Re: Ball joint replacement, anyone do it themselves?

From: Alberto Aguirre Jr (bluedoberman@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Feb 22 2006 - 12:36:13 EST


DAAAAMN $888?!? I know they are probably getting the
80/each joints and all...I found a complete set from a
parts store on Ebay (non white-box factory rejects)for
$89. I have a buddy who is gung ho to help cause he
"loves working on cars". I hope he dont wanna charge
me $439!! I am also doing the bushings while I am at
so it'll likely be a day long project. NOW, is it
better/easier done on jack stands, or if I can get my
buddy to let me borrow his lift, would that be easier?

--- Josh Battles <josh.lists@omg-stfu.com> wrote:

>
> On Wed, February 22, 2006 7:54 am, Garret Lewis
> wrote:
> >
> > The tire shop said that I needed new upper and
> lower ball joints on my
> > Dakota yesterday. They quoted me a price of
> $888.06 installed. $439.00 of
> > that quote was labor. I was reading my Haynes
> manual about it and it does
> > seem like a fairly extensive job; however, I
> really don't want to pay
> > $888.06 for my truck repair. Has anyone replace
> the upper and lower ball
> > joints themselves? If so, how difficult/"pain in
> the butt" is the job?
> > Additionally, are there any "tricks of the trade"
> when you do it?
>
> They're not too bad. On my 2000, the uppers are
> held in by 3 rivets and the
> lowers are held by 4 rivets. I used an air hammer
> to shave the heads off the
> rivets and then a punch (in the air hammer) to drive
> them out of the holes.
> It took about 25 minutes per joint IIRC. The new
> ones will attach with grade
> 8 bolts and locknuts.
>
> If you don't have airtools it'll be much more time
> consuming. I would guess
> the easiest way would be to use some sort of grinder
> to grind the rivets out,
> or maybe you could drill them. Good luck.
>
> Be sure to get an alignment done after you replace
> them.
>
> --
> - Josh
> www.omg-stfu.com
>
> This message has been brought to you by the American
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>
> .
> .
>
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> | Make your plans NOW to attend the National DML
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>
>

Alberto Aguirre
Black '98 5.2L v8 Dakota Sport CC
Mods:Dynomax catback exhaust with dual exits,Kenwood cd player(previous 2 stolen),Alpine Security, K&N....that's it so far more to come.
http://alberto.dualhex.com

.
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.------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Make your plans NOW to attend the National DML Meet in Colorado! |
| Date: July 15-23, 2006 - More info: http://meet.dakota-truck.net |
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