snaping in front

[bill2min]

i have a snaping sound in front right hand side when u cut the wheel real sharp you don't have to be moving to hear it but if u are backing up and gut real sharp its louder and suggestion would be helpful thanks in advance

[LMP]

Unless this has been checked already , ball joint is my first choice..

[ciras3]

Checking your ball joints is pretty easy. Jack up your van and try to move the wheel on the X,Y,andZ axis. If the ball joint is beat, the wheel will wobble and if you look at the ball joint, you will see it move around. Ball joints are an easy thing to replace as there are no coil springs to deal with. The only hard part of this job is getting the sway bar clamps to mate up to the screws when you are putting it all back together.

[LMP]

This may be inelegant: I do not disconnect the sway bar , but you need a helper . I use a long piece of pipe or steel bar, and I use leverage with the end of the pipe under the frame (i use a small piece of plywood in between pipe and frame to distribute the force) and apply force on the lower arm, as close to the ball joint as possible for maximum leverage.. YOu must find the lateral angle that best suits to avoid damage to brake hose,with wheels fully steered to allow best access, but then it gets out easily in a single move while the helper pulls wheel strut away to avoid ball joint strut from interfering with the CVjoint when releasing pressure..<

FOr reassembly, the helper positions the ball joint strut ready at proper angle, and within seconds it is back in.
I do not qualify that as the most elegant way of doing it, but it works.
Oh yeah, whole front end on jacks for both wheels off the ground to position sway bar at the lowest.

[ciras3]

I do not disconnect the sway bar , but you need a helper . I use a long piece of pipe or steel bar, and I use leverage with the end of the pipe under the frame (i use a small piece of plywood in between pipe and frame to distribute the force) and apply force on the lower arm


Wow.. that sounds like an awful lot of hard work just to avoid loosening up the sway bar to swing it out of the way. It is a pain to get the sway bar clamp to connect back up with the lower control arm bolts but I can't imagine trying to force the lower control arm down enough to get the ball joint stud out of the steering knuckle with the sway bar still connected to the lower control arm.

[LMP]

Yeah, I'm not advocating my way of doing it, and maybe it sounds harder than it is...and I hope not to have to do it in the near future, but next time, I'd try it in a more conservative way....

[bill2min]

i have did it your way before without disconnecting the sway bar i wasn't think i just said this is the hardest time i had popping a ball joint in my life lol oh and i was by myself next time i know lol it was real fun trying to put it back in by myself too lol but i guess u learn from ur mistakes now its time for the right side thanks for the advance

[ciras3]

When I did my ball joints, I disconnected the sway bar clamp from the lower control arm and removed the inner sway bar frame plate on the side where I was replacing the ball joint. On the other side, all I did was loosen up the bolts for the clamp on the control arm and the inner frame plate without removing either. You swing the sway bar down and out of the way. After you remove the pinch bolt for the steering knuckle and pry the control arm and ball joint down, I used a piece of 2x4 that I cut to fit in between the lower control arm and the frame to hold the control arm in place while I cut out the factory rivets for the ball joint. I would recommend paying a little more and getting a lifetime warrantied ball joint because the one I replaced 2 years ago failed after 29,000 miles. I took the old one back and got another one for free. As I mentioned before the only pain in the butt part is when you swing the sway bar back up and try to get the lower control arm clamp holes to fit into the bolts that are in the lower control arm. You just have to fennagle it in place but the clamp will fit with a little persuasion. I've replaced the lower ball joints on my Trans Sport three times.

[llerrad]

Hey I do the ball joints without removing the sway bar. Just get the wheels off take the bolt out of the ball joint remove the 3 bolts holding in the joint knock the thing out from the top and replace joint in the same manner. The three bolts to hold the joint are long enough you can thread the nut and use them to pull the joint up into place. then replace the joint lock bolt and nut.

[LMP]

Originally Posted by llerrad

Hey I remove the 3 bolts holding in the joint knock the thing out from the top and replace joint in the same manner. .

Innovative ! I could have done it that way the last time since it was a replacement joint already (bolted on). WIth the rivets , I do not know if there is room enough to proceed as easily...