Lower Ball Joint and Outer Tie Rod Installation

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Spindle Lift Install Page

Notes:

Tools Needed:

Parts Needed:

Click on the pictures below to get a larger one.

The beginning of this tutorial is taken from the Spindle Lift Install I wrote.

Let's get started:

A day or two before, apply liquid wrench to the top and bottom ball joint nuts and the steering arm nuts. They are the three large nuts that are attached to the spindle on the top, bottom, and front bumper end of the spindle assembly. If you get the spray type, be sure not spray near the rotor disk or brake pads. Brake + lubricant = NO STOP. Use a rag behind the nut to catch the over spray.

Removal:

Now chock and block the rear wheels, loosen your front lug nuts, and jack and support the front end. Now remove your front tire. I put this here because I always forget to loosen the lugs and then try to take the tire off while it's in the air. No-go.

Anyway, moving on ... you should be at the point below.

Stock Front Assembly

FIRST A NOTE

I deviated from the "normal" procedure because I was lazy and didn't want to totally remove the spindle assembly which would involve removing the disc brake, rotor, bearings, etc. plus the reinstall of all these components. What I did was disconnect the lower portion of the spindle to save time. Doing it this way I was able to do one complete side in around 40 minutes.

Disconnecting the Lower Ball Joint and Outer Tie Rod Ball Joint

Remove the cotter pins from the lower ball joint as well as the steering arm. Toss them. Do NOT reuse the cotter pin unless you want to very rapidly lower your truck, besides the kit comes with a new one. OK, now back off the castle nuts a few turns but do not remove the nut. This is actually more important for the ball joint nuts but we'll do this to all of them to be safe.

Break the jam nut [spin it clockwise, righty tighty] on the tie rod now before you disconect it. Don't spin it off, keep it finger tight.

Now grab the puller that you rented or purchased and attach it to the steering arm ball joint castle nut like below. For those who don't know what a Cotter Pin puller looks like, it's the thing that looks like a screwdriver with a bent tip in the picture below. Don't worry about the missing rotor and brake assembly below, you can do the install without totally removing the spindle.

Steering Ball Joint Removal

Start cranking down on the puller. A warning, you may hear a VERY loud pop when these ball joints pop out. Don't jump and hit your head like I did. The reason I leave the nut on is that if there is a lot of pressure on the suspension, the puller or other parts may fly off. The nut keeps everything from separating rapidly.

Now for the lower one. This is what you'll be working on. Remove and discard the Cotter pin if you have not already done so. Loosen but do not remove the lower ball joint castle nut.

Lower Ball Joint

Use the puller and break the lower ball joint free. This one will be an extreme pain in the ass! Once it is free,take the castle nut off.

Ball Joint Removal

Now go underneath the truck and crank the torsion bar adjusting bolt out as if you were lowering the truck. Remember the number of turns or crank it till it stops when you put it back in like it did.

Place your floor jack under the lower A-arm use a wood block if needed and slowly jack the arm up. You're doing this so the ball joint bolt will clear the spindle.

Push the spindle towards the back and lower the A-arm. It should be positioned like in the picture above minus the jack.
[I always put the tire under the frame in case the jack stands fail.]

Remove the retaining ring from the top of the ball joint.

Now we're ready to push the ball joint out.

Grab the rented ball joint press and assemble it. Put some grease on the threads so it will be easier to turn. This is what the kit comes with. I rented it from a local Autozone (PN 27023) for a $106.67, with tax, refundable deposit.

Press Setup

There's instructions on the kit but just set it up like below and you should be fine. The bottom cup must be larger than the diameter of the ball joint or you wont go anywhere. You will most likely need a breaker bar or some air tools for this. It will be very difficult to turn but it will move [remeber the grease?].

When you bottom out, take the top adapter off and then just use the end of the screw to push it out.

Clean out the hole in preparation of the new joint.

Here's the difference between the joint and what comes in the kit.

Tie Rod End Removal

Since you broke the jam nut free, this should be simple. Turn the jam nut till it hand tight to the tie rod. This will help with the relocation if you screw up the next step.

Spin the tie rod end off, remembering how many turns it takes. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

The difference between the stock and new one.

Yay! Half way done.

Installation:

Installation is basically the reverse of the removal.

Ball Joint Intallation

Setup the ball joint press, grab the ball joint and press it in. You shouldn't need a breaker bar for this. It should go in semi-easily with a 1/4" ratchet. See the picture below for setup. The C-Press will stay in the same position. Only the "cups" are flipped. DON'T PUT THE ZERK [GREASE FITTING] IN YET. You will smash it in the next step if you do.

After the ball joint is pressed it, put the new retainer clip on and the Zerk grease fitting. I tightened the fitting snug and pointed towards the rear so I get less road crap on it.

Put the new dust boot on.

Jack the lower A-arm back up and position the ball joint bolt in the spindle hole.

Slowly lower the A-arm and adjust the spindle by the disc rotor. Don't get your fingers between the ball joint and the spindles. You may want an assistant for this. It will now end up like this. If it doesn't now is the time to get back underneath and crank those torsion bars back to their original height.

You should now have enough thread to put the castle nut on. Tighten and torque to specifications. I did about 105 ft/lb. Put the cotter pin in. The ball joint replacement is now complete.

Outer Tie Rod Installation

Spin the new tie rod on. Remember the number of turns that I said was important? Apply that knowledge here. If you forgot how many turns, turn it to approximately the jam nut if it hasn't moved.

Place the new tie rod ball joint on to the spindle. Tighten and torque to specifications. I think I did around 50-55 ft/lb. Put the new, supplied cotter pin in. Now that the tie rod is secure, tighten the jam nut.

The finished install.

This is a good time to inspect and or do a front brake job since you have everything off. Hence the (optional) parts in the list in the beginning. You could also replace the wheel bearings at this point. A good idea if you've been getting a odd howling noise coming from your front end or have been crossing deep water since they're not sealed. Refer to your repair manual for the directions for the above jobs.

Mount the wheel.

Rinse and repeat on the other side.

The steering wheel may be off. The alignment shop should take care of it.

Well, I hope that this How To was helpful. Enjoy!

Last updated 05.15.03
Contact me: harrywoh@yahoo.com