27 year old ball joints + ball joint press = a very sore me!

October 23, 2019, 08:37 PM

Black92LX

Normally a hard days work on the car does not hit me until the following day.
Not this time. My shoulders are smashed. Never done ball joints before. After a few hiccups and a waste of nearly 2 hours just trying to get started the Mustang has some fresh lower ball joints.
Napa ball joints actually made in the USA was glad to see that on the box.

Baby steps. Hopefully by the end of next week I will be done with the full suspension and brake conversion.
I’ll get it moved to my shop at home and can work on it more frequently hope to have it running in factory form by the end of the year.
Then maybe by summer she’ll be running with the turbo motor then winter will come along and I’ll get the interior back together.
Then start saving for a little body work and paint.
Probably being a bit optimistic.

October 23, 2019, 10:54 PM

Edmond

quote:
Originally posted by Black92LX:
Normally a hard days work on the car does not hit me until the following day.
Not this time.

I have bad news for you: you're old.

October 24, 2019, 08:27 AM

Perception

I had a Jeep that broke 2 separate ball joint presses before they came out, it was miserable. It took me a whole weekend.

One of the best tips I ever got for sticky ball joints is to tighten the press pretty tight, and give the knuckle a couple of whacks with a hammer. Repeat as necessary. The shock will help pop them loose, and can make it a lot faster and easier. I don't know if it works for everything, but it did the last time I had to do them and I wished I had known about it before.

"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford, "it is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards."
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."

October 24, 2019, 10:17 AM

flesheatingvirus

Mustang? I thought you only drove the dad van.

I remember when my lower ball joint separated on my 1996 Tacoma when I was pulling out of a Walmart parking lot. It was fun. I was glad it didn’t happen on the highway.

________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --

October 24, 2019, 11:23 AM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:

Mustang? I thought you only drove the dad van.

Here is a Black92LX:

October 24, 2019, 12:36 PM

Black92LX

quote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Mustang? I thought you only drove the dad van.

I remember when my lower ball joint separated on my 1996 Tacoma when I was pulling out of a Walmart parking lot. It was fun. I was glad it didn’t happen on the highway.

Dumped the van over year ago.

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
quote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:

Mustang? I thought you only drove the dad van.
Here is a Black92LX:

May want to check your monitor that one is dark green

October 24, 2019, 01:45 PM

RHINOWSO

quote:
Originally posted by Black92LX:
quote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Mustang? I thought you only drove the dad van.

Dumped the van over year ago.

But you made the mistake of admitting you owned it to us.

You'll always be "the mini-van guy".

October 24, 2019, 02:36 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Black92LX:

May want to check your monitor that one is dark green

It does not look green on my black and white monitor.

October 24, 2019, 02:42 PM

marksman41

The Dodge (Ram 2500) was overdue for new ball joints and I entertained thoughts of tackling the job with some help from a friend with a gift for all things mechanical. The plan was to drive to his place in Atlanta and spend Labor Day weekend changing them out. Am I ever glad plans were changed!

Took it to a local shop with a good rep. and has done me right in the past. Besides the ball joints being bad, my front wheel hubs were shot and needed a lot of work (and heat) to remove. The job I thought might be a tiring but productive day for my buddy an me would actually have been a lot of frustration and aggravation. I like doing what work I can on my vehicles, but I'm really glad I had a professional do this job.

As an aside - I got the heavy-duty Dynatrac ball joints that have replaceable innards

https://www.dynatrac.com/rebui...ints/balljoints.html

so when it comes time to do them again, the job won't be nearly as involved as replacing regular ball joints.

October 24, 2019, 04:13 PM

.38supersig

Did that with mine too.
Thought the price of the bushings and balljoints was too close to the price of some new control arms.
Saved a bunch of swear words that way.

Let us know how the independent rear suspension and Coyote conversion works out.

October 24, 2019, 06:14 PM

jimmy123x

quote:
Originally posted by marksman41:
The Dodge (Ram 2500) was overdue for new ball joints and I entertained thoughts of tackling the job with some help from a friend with a gift for all things mechanical. The plan was to drive to his place in Atlanta and spend Labor Day weekend changing them out. Am I ever glad plans were changed!

Took it to a local shop with a good rep. and has done me right in the past. Besides the ball joints being bad, my front wheel hubs were shot and needed a lot of work (and heat) to remove. The job I thought might be a tiring but productive day for my buddy an me would actually have been a lot of frustration and aggravation. I like doing what work I can on my vehicles, but I'm really glad I had a professional do this job.

As an aside - I got the heavy-duty Dynatrac ball joints that have replaceable innards

https://www.dynatrac.com/rebui...ints/balljoints.html

so when it comes time to do them again, the job won't be nearly as involved as replacing regular ball joints.

I grew up working on cars and worked on them everyday for a lot of my life. But the older I get, the more I decide to work at doing what I do for a living and pay other people to do the things I no longer have a dedicated automotive shop to work in with a lift and all the specialized tools. It's much easier for me to work a few or so extra hours and pay someone to do something that can turn into a nightmare. Even when I did work on cars at a dedicated shop, every once in a while or sometimes more often than that, you'd get into a repair and find a situation that was just a sheer pain in the ass.

October 24, 2019, 06:26 PM

rburg

One of the hardest things about owning an old car is figuring out which jobs to take on and which to farm out to an expert shop. Just make sure the slob has tightened the lug nuts.

Younger son's FIL asked me what shop I used for my brake work. I lied to him. I told him the dealer. The lie was in that I often buy a new vehicle before the old one needs brakes. Except my Jeeps, which don't see that many miles. For those I abuse my oldest son into doing it. Well before they need new brakes. We both prefer it that way.

October 24, 2019, 07:47 PM

Black92LX

quote:
Originally posted by .38supersig:
Did that with mine too.
Thought the price of the bushings and balljoints was too close to the price of some new control arms.
Saved a bunch of swear words that way.

Let us know how the independent rear suspension and Coyote conversion works out.

I thought about it but $90 in ball joints beats $350 in arms.

As for those swaps a bit too complicated and costly.
I almost did do an IRS swap though.