'97 Taurus GL 147k: Front Pass. Ball Joint Removal Proc

After reading some stuff on the Web and the manual of a Harbor Freight Ball Joint Removal/Install tool (C-Clamp style #3385), I'm a little confused as to how the ball joint will be removed from my particular vehicle.

I've bought the replacement ball joint from Ford and it is circular and flat on one end with the tapered middle and threaded stud on the other end. When installed, the circular flat end sits flush with the top surface of the knuckle receptacle and the stud points downward toward the ground where it goes through the arm.

The Harbor Freight manual on their tool seems to indicate I will be both forcing out the old ball joint AND pressing in the new ball joint from the same side: the circular flat end - meaning I will be pushing downward toward the ground in both cases by exerting pressure on the flat, circular side of the joint. Is this correct? I saw other examples on the Web that seemed to indicate joints being extracted (or installed) by pressing on the stud side of the joint.

It seems reasonable to me that you wouldn't want to exert any pressure on the stud itself, as this could damage the internal joint, but I would think my joint would press IN from the top, but push OUT from the bottom.

Someone who's done this recently will hopefully chime in. My recall when I put new knuckles on my '98 is that the ball joints will press in from the underside and be retained by both the press fit as well as a snap ring to ensure the ball joint won't just fall out.

To remove the ball joint, you'd remove the dust boot, then the snap ring and press out from the domed side.

In both situations, the halfshaft will need to be removed from the knuckle/hub, and it would be easier to work with if the knuckle were removed from the vehicle.

-Rod

Looking again at the Ford replacement joint, it's got a good solid 2/16" two-ply lip on the flat circular "dish" end. There's no way this thick lip slips by or through anything, so I'm guessing that install HAS to be from the top side of the knuckle (beneath the half shaft). Removal looks like I'll just have to apply pressure directly to the bottom of the ball joint stud to force it upward and out. The joint is history so I don't care if it gets damaged any further, but what if the joint was still good and I wanted to reinstall it? This doesn't appear to be possible. From the threaded stud end looking upward toward the circular "dish" end (where the lip is), there's no place to grab this thing to push it up and out until the lip at the very top! And since you could never insert a tube up into the knuckle between the knuckle and the joint, the only way to force it out is to push on the stud! I checked out Harbor Freight's 3pc Ball Joint Press kit and 14pc adapter kit, but neither has a tube deep enough for removal without bearing on the stud.

Also, I stopped by Autozone to compare the Ford joint with their Duralast joint (about the same price, surprisingly). Their joint was a little shorter in overall length (probably at least 2/16") which might be a problem when bolting to the control arm below. It looked the same on the circular "dish" end with a lip very similar to the Ford joint. It also came with a snap ring and a nut - neither of which came with the Ford joint. I'm guessing the integral "lip" on the Ford joint eliminates the need for the snap ring. Also, the Ford joint has no hole in the stud, thus it does not use a cotter pin - which I thought was strange.

If you were to remove the knuckle/hub/ball joint assembly from the lower control arm, then remove the rubber dust boot, you would be able to get one of the sleeves from the ball joint removal tool into the channel I think to apply force to the "chassis" of the ball joint rather than the stud. At least I think so. You'd want to clean the grease from the joint though to make sure there isn't a snap ring or similar that would get in the way of the sleeve.

I wish I had a better mental recall of what the knuckle/hub assemblies looked like when I replaced them on my '98.

-Rod

You can't use the Harbor Frieght ball joint tool (or any 3in1 C-tool). It won't work. The ball joint spindle is too small to fit properly. It needs a special Taurus adapter cone part that is usually about $60.00. (OTC Taurus/Sable ball joint adapter OTC8032) You might be able to rig up some other solution with tools lying around. But...

