only parts you save off the old crap are the two washers for the strut rod to LCA bushing, these are discontinued from Ford.
Weld the receiver cups!!

I just got done replacing all these parts in mine yesterday, best $300 spent on this thing so far. It really feels like a new car in the front, no more clicks or pops or rattles.

Good luck

 

[hawkeye18]

you can get a two or three-arm puller to pull the LCA off the strut rod. I did it to both the arms on my 95. You have to cut part of the bushing away so the puller will have somewhere to grab. It will take an amazing amount of force to get it off! You'll think you're gonna break it! but it'll come off eventually. Copious amounts of PB-blaster are required.

 

[LeddZepp8687]

its a pain in the ass to replace. You might as well replace the other side and do all the bushings to save you time in the long run.

 

[Storm-Chaser]

I agree with WI93SHO and would also recommend breaking-loose and removing both the front and rear nuts on the strut tension rod before removing the strut rod/control arm assembly, otherwise you're likely to find it a major pain-in-the-ass getting them to break loose/off due to rust.

If you have the time, PB Blast the bushings on both ends as wellas the subframe pivot bolt/nut on both sides every day you get a chance, until tearing into it. You'll find it does make a difference in how difficult it is to get everything to come apart.

 

[Howdy_Doody]

I bought a new right hand arm from Ford a few months back for around $75. They are SHO specific and have harder bushings than the standard Taurus arms.