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For the people who have done the ball joint replacement how long did it take you to do all 4?
Expensive BJ's (Ball Joint Question)
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i had to get my bottom two welding in. they just fell out. now i think i need to do them all over agian. im feeling a cluck in the front end everytime i take off hard. i forget the cost of the ball joints though. i did the work myself. just be careful how things go back together. the upper a-arm main bolts are torque to yield ones. so get new ones. also that rod that theygo through is supposed to sit on there a certain way. witht he appropriate side facing down.
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well that's a nice thing to know how to do yourself, but if you don't have an air chisel, life sucks. Either way, you're probably looking between $500-600 all said and done if you pay someone to do it. That's what sears quoted me back in the day when they were doing an alignment for me. I laughed and went and bought a lowering kit. This was back in like '01 on my old Dakota Sport, so prices may have changed, I don't know.
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you probably know what i was thinking when i saw BJ... :usa2:MusicCityDak said:
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Me too...i was gonna say find a cheaper girl... :jester:
Anyways, It pays in the long run to do this yourself. If you dont have access to air tools. you can buy a diamond drill bit and a punch...drill the rivets out and the punch them out. Takes longer but trust me, you would rather do this yourseld than shell the $$$ to have someone do it.... :biggthump
Anyways, It pays in the long run to do this yourself. If you dont have access to air tools. you can buy a diamond drill bit and a punch...drill the rivets out and the punch them out. Takes longer but trust me, you would rather do this yourseld than shell the $$$ to have someone do it.... :biggthump
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1,099 Posts
Well, like everyone said above - air tools are the only way to go...specifically the an air chisel and hammer. Doesn't hurt to have a grinder either to make everything purdy once you get those bastard rivets out.
Just make sure that either way you go, do it yourself or have someone do it, to get Moog's balljoints with the zerk fitting. DC really f'd up by not using these in the first place...do not follow their mistake. (I use RockAuto for this type of OEM replacements - http://www.rockauto.com/)
Give yourself a day, especially if you've never done this before (also make sure small children are not around from the language you will be using). Don't get me wrong, they are not really all that hard to replace...just more of a pain in the ass.
Just make sure that either way you go, do it yourself or have someone do it, to get Moog's balljoints with the zerk fitting. DC really f'd up by not using these in the first place...do not follow their mistake. (I use RockAuto for this type of OEM replacements - http://www.rockauto.com/)
Give yourself a day, especially if you've never done this before (also make sure small children are not around from the language you will be using). Don't get me wrong, they are not really all that hard to replace...just more of a pain in the ass.
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I'm thinking I'm gonna do uppers and lowers. Is it easiest to remove the control arms? Or can you do it with them still attached?
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What I did to get the rivets out was use an angle grinder, but used a smaller diameter wheel without the guard on the tool. (I am pretty stupid so I don't recommend this by any means whatsoever. If you go without a guard, you do so at your own risk!) I cut the rivets off the ball joints, then destroyed every drill bit I owned. I tried a torch, an air chisel I bought at Ace Hardware, and still no luck. What did the trick was a mini sledge and a drift punch. After you get through the rivet with a drill bit, use a slightly smaller diameter drift pin and give it one or two hard downward blows with the sledge. When I felt the first rivet move, I struck it again and that glorious sound of that rivet letting out its final scream as it hit the garage floor was the best sound I have ever heard! The other rivets then followed and it wasn't a half hour before they were all just a bad memory. I did the job about 1.5 years ago and replaced all 4 ball joints, tie rods/ends, shocks, end links and did a manual front end alignment. However, I bought a cheap A/F set off of EBay and am now regretting it as all ball joints are pretty much deteriorated and will need replacement. But, this time, I have only nuts and bolts to replace instead of the rivets. Thank God! My advice, if you go cheap instead of Mopar, you will be doing the job three times or more with the knock off brand. Not really saving too much cash in the long run.
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