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How to replace upper and lower ball joints on a '99 4x4 Durango.

141K views 95 replies 46 participants last post by  biggjb420 
#1 · (Edited)
Ok, everyone keeps asking how to do this and people try to explain but until now there hasn't been a technical article on it. Now there is :banana2:

This article covers the removal and installation of;

Upper Ball Joints
Lower Ball Joints
Inner Tie Rod
Outer Tie Rod End
Shock Absorbers

Tools you will need;

Jack / Jackstand
Lug Wrench
Side Cutters/Pliers
1 1/4 Socket
18mm Socket
5/8 Wrench
1/2" Wrench
12" Crescent Wrench
Snap Ring Pliers
Angle Grinder - Grinding Wheel
Large Hammer/Small Mallet
Ball Joint Press
1 Large Washer - 3 Very Large Washers/Bushings


Step 1. - Jack and support vehicle, remove tire. (make sure and jack the vehicle up another few inches further than is required to remove the tire because you'll need that room to operate the press later)

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1020997.jpg

Step 2. - Remove 1 1/4" Castle nut holding rotor/caliper assembly.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030059.jpg

Step 3. - Remove the Castle nuts off of the upper and lower ball joints and grind the three (3) rivets off of the top of the upper ball joint. These can be ground down to flush and then beat out with a punch and a hammer.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1020995.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030001.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030002.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030003.jpg

Step 4. - Remove Castle nut on tie rod end and remove inner tie rod with the crescent wrench.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1020999.jpg

Step 5. - Remove Shock Absorber with the 5/8" Wrench (bottom bolt) and 1/2" Wrench (top nut).

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1020997.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030060.jpg

Step 6. - Remove rotor/caliper assembly (usually by hitting the top of it with a mallet) and set it to the side. Move the axle out of the way and tie it up.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030062.jpg

Step 7. - Grind the ring off of the lower ball joint until it is completely flush.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030063.jpg

Step 8. - Start the lower ball joint on it's way with the hammer and/or punch. (try not to hit the A-arm or it will bend into the hole and make it harder to press the new joint in).

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030064.jpg

Step 9. - Continue to remove the lower joint with the press.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030065.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030006.jpg

This is it as far as disassembly goes, now it's time to start installing the new parts. :woot:

- Press new lower ball joint into A-arm.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030004.jpg

In my experience this was the hardest part until I figured out how to modify the press. I used the O.E.M. press from AutoZone's Loan-A-Tool program. The directions call for you to put all the adapters/rings/new joint and A-arm in the press, but there is not nearly enough room in the press for all of those things. You will see in the following photos that I had to start the press with a small chisel on top because it was thin enough to fit, but strong enough not to get bent by the press. Also, if you use this press or another like it, this is where the washers come in. http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030066.jpg

Use the silver washer to put in between the ring from the press kit and the rubber boot on the new joint or else THE PRESS WILL CUT A RING ALL THE WAY AROUND AND THROUGH YOUR SHINY NEW RUBBER BOOT. And trust me, no one can get you a replacement :rant:

So start the press with the chisel (or flat piece of metal) until the joint is almost flush.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030067.jpg

Turn the press with the crescent wrench until it gets harder to turn (it will be hard in the first place, but after a few turn it will get even harder) when this happens give the outside of the A-arm a healthy whack with the hammer, this will help guide the joint in straight and make the press easy to turn again. Once the joint reaches almost flush you can insert the adapter that goes with the press.

Ok, so here comes the next problem, while the old joint had a built in ring that we had to grind off, the new joint has to be pressed up further in order to accomodate a snap ring. This is where the three very large washers come in. I found mine at a hardware store labeled "Bushings." Depending on the thickness you might have to use more than one, in my case three (3). Use these to space the top of the press above the top of the A-arm. Unfortunately, in my case I had to use these spacers progressively one at a time. In other words, press it, release the press and insert a spacer, press it again, release the press and insert another spacer and so on until all three spacers have been pressed and the joint is high enough to accomodate the snap ring.

