Jack up on one side, put jack stand under frame of body, get a long steel pole or bar. Wedge under tire and push up on bar...you'll hear/feel play, rattling noise. Also with your hands, wiggle/turn tire rt. and left, in and out. you'll hear and feel noise and play.
If you have a factory steering knuckle, ford designed them for the ball joints to not be removable. If you are thinking that your ball joints are bad for some reason, you will need to get after market steering knuckles, and ball joints for replacement. Costly, I know but worth it. I suggest MOOG, I've always have had good experience with them.
You are probably in need of ball joints and alignment. You really need to have the front end checked by a mechanic for safety sake.
what might cause black smoke from exhaust and a bad smell from a 94 ford explorer
bad tranmissson
The engine
varying
Your Ford Explorer could be backfiring because of bad gas. You may want to have it looked at by a local professional.
The shaking you experience is caused by slack in the front end. Have it checked by a professional. You've probably got some bad ball joints or tie rods. Either way it can be dangerous.
use a compression tester.
Bad motor? bad switch?
spark module is bad
you sell the ford and buy a Chevy