I found the pdf for the 06 model on replacing the upper ball joint. It says that you have to remove the shock absorber. also you have to remove the stabilizer bar link. I found a you tube video of someone doing it,drastically different. What they did was jack up the car having the tire in a unsprung condition. Then they separated the upper ball joint from the spindle. Then they went under the hood and remove the two nuts on each side of the shock tower. They then removed the bolts passing them through the spring surrounding the shock. Thanks.
Questions on replacing the upper ball joint
- Thread starter apl
- Start date
lincolnelite
Well-Known LVC Member
the youtube video is the correct procedure. sometimes the manual gives an overall tear-down approach, you have to understand it section by section.
When the mechanic did my right side upper control arm he took a prybar to push the shock springs down and he had enough space to unbolt the bolts. It's a two man job that way. A good thing to do is unbolt the strut assembly from the inside of the engine bay so it drops enough to make the job easier.
lincolnelite
Well-Known LVC Member
What the guy did on youtube was the same. He didn't remove the strut assembly, instead he just expanded it to remove/replace the bolts that hold the upper control arm. The manual wants you to take it out which is also correct but will add time, a lot of space to work on though.