After that you're almost done, just install the new shock absorber, install the upper ball joint, bolt up the rotor/caliper asembly, re-install the axle, bolt up the new tie rod end (making sure that it is adjusted to be the approximate length of the one you removed) re-install the brake line, put the tire back on and drive it to a tire shop to get an alignment. You're done! :banana2:

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj190/lvin4jc33/D-go Front End/P1030075.jpg

The first side took me a few days just to think up the washer idea to modify the press, but once I figured it out I timed the driver's side, not including getting the tools out/putting them away it took a hair over 3 hours for one side.

Another handy tip is even though AutoZone's Loan-A-Tool program is (in the end) totally free. The press costs $150 to rent while you have it and (of course) the money comes right out when you rent it, but takes a day or two to get back into your account once you return it.

TiresPlus quoted me $1,200.00 for this job not including shocks. I did it for $75. That's right, all these parts were $75 including shipping off of eBay :drive:

Good Luck and Happy Wrenching
- Joe -
 
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#3 ·
Thanks! I wish I had this info when I started it, it would have saved me a bunch of time, but saving $1,125.00 helps :banana2:
 
#8 ·
They come with it + the lock washers. Ya know for $75 this is just the best "too good to be true" product I have ever seen. The parts are good quality and include absolutely everything. :mullet:
 
#11 ·
Umm....is a mod going to sticky this or what?? There are not very many write ups on this forum hence the repeated questions on how tos. Great write up op. I just did the lower ball joints on my dads 99 explorer today, pretty similar.

From the write up on the explorer forum, i actually used my 3 ton jack to press the new ball joint back in, not the ball joint press. I believe i used the smallest ring in the ball joint press kit (same one in your picture from autozone) and put that on the bottom of the new ball joint, than the spacer ring, and the the largest ring and set that on my 3 ton jack stacked up, than raise it up into the control arm till it starts lifting the truck, than hit around the control arm with a mine sledge until it comes up enough to get the snap ring on and it went like butter. Ill take a pic of it when i do mine here pretty soon as everything sounds/looks perfect in my head but never comes out right...
 
#15 ·
I have just finished looking for the how to for the lower ball joints. Your write up and pictures should be at the top of the forum, any forum, ALL the forums. It took me about two hours to find it on here. There were others that were meat and no potatoes, but yours was the entire stew.

Thank you for taking the time and making sure that I keep my Durango out of the shop. I have been holding onto by Balls for two weeks now unsure of exactly how to get them out.

:bump:
 
#18 ·
If you ground the rivets off the upper ball joints, how'd you attach the new ones? Bolts?
 
#19 · (Edited)
Illustrated version

How to replace upper and lower ball joints on a '99 4x4 Durango.
Ok, everyone keeps asking how to do this and people try to explain but until now there hasn't been a technical article on it. Now there is

This article covers the removal and installation of;

Upper Ball Joints
Lower Ball Joints
Inner Tie Rod
Outer Tie Rod End
Shock Absorbers

Tools you will need;

Jack / Jackstand
Lug Wrench
Side Cutters/Pliers
1 1/4 Socket
18mm Socket
5/8 Wrench
1/2" Wrench
12" Crescent Wrench
Snap Ring Pliers
Angle Grinder - Grinding Wheel
Large Hammer/Small Mallet
Ball Joint Press
1 Large Washer - 3 Very Large Washers/Bushings


Step 1. - Jack and support vehicle, remove tire. (make sure and jack the vehicle up another few inches further than is required to remove the tire because you'll need that room to operate the press later)



Step 2. - Remove 1 1/4" Castle nut holding rotor/caliper assembly.



Step 3. - Remove the Castle nuts off of the upper and lower ball joints and grind the three (3) rivets off of the top of the upper ball joint. These can be ground down to flush and then beat out with a punch and a hammer.






Step 4. - Remove Castle nut on tie rod end and remove inner tie rod with the crescent wrench.



