How do you replace the lower ball joint on a 99 ranger sport?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, the entire lower (or upper - I forget) control arm has to be replaced when the ball joints need replacing. In any case it's not something I was willing to tackle in my driveway. Even if you could, you'd have to get the front end re-allighned. I had mine done professionally. Done in one day....and $850.00 later. I had both drivers side and passengers side done, uppers and lowers. Otherwise nobody will guarantee the reallighnment. You can replace the lower and upper balljoints without replacing the entire control arm and you can do it in your driveway.you will need a ball joint removal tool /ball joint compresser tool which is available at autozone . it is not that hard to do,there are several sights where the job is explaned in detail.you will need to get the front end alligned afterward.if your vehicle has a awful lot of miles on it say 200000 or more you will want to change the control arm bushings as well as the ball joint or replace the entire control arm with ball joint and bushings included.replacing the entire control arm ,upper and lower is probably the best way to go but it is also the most expensive . if you are replacing your balljoints for the first time at say a 100000,your bushings should still be OK..I replaced my upper control arm with balljoint and bushings because it is easier ,however I replaced just the lower ball joints,total parts cost 250.00 , allignment cost not included.The job took about 6 hours