Ball Joints

[proteegolf]

Changed the ball joints last week on my Excursion 7.3 4wd. I bought Moog instead of the made in China ones. They cost twice as much but the quality is there. The OEM Ball joints do not have grease fittings, the new ones do.

Once you get it all apart, put the steering knuckle in a vise and let the ball joints soak with PB Blaster or another good penetrating oil. Make sure you have a heavy duty ball joint press. Mine were in for 9 years, and 195,000 miles. Heat around the ball joint for 5 minutes with some MAP gas to help the pressing process. In the meantime, make sure you have the new ball joints in the freezer for 3 hours. It will make them much easier to press in. We used a good quality anti seize to help the process also. After you complete the job and put everything back together, do your self a favor and check the gear oil level in the Differential. May also be a good time to replace the brake pads if they are low. Job tooks us 6 hours to do both sides.

Mark

PS, she still won't start cold.

[late_99_PSD]

Ball joints in the freezer, good tip!

[dhanna6powerstroke]

I wanna know how doing ball joints made you think it's was gonna help the cold start problem

[proteegolf]

Cold start is one of many problems. I replaced the glow plugs and the GPCM. if it is below 50 degress she won't start unless plugged in for 2 hours. Check engine light is on. Tried to run codes with the OBD2 scanner and got error message. My luck the PCM is shot. Truck runs great when warmed up. Possibly a sensor?? don't know. Very aggravating.