My truck just recently started making noises, coming from the front left suspension, its a loud squeak, like grinding metal almost, when going over bumps, accelerating, and coming to a stop. If i stand next to the tire and put weight on the truck to bounce it up and down it makes the noise. I don't think its the shocks since I replaced those a couple of years ago. The torsion bars have been cranked about 2" a couple years ago as well. Possibly a ball joint? I am not familiar with suspension components at all. I also don't drive it often anymore, I use it maybe once a week to go to the dump, but it is parked on gravel all the time, I think moisture is coming up rusting the underneath. Any ideas of what the issue might be is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

bump' Any ideas?

 

Have you ever replaced bearings or ball joints?

 

I have not. I'll start doing some research on how to replace them. Do you know of any how-to's floating around?

 

upper ball joints probably. just replace the entire arm with a moog greaseable part

 

more than likely ball joints i just did mine and it went silent. If you do it do upper and lower with moog greasable. Its way to much trouble to pull it back apart to do the lowers later. But if the tops are gone the bottoms wont be far behind. You can check rockauto i paid like 200 for everything at rock auto and you can rent the press for the lowers at advanced took me a weekend with the press and some jackstands and basic tools.

 

yeah you're supposed to use the press to get the lower out (by the book) but screw that. take a deadblow to the top of the old lower ball joint. mine came out with 1 hit. saves time

 

yeah i got mine out with the hammer trick but to put the new ones in i thought the press was easier and didn't wanna risk tearing up new ball joints.

 

yes you have to press them in no matter what. idk who would try to put them in using a hammer lol

 

seen it done with the adapter and a deadblow lol dude got fired pretty quick.

 

I appreciate all the help guys! You inspired me to tackle this on my own. I'm having a rough time finding the Moog control arms. I can't find any from rockauto for the 4wd Rangers, I found the uppers only on Summit racing for 4wd but no lower. Anyone have part numbers? I may just have to settle for another brand I guess

 

you don't need lower control arms just lower ball joints

upper Left
K8708T

Upper Right
K80068

Lowers
K80771

^all moog just search them on Rock auto by part number. I don't know why they're not showing up on the catalog. I tried and they weren't listed which is weird.

 

Last year my upper ball joints were starting to squeak. Upon inspection I found the rubber boots were cracked. I though about replacing them but decide to try something else first.

I sprayed some Lithium based grease in the boots through the cracks then cleaned the outside of the boots with a good cleaner. I then sealed up the cracks with black Silicone adhesive sealant. I also built it up a little to give it more strength. So far it has held up and the squeaking went away.

I have kept an eye on them and the boots did start to crack in another area one time. I use the same repair procedure.

I was just trying to get a few extra miles out of the ball joints until I had time to change them. It Is turning out to be a longer term repair than I thought it would be. I have checked for play in the ball joints to make sure they are safe. So far, they are tight.

 

Thanks for the input IN2! I ended up ordering the parts, the upper control arms and lower ball joints. The local auto shop said they would install them all for $387. Does this sound reasonable for labor? I'm thinking it may be a little much for me to do on my own.

 

I will let you know how mine is going, I'm starting tomorrow on the upper control arms, brake rotors, pads, new calipers and lower ball joints.

I can't imagine what that would cost at a dealership honestly...


Check out youtube and the threads here, there are great HOW TO's... I watched them and it's fairly straight forward honestly. Just time involved. I think it's a good learning experience is though.

-Nigel

 

I been working on it all day. I have been doing as this video says:


But realized it's a 2wd truck way too late! I have the top control arm separated but can not gut the bottom piece separated (I think its called hub assembly) from the lower control arm. I can not gain access to the lower balljoint without separating the pieces first. In the video he just hammers it and it comes loose. This is not working for me. Any hints? Do I hjave to remove the tire rod or anything else? Torsion bars? Thanks

 

I recently replaced my lower ball joints on my 2003 B2300 2WD.

I used the Advanced Auto Parts ball joint removal tool set which seems to be identical to the picture on the video.

I used my 1/2" breaker bar and torqued that C-Clamp until it "popped". I was certainly over 150 lbs torque when the "pop" occurred.

I had also used my MAP torch to heat the area of the hub but I think it s was simply the continuous torqueing that popped it loose.

But it is in there very tight. Make sure that if you're using a removal set as in the video that you have chosen the correct "fittings" to remove the ball joint.

The "cup fitting" on the underside of the hub should be larger than the ball joint when removing. Many use the wrong size cup fitting and have the ball joint housing rests on the cup fitting under the hub which only negates any force you apply.

If that's not your issue, then it simply comes down using good ol' arm force applied torque to pop it loose.

 

yeah you gotta move the axles out of the way on the 4wd but using a large hammer you should be able to get them out with 2 hits. make sure your snap ring is off before hitting the lower ball joint out though

 

Alright my trucks still on jack stands and I cant get the darn hub assembly off. I attached some pic so you all can see where I'm at and hopefully give me some tips on how to get the thing off.









As you can see I tried getting the tire rod off too but was unsuccessful. I have the fork tool with different size ends I been trying to hammer it in to separate the piece but it's not working. I don't have a socket big enough to take the nut off the end of the axle, but it doesn't looks like it needs to come off.

Any help is appreciated, I'd like to get this thing back together in time for work on Tuesday!

 

Still stuck guys! Looks like I'm not gonna be able to drive to work tomorrow! If anyone could give me some tips please do! I can't get the hub assembly off. Its stuck. I got the axle loose and the tie rod off as well. I have been hammering and hammering away at it, used a gallon of WD40, and been using the fork set and the thing is stuck. Please see the pictures and let me know if you have any ideas. Also, I was following this write up:

Lower Ball Joint Replacement How To (lots of Pictures) - Ford Explorer & Ranger Resource "Serious Explorations"®

Which instructed to take off the ABS connector. Well, that ended up snapping off and is stuck in the hub. Need suggestions for this too.

 

Man! I see all that rust and appreciate that I'm in Atlanta; at least on that score.

The only rust on the underside of my 2003 is the driveshaft and exhaust.

 

Oh ya the rust is terrible! All of the sand and salt during the winter makes it inevitable.

So I got the thing off. I got the balljoint out as well. I got the new one in. Couple questions...

The new one I have pressed in, but it only is far enough through the top for me to get the clip on. I got the clip on, but there's a good amount of it underneath I thought was all supposed to be pushed through... I'm not sure how far to go with it?

Also, I broke that ABS connector. Anyone know how to get that out? and where that wire runs to since I'll need to buy a new one. I'll probably leave it out for now because I need to get my truck back on the road.

 

How far to push "it in"? As far as it will go!

The clip sits about 1/8" above the hub assembly. The majority of the housing to the ball joint sits BELOW the hub.

 

Certainly sounds like ball joints on one if not both sides. You can determine by pushing down on the front end on each side. If it squeaks on both sides you need to change ball joints on both sides. Theres an upper and a lower ball joint. Good news is you probably only need to changed the lowers since they go bad quicker. Better news is they're easy to change and two lower ball joints will only run around $100-$150. But you definitely need to change them. Ive had one break once and the wheel came completely free from the tie rod and the only thing that kept my driver side front end from slamming all the down on the street was the tire itself. Luckily I was backing out of a driveway at a slow speed when it broke off. Had I been on the interstate when it broke it would have been pretty ugly

 

I just replaced both lower ball joints. The squeeking was gone for 2 days. Now its squeeking again but not as bad as before. Any ideas why ? If the upper ball joints were bad why was there no more squeeking after replacing the lowers and why first two days there was no noise and the past two days it seemed to slowly return?