Front End Work

[7.3IDIDSL]

Hey guys, i need to get some work done on my front end. Im positive i need 2 ball joints, and the drag link that goes from the pitman arm to the pass side wheel.

But today i took my truck to a local suspension shop for a quote. and the guy says i need all 4 ball joints, both tie rods, the drag link going from pitman arm to pass side wheel, and the piece going from drag link to driver side wheel(dont know what its called?!?), and i also need the steering coupler on the top of the steering box. For all this he quoted me $1500 before tax and he said i will get a deal if i pay him cash.

Thats alot of money and i cant afford it right now. Can somebody tell me how i can test my tie rods? Im not calling this guy a liar, but he only looked at my truck for 10 minutes and it seems like he found quiet a few bad parts.

I would like to do the work myself and i can do the drag link and tie rod stuff. The only part i am unsure about is the ball joints since ive never done them and i dont have a tool to do them. Can you guys tell me how hard it is to do the ball joints? and where i can get the press to do them? If i feel i can do the work myself i will and save the labour costs. I priced all the parts from a shop here and i can get them for $715(thats for all 4 ball joints, 2 tie rods, whole drag link assembly). thats like half of what the shop quoted me.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Is the truck 2wd? If so front end work is fairly easy tis the 4x4 that's a pain to work on cause of the shafts than need pulled and such. You'll likely need a ball joint press, along with some good pickle-forks and some pretty beastly hammer - I had to take a 15lb sledge to my Lincoln's ball joints, that's how hardcore they were rusted to the control arms. But yeah, you should be able to do all the work yourself, it ain't complicated just time consuming and makes for LOTS of loud noise and unpleasant sounds.

 

[7.3IDIDSL]

yeah my truck is 4x4. ive got a good pickle fork and some big hammers, and im going to pick up a ball joint kit tomorrow. im going to start this as early as possible saturday and hopefully finish it sunday. The only ball joints ive every done were some in a Mustang II front end i was rebuilding a few years ago...and they were very easy...but it was a totally different beast.

luckily my dad has done them in his trucks hes owned so hes going to give me a hand

 

[LCAM-01XA]

In that case, take hubs apart, pull hubs, pull spindles, pull axles... and then the real fun begins - make sure you got a MAPP gas torch available, propane should work too but it takes too long to heat up the things good. This is also a very suitable time for replacing those old axle bearings seals in the front axle, so grab a pair of those as well.

 

[forcefed]

The balljoints are not that bad at all to replace, like said above it just takes some time. I did my buddy's truck a week ago and didn't need a torch at all. Just put the press on and when the air impact would not go any tighter I used a hammer and hit the top of the press where the the socket goes on and it broke loose and came right out. Also like stated above its a good time to replace all seals and bearings and also check your u-joints (wheel joints) on your axle shafts. I know it cost more money but spending the time and money now might save you a headache in the future.

 

[7.3IDIDSL]

yeah ive got a ball joint press and im just going to go pick up all the parts, im going to get started on the truck tomorrow morning and hopefully finish on sunday. im just hoping the weather holds up, its started to look pretty bad out there right now. if i have to ill be out there working under a tarp haha.

i thought about replacing my seals and bearings, and i know i need new u joints in my axle shafts. but once im out of school and working again i would like to swap in a dana 60, so i think im going to leave the seals and bearings and u joints until ive decided what im going to do.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

But today i took my truck to a local suspension shop for a quote. and the guy says i need all 4 ball joints, both tie rods, the drag link going from pitman arm to pass side wheel, and the piece going from drag link to driver side wheel(dont know what its called?!?), and i also need the steering coupler on the top of the steering box. For all this he quoted me $1500 before tax and he said i will get a deal if i pay him cash.

Sounds like he took a line from NTB "You need everything". Shops have learned that they make a lot more money if they replace unnecesary parts. It doesn't take them very much more labor to replace 4 ball joints than 2, but they likely charge you twice as much.

I pick up a lot of customers after they get a mindblowing estimate from a chain shop then I show them the "one" part that is bad and the 3 other parts that are good.

 

[BigRigTech]

Yep, guys like that can give all my fellow tech's a bad name. You can chack the tie rods two ways, jack up one wheel and wiggle the tire to see if there is slop or leave the tires on the ground, engine off and have someboday rock the wheel back and forth rythemically to see if there's any slop.

 

[LA350]

I just got finished replacing my inner, outer, drag link and both rod ends, all w/ Moog for 300. in parts. I had the shakes pretty bad and a hard pull to the left. Since the replacement of the tires that went bad and the addition of the new parts it drives straight w/ no vibration. Then I blew the water pump, so I had to forgo the alignment.