Step 5. - Remove Shock Absorber with the 5/8" Wrench (bottom bolt) and 1/2" Wrench (top nut).




Step 6. - Remove rotor/caliper assembly (usually by hitting the top of it with a mallet) and set it to the side. Move the axle out of the way and tie it up.

 
#20 · (Edited)
Illustrated version

Step 7. - Grind the ring off of the lower ball joint until it is completely flush.



Step 8. - Start the lower ball joint on it's way with the hammer and/or punch. (try not to hit the A-arm or it will bend into the hole and make it harder to press the new joint in).



Step 9. - Continue to remove the lower joint with the press.




This is it as far as disassembly goes, now it's time to start installing the new parts.

- Press new lower ball joint into A-arm.



In my experience this was the hardest part until I figured out how to modify the press. I used the O.E.M. press from AutoZone's Loan-A-Tool program. The directions call for you to put all the adapters/rings/new joint and A-arm in the press, but there is not nearly enough room in the press for all of those things. You will see in the following photos that I had to start the press with a small chisel on top because it was thin enough to fit, but strong enough not to get bent by the press. Also, if you use this press or another like it, this is where the washers come in.


Use the silver washer to put in between the ring from the press kit and the rubber boot on the new joint or else THE PRESS WILL CUT A RING ALL THE WAY AROUND AND THROUGH YOUR SHINY NEW RUBBER BOOT. And trust me, no one can get you a replacement

So start the press with the chisel (or flat piece of metal) until the joint is almost flush.



Turn the press with the crescent wrench until it gets harder to turn (it will be hard in the first place, but after a few turn it will get even harder) when this happens give the outside of the A-arm a healthy whack with the hammer, this will help guide the joint in straight and make the press easy to turn again. Once the joint reaches almost flush you can insert the adapter that goes with the press.

Ok, so here comes the next problem, while the old joint had a built in ring that we had to grind off, the new joint has to be pressed up further in order to accommodate a snap ring. This is where the three very large washers come in. I found mine at a hardware store labeled "Bushings." Depending on the thickness you might have to use more than one, in my case three (3). Use these to space the top of the press above the top of the A-arm. Unfortunately, in my case I had to use these spacers progressively one at a time. In other words, press it, release the press and insert a spacer, press it again, release the press and insert another spacer and so on until all three spacers have been pressed and the joint is high enough to accommodate the snap ring.

After that you're almost done, just install the new shock absorber, install the upper ball joint, bolt up the rotor/caliper assembly, re-install the axle, bolt up the new tie rod end (making sure that it is adjusted to be the approximate length of the one you removed) re-install the brake line, put the tire back on and drive it to a tire shop to get an alignment. You're done!



The first side took me a few days just to think up the washer idea to modify the press, but once I figured it out I timed the driver's side, not including getting the tools out/putting them away it took a hair over 3 hours for one side.

Another handy tip is even though AutoZone's Loan-A-Tool program is (in the end) totally free. The press costs $150 to rent while you have it and (of course) the money comes right out when you rent it, but takes a day or two to get back into your account once you return it.

TiresPlus quoted me $1,200.00 for this job not including shocks. I did it for $75. That's right, all these parts were $75 including shipping off of eBay

Good Luck and Happy Wrenching
- Joe -
 
#22 ·
Ivin4JC,
Thanks for taking the huge about of time to document this and write this up! Also Jarhead, thanks to you for going back and attaching the pics to this article so you don't have to scroll back and forth. Rep to both of you:mullet:
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the compliments guys. I couldn't find a good writeup on this when I needed it and it seemed like a lot of people were looking for it so I thought I could help some people out. Good luck with the projects, it's not as hard as it seems (plus you have my writeup, which I didn't have when I did it).
 
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Reactions: Venumb
#25 ·
The link was old, but here's two on ebay Why the price difference?

one for $300 +$20 S&H

This one offers a one year warranty, I got lifetime w/ the parts I just bought.

and one for $69.99 + $24.99 S&H

This is kinda funny ''are quarantied to fit.'' Doesn't actually give a warranty time frame.

full listing

I just did the passenger tie rod end, and driver upper ball joint. The other upper needs to be replaced soon.
 