You don't need it. Take it back. Listen to shrod. Remove the knuckle/hub/ball joint assembly. Remove the hub. Cut off the rubber boot and take off the snap ring (important if it there). Flip the whole thing over and place the top end of the strut hole on a block of wood. Step on it to secure. And use a 30mm impact socket (you needed it to take off axle nut) and start to tap the joint out. You will need to switch to a smaller socket to finish tapping out (small enough to fit through the ball joint hole, 30mm is too big).

You might be right about there being no snap ring on the original. I don't remember having one on my original, but I didn't remove the original. It might just be pressed in, but then I don't see how it was initially inserted, as the fit is pretty tight (hence the oven method in my previous post). If it won't come out at first, clean it well and throw it in the oven. It seriously does work.

Colt Hero, I just re-read your post and I misunderstood. You are right. The original Ford ball joint is probably pressed in (at the factory) "up" from the control arm. The aftermarket replacement joints are pressed "down" through the hole and retained with a snap ring.

I would clean the dickens out of it. Wrap the whole thing up in foil, place it in a clean junk metal pan. Put it in the oven. Remove from oven. Pound out the joint from the top down with a socket and a long extension or breaker bar. It will need to be long enough to reach through the strut hole, since it is straight shot for both holes.

First, just make sure there is nothing retaining the "top" of the joint.

Got the joint installed this past weekend. Used a shop press from Harbor Freight (friend's) to push the old joint out - after cutting off the joint's stud with a Dremel. It was a little tricky leveling the awkwardly-shaped knuckle inside the press to line it up. Then, I
ended up renting the ball joint press kit from Autozone to press the new joint in, but the attachments didn't quite work because they were either too short on the threaded end or too large on the flat circular end (ran into the body of the knuckle), so I improvised and purchased a short piece of galv. steel threaded pipe (2" diameter x 2.5" length) and threaded a cap on the end. This fit over the threaded end. Then I placed a 2nd cap (1.5") atop the flat circular end of the joint (to keep it from being damaged by the C-clamp) and put this whole mess of lined up pipe and caps inside the ball joint C-clamp. About 5 minutes later, the (previously frozen) joint was completely pressed in!

Thought I was 90% done at this point, but as it turned out I was just getting started. Had a heck of a time trying to get the ball joint stud to slip into the control arm. Kept forcing the arm down then at the same time moving the knuckle into position, only to come up short every time. Finally realized that if I put the hub nut back on and tightened it to draw the half-shaft inward, this would make things a lot easier. Too bad I whacked the stabilizer link off beforehand (the joints were history anyway).

So it's all back together - except for the new stabilizer link that I just picked up from Ford. Right now it's actually a safer car to drive, but it sounds worse than ever with that loose link rattling around in there. I hope I can replace this link without having to tear everything apart again! It's just two bolts ... seems like I should be able to do it ... but maybe they'll be tension from the strut? Maybe have someone sit on the fender while I do it? Or maybe there's a tool I could attach to draw the strut downward and/or the sway bar upward?

----------


Shorod and CuFarley:

There was no room to sleeve anything up into the ball joint channel. When they say the joint is "pressed in", they mean it. It's tightly in there. And there WAS a snap ring on the original, but the new Ford joint didn't come with one. I just transferred it over even though it didn't look necessary. And as I said, you CAN use the Harbor Freight tool, but I rented one from Autozone instead - but made my own attachments. You cannot use their saucer-shaped adapter when pressing the new joint in because it's too big. It ends up bumping into the body of the knuckle immediately. The 1.5" cap was the exact size of the joint's "head" and worked beautifully exerting pressure on the very outer edges where the body was strongest. Also, I DID try hammering the joint out at first, but I couldn't do it. It just wasn't budging. My friend's HB Press got it out, but couldn't put the new joint in due to the lack of clearance and improper angle. I DID pre-freeze the joint for about 3 hours beforehand, but it's questionable how much that helped. It seemed to defrost almost immediately as I struggled to line up the threaded pipe and caps inside the ball joint C-clamp. Didn't do the oven thing with the knuckle because I was afraid of deforming it (besides the problem of simply handling it).

