Replacing balljoints on Ford f350 superduty I can't find a manual can anyone help?

Question

Any words of wisdom that could help in changing them?f350 superduty v8 5.4 4wheel drive.

Answer 1

did one the other day. typical dearler rate is about 6 hours labor for the job.
ok first you need to remove the wheels. then the brake calipers. then detatch the abs sensor from the retainers from the brake rubber brake lines. then remove the cailper hanger bracket. next remove the rotor. remove the backing plate. now remove the tie rod end from the spindel arm ( use a puller or hit the spindel with a hammer were the link goes through the spindle) DO NOT hit the tie rod end with a hammer. next remove the spindle from the I beam. to do so start by removing the top nut and bolt from the i beam were the upper ball joint is then take a scredriver and hammer and TAP the cam shim up out of the whole. next remove the lower ball joint nut wich is 1 1/8 nut from lower ball joint. leave nut on last few threads of ball jiont so when you brake it loose it wont hit the ground or worse you. nex you will need a pickle fork to seperate the spindle froom the i beam. Install the the fork between the spindle and i beam and hit the fork with a hammer. once it pops out remove the nut lower ball joint and if all went well you should now be holding a spindel in your hand.
now to replace the ball joints u need a press OTC tools makes a nice one about $260 or so from snap on guy.
press the upper ball joint out first then the lower then press in the lower first then the upper.
It may be more cost effective for you to just take the spindles and new ball joints to a shop to have them pressed as that is the biggist pain of the job and labpr should be some were around 1.5 to 2 hours to press them. a machine shop should be able to do it for even less then that

hope that helps... and always remember to were your safty glasses when hitting things with a hammer

Answer 2

Get a good ball joint press, you can usually rent them from the parts house... Start with the top, it's probably the only one you can get too really if it's like my Dana 44. Once it's out you may have a little better access to the bottom one. I usually have to pull the calipers, hubs and rotors and take the spindles off, then pull the axles so that I can get to my lower ones. But you may have a little more room on yours since it's 1-ton.

Heat and a big hammer are your friends...

Answer 3

Without looking at a manual or your truck, I can only suggest that you take a piece of tape and wrap it around the main bar at the point of where the ball joint stops its threading.

Remove the nut holding said ball joint to the hub and remove.
(If it is stubborn, you can keep the nut on the "bolt" and use it as a tapping point. I Reiterate: TAPPING

Once the hub is released, find your point for the wrench(s) to remove the entire ball joint.

Re-thread the new one back to your tape mark.
(this will keep you fairly close in your alignment)