Has anyone replaced ball joints on a 2001 F-250? I am having a popping noise from the front end when the suspension flexes, the local tire store told me I need them when they replaced my tires and did an alignment on the truck. The Hayes manual says it's beyond the ability of the home mechanic, however I own a press and have done them on an Explorer before. Parts alone are half what the mechanic wants to do the job.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.
Ball joints are not difficult. I had nearly no wrenching experience when I did mine. Just read a write up and go from there. Im sure i could do them now in less then 2 hours now.
But to be safe, I would set aside an entire day.
PS that popping noise could be your leafs slapping.:thumb: I thought I ripped my tcase out the first time I really got them to slap.:doh:
Thanks for all the replies. I ordered the kit from powerstrokeshop.com, $335 including shipping, balljoints, seals and o-rings. seven.three.superdutypsd.com has a great write up. Hopefully the local dealer will press the seals without charging me much. Still I'm $600 under what the local mechanic wants to charge, not that I don't appreciate all they do, just in these times all the money I can save helps. I'll let ya'all know how it goes.
Thanks again
perfect...for the seals, buy a 12 pack of local favorite beer and drag it all down to ford...ill guarantee one of the techs will press the seals on for the beer
make sure you buy aftermarket ones with grease fittings. remember to grease them too or they are useless, and they will go as fast as the originals ha. i know from experience.
I was told that Moog ball joints are worse than factory ones because they are splined and a pain in the *** to install and remove if go bad and don't last as long as factory. Anyone got any input on this to back up or are most people pretty satisfied with them?
The ones on Your Premiere Source for Ford Truck Parts and Accessories are expensive and I'm trying to save as much money as possible and want to know if these are a complete kit with everything I'll need and if they are good and compare to other higher priced kits. I'm still undecided between Moog or factory type oem replacements.
The balljoints in the link you posted are for a 2wd twin I-beam front end. I have 4wd which require a different balljoint. You mentioned the Moog are splined, look closley at the picture on the ebay post, those joints are also splined. Also, the prices on powerstrokeshop include the seals and o-rings you need to replace when doing this swap. I just got the parts via ups today. Everything in the kit is either Ford OEM or Moog. I don't know anything about Mevotech Inc., the manufacturer of the balljoints on the ebay post, Federal-Mogul is the parent company of Moog, I guess what I am getting at is you get what you pay for.
The Moogs are splined because ball joints go so often on these foolish trucks that they actually enlarge the holes... the splines make up that slight difference. I have put in a non splined ball joint and it practically fell in. Go Moog, it's a good joint. Also, NAPA Presicion (Spelling?) joints are also good. Just my 2 cents.
My mistake on the 2wd ball joints that I cant use, I just hurry and found some links without reading real quick while I had a few minutes online to see what some people thought and to get some advice. I just dont have a whole lot of money right now so if I can get moog quality or close to for cheaper you know I'll do it but just trying to find the best deals to save all I can so any references please let me know. I haven't checked ebay for moog if there is any or not or any other sites besides powerstroke shop. I appreciate the input from all who have responded back so far, helps with the decision.
I really wouldn't go this cheap on your ball joints...
Priced out NAPA, I did some quick research on them, and this is what I can get them for...
Uppers Part # NCP 2601420 $30.14 each
Lowers Part # NCP 2601311 $33.35 each
And these best ones they sell go for...
Uppers Part #NCP 2601248 $41.74
Lowers Part #NCP 2601395 $63.94
These joints so far have either met or exceeded our experiences with Moog. And I still think Moog is a great product, don't get me wrong!
I dunno, but with the lift you have on the truck and those tires, you are going to be asking alot out of a ball joint that is already known for failures...
Also, if you have your heart set on cheap ball joints... at least save yourself some money and buy them direct. These are the ball joints they are advertising on ebay for about 15 bucks cheaper...
Well, I completed the ball joint swap this weekend. Went real smooth, no trouble to speak of. I think the hardest part was removing the old axel seal. It was a real pain to pry off. Lots of PB blaster, that stuff is great. Make sure you soak the ball joint nuts, the hub nuts and the old ball joint tapers once you have the nuts off. Just make sure you put the dust shield on the right direction or you are taking it apart again :doh:.
One thing I found, the 90 deg. grease fitting that comes with the Moog upper ball joint WILL hit the universal joint. I was able to find some lower profile fittings at NAPA. Make sure you lock the hubs and spin the axel while turning the knuckle. Double check your clearance, mine's close, but after a test drive in 4x4, the fitting is still there so I guess it cleared :hehe:.
I also installed my new AFE stage II intake, so I have a complete stock air box if anyone wants it.
The new ones are splined... but you'd have to actually look at what they have at NAPA.. the old stock is still the smooth, so they may not have the new ones yet.
I got all the parts but the ball joints them selves for free so I am searching only for the Moog ball joints and found that Amazon so far is the cheapest, has the best deals on them.
Killer deal on the upper ones. I matched the part numbers from those on powerstrokeshop.com so I know these are for mono axle 4wd.
The kit from powerstrokeshop.com is $291.00. I am saving about $115.00-$120.00 dollars. Thank god, and I hope they last me a long time.
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