The joint had to be pushed up and out from the threaded end (ground side) and pressed down and in from the circular cap end (half-shaft side).

Thanks for your support guys. I really appreciate it. It's like having someone there with you through the entire process...

I changed out the anti-swaybar endlinks on my '98 SHO with no problems getting the studs lined up. The problem I had was getting the old bolts off. They were rusted from the salt used during the Iowa winters. I started trying to hold the stud on the end with one wrench while using another to loosen the nut, but that was not easy. So I got out the steel blade with the cordless reciprocating saw and cut the studs off between the anti-swaybar and nut, then the new ones lined right up and went in easily.

If you have difficulty getting them to line up with the wheel off and the car properly supported on jack stands, you could use the jack to lift the anti-sway bar into position to line everything up, but I doubt you'll need to go that route.

-Rod

Congratulations, Colt Hero. It really is a hard, crappy job to replace those joints. As you know, you can really get a major workout doing it.

Like I had said earlier, I didn't remove my original Ford joints. I took the knuckle/joint assembly to a shop (I didn't like very much), and had them do it. The shop guy informed me he had a really hard time removing them, so even with a shop press it ain't easy, but it is the correct way to go. I imagine with 147k on those joints, they are just about welded in there.

Getting the ball joint spindle in the control arm can be hit or miss. Sometimes it goes right in, other times.... I've had one just barely not make it repeatedly, and it is frustrating as hell. I guess a guy could place a jack under the engine cradle and unscrew the rear bushing bolt and let the cradle down a few centimeters. It just takes more time to do.

Shorod:

I kind of jumped the gun with the stabilizer link. In my struggle to get the ball joint stud to drop into the control arm hole, at one point I tried to lift the knuckle up as high on the strut column as possible to give more clearance on the bottom. It looked like the stabilizer link was preventing me from doing this, so I tried disconnecting the top bolt. It unscrewed a few threads then just kept turning. I didn't realize until I bought the replacement link that you need to hold the very end of this stud with an 8mm wrench while you turn the nut with a 2nd wrench (18mm, I believe it is). So instead, I jammed vice-grips into the exposed joint (rubber cover was history) trying to hold it steady on that end. After much mangling, I finally got the top nut off. The bottom nut looks harder. It points inward with little clearance. I'll keep the jack idea in mind.

Cufarley:

Funny now, but I also tried using my racing jack with a block of wood underneath the lip of the hub, jacking the knuckle up slightly to try to gain more leverage and leeway in getting the ball joint stud into the arm hole. Not a good idea - the jack finally shot outward away from the car as it lost its leverage. Also funny was the episode at Harbor Freight. A female clerk suggested I have her mechanic husband press the joint in for me. I figured, "what the heck", so I spoke with the guy on the telephone. I must've told him 5 different ways that the joint had to be pressed into the knuckle not the arm (he didn't think so), and that I had the knuckle already removed and it was a 5-minute job for someone with the proper fittings to press in the joint. After one hold and a callback to the store, he quoted me a price of $170 plus $60 to tow the car to his garage. The guy just refused to listen to what I was telling him. I feel like calling him back at his garage to tell him I pressed the joint in myself for $5 (and I get to keep the pipe fittings).

Once again, thanks guys for your support. You've both been added to my list of trusted posters.

The Harbor Freight 3-in-1 Service Kit #38335 is on sale for $29.99, thru Jan 13, 2009. However, I had to make special adapters for the Taurus. I used the following: 1-1/4"O.D. X 1/4" wall steel tube 2-3/4" long, 2-1/4"O.D. X 1-3/4"I.D. steel tube 2-7/8" long, 2-3/8"O.D. X #11gauge wall steel tube 1-1/4" long, (2) 1/4" X 2-1/4" flat steel 2-1/4" long, (2) 3/16" X 2" flat steel 2" long, and some washers.
I reduced the diameter of the #11gauge tube, so that the I.D. was just a little larger than the O.D. of the ball joint flange.
All of the parts were welded to create two removal and two installation adapters.
The rubber boot must be removed from the old ball joint, before using the two removal adapters.
Unfortunately, the steel tubes sizes that I used are not available at hardware stores, so you may have to find substitutes or find a steel yard which is willing to cut small pieces for a low price.