#29 ·
I don't know what the diff. is there, but the inner rods on the bottom pic look goofy, where are the bolts? What are those goofy bell end lookin' things? Maybe that's a stock photo for a slightly diff. vehicle. I paid $90 for inner/outer rods and upper/lower joints on eBay, one year and 25k miles later, no problems :banana2:
 
#26 ·
At that price, they are probably cheap Chinese pieces. I'd question how long they are going to last in the long run. Moog stuff is about $50/joint from RockAuto. Is it the cheapest, no, there are others out there for about $30/joint but a full set for $30-40 just seems hokey to me.......
 
#27 ·
You all got jipped! I paid about $80 out the door for uppers, lowers, inner and outer tie rods! All BJ's are greaseable too!
 
#31 ·
Anyone know how long these last? I ordered up upper and lower ball joints and outer tie rods from napa for $310 with my discount, the good lifetime warrenty ones but still $230 more then these are.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Those are raybestos/spicer balljoints rebadged as napa "premium joints" Napa premium is a spicer ball joint in a napa box, these are the best ball joints hands down. Next time use rock-auto and you can get them for cheaper, they will last a long time as long as you keep the greased.

The machining quality between Ebay "OE brand" Chinese made ball-joints vs Moog is not that noticeable. Both come unpainted, natural rubber boots, "normal" hardware and zerk fittings which is better then stock.

Then you take the look at the raybestos premium and it'll bring a :D to your face with it's nicely machined tapered ends, Poly boots, rust coating and hardcore hardware.

My Ebay Chinese inner tie rods are currently lasting longer then my moog's; took me 15k for me to make one of the Moogs to go bad, next one's will be raybestos premium.
 
#33 ·
Haha alright well I guess I will stick with them then. And with my big discount they are pretty much the same price as on rock auto, only a couple bucks more, and the steering rack I'm also getting from them is only $140 compared to $168 on rock auto, and no shipping charges on anything. Thanks for the site though I'm going to have to start using that.
 
#35 ·
^Again, with my discount it's the same as the rock-auto site. They have huge mark ups on parts unless you work at some sort of repair shop and have an account set up with them. They would have been 290 on rock auto and it was 310 for me, but the steering rack from napa was only 140 compared to 168 on rock auto, and I would have had to shipped it to them for a core instead of just bringing it in to napa for the $90 core.
 
#37 ·
Wow, worse most miserable day i have ever had working on any car. Everything was going great, and then it went something like......rip lbj boot, find out i was sent wrong lbj's (to big) after lbj was installed, buy new lbj's, pull everything apart again, fuck up threading on new lbj when installing trying not to rip boot unable to get castle nut on, and many other small tid bits i was not expecting.....ran out of light took to shop, $350 to check/fix my work and install other side, leave shop and about an hour later now have other problem probably rear dif, didnt get any other work done, find out from shop you just take said boot off of bj before installing and then put it back on when done.........fml today sucks. i am doing nothing tomorrow. next time it will be a peice o cake though.......
 
#38 ·
I cut mine too, also found out that you should remove the boot before the install. I've also just put a washer between the boot and the press too, it works (keeps the press from cutting the boot) and you don't have to mess with the install/uninstall of the boot. But you're right, next time it will be cake.
 
#39 ·
Yah i tried the washer deal, didnt cut it about halfway through when i checked it, pressed it the rest of the way through and found out i cut it. To be honest, before i started i was like that guy online just doesnt know how to use a press, no way i need washers to get this done.....:) After staring at it for about an hour i was up at Ace Hardware diggin through washers:) I probably was just not careful enough? The guy i ordered the lbj's from immediatley refunded them and told me not to even bother sending them back. I thought I would pull the boot off of the one i ripped just to see how easy they came off, and it was glued on. There was no way that boot was coming off without cutting or ripping it.....I def have the use of those presses down now though.
 
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