Bad Lower Ball Joint on the Ford E-150

I was doing a thorough inspection of the suspension & steering on the van today and discovered this bad lower ball joint on the drivers side. Looks like I have some work ahead of me.

[@Martysjournal]

How did you press it out? I have the same problem in my '03 E150 van. Is there a special puller or is just the fork type impact pullers?

[@jeepcollector91]

These are very easy to press out with a hydraulic press. My press was not working that day so I did end up carrying the spindles/knuckles to a local shop and got them to press out the old balljoints and press in the new ones. Cost me $40 and took them about 30 minutes. Then I just reinstalled the spindles. One of the easiest vehicles to work on. The spindles are very easy to remove but I did saturate all the bolts & nuts with PB-Blaster a couple days prior to the repair. Removing the spindles requires no special tools. Just remove the brakes, disconnect the tie-rod ends, remove the one bolt that clamps in the top, remove the cotter pin and loosen the castle nut for the lower balljoint (almost all the way off), give the I-Beam/control arm a good wack on the flat side next to where the lower balljoint attaches to the I-Beam/control arm and the lower balljoint will drop down only being held by the castle nut. Then just remove the castle nut and the spindle is free. If you have a press you can easily press out the balljoints from the spindle or just throw them in your other vehicle and carry them to a shop.

[@BIGSARGE64]

how hard is it to replace one or both of this? is a DYI? any special tools?

[@jeepcollector91]

No special tools for removing & reinstalling the knuckle/spindle. Just a ratchet/socket set, PB-Blaster, wrenches, breaker bar, pliers, 2-Lb sledge hammer, and a torque wrench. On these vans the ball joints are pressed into the knuckle which makes it easier. My C-clamp style ball joint press was unable to remove these ball joints. You may need a hydraulic press to remove/install the ball joints. I have one but it is worn out so I carried the knuckles to a local shop and they pressed out the old ones and pressed in the new ones for $40. 30-minutes later I was on my way back home to reinstall the knuckles. (hammer was used to tap against the side of the knuckle by the tie-rod end to knock the tie-rod end loose from the knuckle after the nut was loosened as well as tapping against the side of the control arm/I-beam to break the knuckle loose after the upper retaining bolt was removed and the lower nut loosened)