That was the price of the kit the day I almost bought it - it's their standard sale price. Decided against buying it because it just wasn't going to be a big use item. Maybe if Autozone stops renting it, I'll reconsider.

As for the pipes, the pieces I bought came from a mega-hardware store here, but I'm sure they're available at any sizeable hardware store. Not sure what they're used for, but they looked like chain-link fence-style pipes (but even more heavy-duty). The threaded caps were slightly domed - which I thought might give me some trouble, but as it turned out it all went into the C-Clamp fairly quickly and the joint was pressed in in about 5 minutes. I also had a pipe sleeved over the handle of the 1/2"? ratchet I was using to tighten the C-Clamp, and this made pressing the joint in nearly effortless...

On my 1998 Taurus Wagon the ball joint stud would not go into the lower control arm without using a pair of spring compressors. Due to the shape of the spring housing, there was not much room for placing the spring compressors.
I took the parts from two pairs of spring compressors from Harbor Freight and one 5/8"-11 nut, two 5/8"-11 coupling nuts, a 5/8"-11 X 12" treaded rod and some 1/2" steel to make a pair that worked. The 1/2" steel was used to make a hook which was welded to the side of a coupling nut, to form the upper hook. The 5/8"-11 nut was welded to the end of the threaded rod. Three of the small hooks, one of the threaded rods, washers and nuts from the Harbor Freight compressors were used.
To use, the lower end of the threaded rod was held fixed with a 15/16" socket wrench, while a 15/16" wratchet wrench screwed the lower coupling nut upward against the lower hook, with the upper coupling nut hook at the top. On the other side of the spring, the tool with only Harbor Freight parts was used.
The threads must be well greased. Also, this modified tool is only for compressing the spring while in the spring housing, so that the ball joint stud will go back into the lower control arm.

Did you try just using a pry bar between the subframe and the lower control arm to force the lower control arm down? Usually the bushings have a little spring to them and cause the lower control arm to sit higher than it would when everything's connected. I've fortunately always been able to get enough slack by prying the control arm down. It's certainly easier with two people.

-Rod

I pushed the lower control arm down as far as it would go, but needed to go about 3/8" more. The front of the new lower control arm hit the subframe. I did not try a pry bar because it might have bent the new control arm.
Per the Haynes Taurus manual(1996-2001), page 10-4, instruction 3.6 "Slowly release the spring compressor while guiding the ball joint stud into the control arm." However, the spring compressor shown on page 10-5, Figure 5.3 could not have been used as configured with the threaded rods pointing upward. Also, only the small hooks would fit inside the spring housing and the spring had very few turns.
Anyway, why does Ford put such a rediculously weak lower control arm on the Taurus?

I'm not sure they're all that weak. I haven't seen any that were bent or read of any that were on here, unless involved in a direct collision.

-Rod

I got the ball joint stud back into the control arm without using a spring compressor. You'd have to read my posts above, but I think I just put the half-shaft nut back on and tightened it enough to draw the knuckle very close. Then I think I removed the white plastic vertical stabilizer link to allow the knuckle to move vertically just enough to get the joint stud into the control arm.

The rear of the lower control arm was extremely bent and the front joint was torn on my 1998 Taurus wagon, by just bumping into a curb. Only the edge of the steel wheel and hub cap scaped against the curb and the tire was not damaged.
From 1996 to early 1998 the lower control arm has a small bolt hole at the front joint. After early 1998 they changed to a larger bolt hole at the front joint.
Apparently my Taurus wagon has the earlier weaker lower control arm.

Anyway, why does Ford put such a rediculously weak lower control arm on the Taurus?

