RE: Ball Joint and shock replacement

From: Rick Barnes (rascal@scrtc.com)
Date: Sun Mar 05 2006 - 21:42:58 EST


Hey man, GREAT JOB!!!

Rascal

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of Alberto
Aguirre Jr
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 8:08 PM
To: dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net
Subject: Re: DML: Ball Joint and shock replacement

I just spent ALL of saturday and part of sunday doing
my balljoints. I decided against even bothering with
the bushings....luckily they seem in good condition.
The top balljoint was easy, but we were learning as we
went and the bottom balljoint was a pain. The air
chisel technique shaved nothing. Perhaps higher
quality tools were needed. I then went with grinding
the head but the rivets go through 3 layers of metal.
The lower control arm has like a pocket that the ball
joint slides into. No amount of pounding, with air
tool or by hand, would make them budge. So we drilled
them through. The reverse wasnt so tough.
One we woke up the next day.....yeah i know....we
started the second side. This time the lower ones we
ground down to where they were flat, using the size of
the rivet we drilled in an amount so once we ground
them away completely, we could find the center amongst
the shiny surface. Then we drilled each one about 1/2
to 3/4 of the way. After which a few whacks and the
rivets popped out. What we spent 8 hours doing on
Saturday took us 3 on Sunday. Well at least I saved
$200-$400 depending on where I went, and learned about
balljoint replacement ;)

Alberto Aguirre Jr
Houston TX
98 Dakota Sport CC 5.2L V8

--- Chris Reck <chris92@insightbb.com> wrote:

>
> Thanks to everyone for your help in this. I've
> decided to put everything
> back together and take it to the dealer to mess
> with. I've got a trip
> planned to Fresno this coming Saturday and can't
> afford to have things not
> done correctly.
>
> On a side note, there is always the passenger side
> to do next... :-)
>
> --
> Chris Reck
> Bloomington, IL
>
> '99 Dakota Sport + CC 4x4 V6 (Deep Amethyst)
> Shaved and polished V8 TB, Autolite 3923, 180
> Thermostat, 7.5mm Bosch plug
> wires,
> Custom K&N 6x9 air intake, Rancho RSX shocks,
> Pioneer full audio system,
> Jet Stage 1 Chip, BF Goodrich 32x11.5r15 T/A KO
> tires, Gibson 3" CatBack
> Exhaust
>

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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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| 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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