97 Expy ball joint help

[stangheel]

The mechanic said that my lower ball joints need to be replaced. He showed me the play in them and I agree that they are worn out. I'm sure I can save money and replace them myself. Advance Autoparts sells them by theirselves, but the Haynes manual says that they are part of the lower control arm and you have to replace the whole thing. Has anyone replaced just the lower ball joints without replacing the whole lower control arm? If so, how much of a pain is it. I am mechanically inclined, I've just never dealt with these. The mechanic said it would be around $400 for him to change them both out. Note that he didn't tell me whether he would be replacing the control arms or not. Thanks in advance.

[denisond3]

I dont have an Expy, so am mostly guessing, but.... If you go to www.rockauto.com, and put in your Make, Year, & model, and look for 'suspension'' parts, you can find pictures and prices of lower ball joints, and lower control arms. It looks like the ball joints can be pressed-out and new ones pressed-in. That would involve a decent sized floor press; its not something I would want to try using a sledgehammer and anvil. And since most suspension parts are heat-treated for strengh, you wouldnt want to use an acetylene torch to help.
Or you can buy the lower control arms. Normally you replace these parts in pairs, since if one side is worn out now, the other side will be as bad soon.
But the harder part might be getting the lower control arm off of the vehicle. Besides dismantling the brakes/rotor/steering link, you would probably need to have a way to take the spring pressure off of the assemblies.

[Scrapper]

yes it's called lower ball joint assembly. so yes it comes like that you would think it's hard job but it isn't.....good luck....

[rhandwor]

If you just buy the ball joint you need a ball joint press.
http://www.autopart.com/tools/toolsmain/tool/T_4004.htm This is a picture of one. Advance or Auto Zone have tool rental or loaner if you ask.

[stangheel]

Cool, thanks. I may go that route with renting/borrowing the tool. I'll have to wait until I have a little time to take care of this though. I guess I'd better check to see if they have the tool before I buy the ball joints so that I don't get stuck. Thanks again!!!