In case that wasn't a rhetorical question...as you probably already know...we are in the midst of a constant battle to lighten our cars to boost fuel economy and keep the cost of cars down...so gone are the days of massive, heavy, tank-like constructed cars that engineers were eager to over-engineer. They used design and make cars to last and not wear out. Some of that over-engineering was also due to not being able to more precisely calculate forces, etc. So, when in doubt, make er stout! Now, the design of these parts can be done more accurately, unfortunately, that also meant that they could knowingly push the upper strength limits of parts in this cost, mpg, durability, long-life, etc., etc., tug-of-war. And then, possibly in this case, somebody made an oops. People don't want to hear that, nor do they want to hear that engineers and designers are also told by their bosses (so don't blame the engineers) to deliberately design a part to fail before the end of the useful life of something. Again, it's a balancing act of cost, weight, etc., etc., and the manufacturer trying to get more parts sales and service work. That has also backfired on the US auto cos.

I whacked a foot-tall curb in Maryland with my '97 at about 10mph in December of '00 and my passenger front tire blew out instantaneously. Shocked the heck out of me. I replaced the tire there then drove another 400 miles with a questionable rim - which I then replaced at my destination. It wasn't until the initial post of this thread that this ball joint finally gave out. I never replaced the control arm. Looked OK to me - but maybe I should look closer???

okay folks, i've no problem w/ the ball end joint pressing/ install and removal. my problem seems to be on the other end: the original ball joint stud on the control arm of the 97 taurus gl. it is welded WAY to well!! i've spent literally 8 hours banging on it w/ a pickle fork/wedge and sledge hammer and i just can't seem to get the "manufacturers tack weld" to break free. so, how in the hell are these removed. and then i just saw today that the the chilton's manual at autozone claims that the ball joint is an integral part of the lower control arm on these vehicles and isn't removable. the whole control arm must be replaced as an assembly. WTF!?? i'm now just starting to try and grind around the weld w/ a dremel tool and cut off wheel to see if that helps, but it appears like this is a litttle bit (much much) more than just a "tack weld" that can be just busted loose. it appears like a big ass 1/4" thick weld thru the control arm hole. any input/ ideas? experiences??? i'd be most grateful! CHEERS!!!

Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure what you are talking about when you say "tack weld" with regards to the ball joint. Are you trying to get the ball joint out of the knuckle? The ball joint, while pressed in, is also held in with a snap ring. Once you remove that, or cut through it, you should be able to press the ball joint out. None of these parts are tack welded in place. If you have the correct replacement ball joint already, it should come with a new snap ring and you'll be able to see how the whole thing is held in place.

If you're trying to get the ball joint stud out of the lower control arm, once you remove the nut from underneath the pickle fork should free the two. There's no tack weld here either that I've ever seen, and the 1997 Factory Service Manual makes no mention of one. I believe the ball joint is a tapered shaft so it will take some pounding with the pickle fork or the press-type tool to get the ball joint separated from the control arm. No cutting should be necessary.

The 1995 and earlier Taurus had the ball joint as an integral part of the lower control arm, but beginning in 1996 I believe they went to the style where the ball joint is part of the front knuckle assembly.

-Rod

I pressed a TRW #104217 ball joint in to the knuckle. A grip ring was installed on the groove in the ball joint. The ball joint stud was inserted in to the tappered hole in the lower control arm.
For a picture of the ball joint go to:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Ball-Joint---Lower-TRW_5519977-P_66_R%7CGRPCHASAMS_745506964___

Agree with ShoRod. Mine is a wagon, but you just remove the nut on the bottom, then whack the hub knuckle with a hammer 5-10 times until the control arm falls off (down). Like ShoRod said, it's a tapered stud on the bottom of the ball joint (sort of like a bowling pin) that must cause a natural binding effect over time. After a few whacks to the "meat" of the knuckle body, it breaks free.

