Working on my brother's 83 Dodge shorty van. He needs upper and lower ball joints on both sides. Anybody have any tips or trick to make this less painfull? Do I really have to pull the lower control arm?

Thanks.

Don't pull your lower control arm too much! They say it'll make ya go blind!

i had upper and lower done on my 86 dodge, plus front end alignment for $500 three years ago. so i understand why you want to do it yourself.

Nice one catfish.... "It's like a baby's arm holding an apple!" ;)

I think i am just going to have a shop do the uppers tomorrow and call it good. I am in the middle of yet another free major tune-up for my brother and I need to be working on other things. The lowers look okay, but the uppers are definitely gone.

The uppers are threaded and can be a real pain in the arse. That's why I don't do balljoint work...I let someone else feel the pain.

They are a pain to get out. There is a special soket that is really hard to find and is very expensive if you can find it. When I changed them in Lions den, I had to heat the control arm with a torch also, even with the socket. It is nearly impossible to get anything else on the ball joint to get them out.

I think I actually have the special socket buried somewhere in my garage, but I am loaning my air compressor out to my great uncle so he can do some roof work. No air hammer for me. If the local Napa has the upper joints in stock then I might just do it myself. I will just dig out my four foot cheater bar!

Four foot cheater bar + Hulk Hogan.

If you leave the arm on the van and use a 4' cheater bar it may come out. The last time I did a set I made the mistake of removing the arm from the van first. I was changing the bushings too. I almost ripped my workbench off the wall.

Don't worry, the arm is staying on the van.

Nate, I'm not 6'4" and weigh 300 pounds for nothing! I lift weigths and work out almost every day. Hulk Hogan could probably kick my ass, but I can probably manage to get these ball joints out.

I'm not a big fella (5'7", 128lbs at the time), but a good breaker bar, still attached to the van, and a 2 1/2' cheater bar got mine done curbside one afternnon. Next afternoon for the other side. Always use teh 3-n-1 household oil to put them back in as you can't do it without using cutting oil...

Thanks for he tip about the oil!

I'm short, but wide..5'10" 328 lbs. I would have nothing but dead weight to put behind that breaker bar. LOL!

Be careful having a shop do the uppers. I had a shop do a set for me, and they pressed them out, ruining the a arm. I went nuts looking for another set.

When I got the new set, I changed them out myself. The socket is 3/4 drive, so I just got a 1/2" adapter and a bigass bar, and did it right on the van. A 4' pipe makes it easy work.

I would've made it the shop's problem looking for A-arms. Aren't mid-Dodge upper arms the same as the ones from the 80's-90's??

Nope. Starting in 79 Dodge vans went to a passenger car style alignment system and the upper A-arms changed.

Got my balls joints today ($50), went and bought the pecial socket ($43). I figure that I will be able to do it for far less than a shop would have charged me, plus I know it will be done right. But with my luck the cheater bar will slip off the ratchet and bean me in the forhead right when I bear down to get the ball joint out. I will get knocked unconscious and lay there and bake in the 90 degree sun, getting sunburned, until I wake back up and try again.... WHEEEEEE!

Another trick is to warm the arm up around the ball joint pretty good with a torch and then, right as you're ready to use that socket, shoot the ball joint with freon. It'll contract some and be easier to break loose.

Torch? Freon? Those are pretty sophisticated tools! I just have brute strength and ignorance working for me right now....

Success! I got home from court this morning and spent about 2 hours and got it done. Now for the test drive to see if the popping noise from the front right tire is gone.

Great! I'll crack open a cold one for you tonight, Reed! Enjoy the ride!

Corey

There is still a rattle, but I think it is the brake caliper. Whew....