Careful banging on that knuckle! A lot of dust kicks up. I sprayed the entire backside of the knuckle with brake cleaner beforehand to keep down a lot of that, but I still had to hold my breath and get out of there off and on...

I just installed both lower balljoints on my Dad's '99 Sable. Took about 3 hours in total.
Here's how I did it:
Pretty straightforward when using the Autozone loaner tools which allowed installation of the balljoints w/o having to remove the tie rods, the brake calipers or rotors, nor the strut/knuckle assembly from the car.
The tools needed include:
pitman arm puller #27016 http://www.autozone.com/autozone/images/in_our_stores/27016.jpg
the balljoint press kit #27023 http://www.autozone.com/autozone/images/in_our_stores/27023.jpg
the Ford adapter kit #27163 http://www.autozone.com/autozone/images/part_type/0000001257.jpg
an axle flange puller #2737 to push the cv axle out of the hub http://www.autozone.com/autozone/images/in_our_stores/27037.jpg
and a 30 mm socket #27053 to remove the cv axle nut http://www.autozone.com/autozone/images/in_our_stores/27050.jpg
You'll also need a snap ring removal pliers to get the snap ring off the old balljoint and onto the new one once it's pressed onto the knuckle.

The steps went like this:
-Jack up car high enough so that you can get the balljoint press underneath the balljoint, maybe 16" high?
-Remove front tires
-Loosen front cv nuts w/ the 30 mm socket; I kept the rotor from turning by inserting a screwdriver into the rotor's cooling slot and let it pin against the caliper
-Use the axle flange puller to push cv axle in far enough so that can it be pushed further out by hand and fits loosely inside the hub
-use the pitman arm puller to pop the balljoint out of lower arms, I had to use a 3lb. hammer to get one of them to pop out in addition to the pitman arm puller's tug against the balljoint, then I used a large pry bar to push down against the lower arm to get the balljoint stud out of the hole in the lower arm
-loosen upper strut mount nuts to allow you to maneuver the strut/knuckle assembly far enough away so that you can push the cv axle out of the knuckle, then you can rest the cv axle onto the top of the strut/knuckle assembly, just don't stress that cv axle, be gentle w/ it!
-remove the snap ring off the balljoint using your snap ring removal pliers
-then using the balljoint "c-clamp" press and the Ford adapter kit, begin to remove the old balljoint. From the adapter kit, use the large cup to cover over and around the top of the balljoint against the knuckle portion w/o touching the balljoint, and with the short adapter, one end goes on the bottom stud of the balljoint and the other end of it goes into the balljoint press's non-hex end. You'll need a 7/8" wrench to turn the balljoint press's hex end. You'll need to keep everything together & inline so that it works properly to push out the balljoint.
-Press in the new balljoint by using the long adapter, one end of it goes against the press's non-hex end and the other end of it against the knuckle surrounding the balljoint's threaded stud w/o touching the stud or possibly interfering w/ the balljoint as it's pressed into the knuckle. Place the top of the balljoint press straight onto the top of the balljoint and then press it in by turning the hex end. Again keep everything inline and together so that the balljoint goes in smoothly.
-install the new snap ring onto the balljoint
-install the cv axle back into the hub
-then tighten the upper strut nuts which then raises the strut/knuckle into position so that you can get the balljoint back into the lower arm (use the pry bar to press down on the arm)
-you may find out that when installing the nut onto the new balljoint, the balljoint stud turns with the nut. To avoid this problem I used an open end wrench placed around the balljoint's stud and then tightened the nut against the wrench which pulled the balljoint into the knuckle enough so that it wouldn't turn with the nut. Then remove the wrench and then the nut should go on fine w/o the stud turning w/ it.
-the rest is pretty straightforward, installation is reverse of removal as they say, :lol2: .
Torque specs:
CV axle nut: ~200 ft lbs.
Strut mount nuts: ~25 ft lbs.
Balljoint nut: ~68 ft lbs.
Lug nuts: 105 ft lbs max