replaced lower ball joints and control arms

[swdobbs]

First thankyou LVC and euromarque.

Lower control arms from "Viking Salvage" in MN - $110 shipped

Lower ball joints from euromarque TX - $120 shipped

Having a local hot rod shop owner lend me his 4 bay shop, lifts, and access to all his tools on Saturday - Lunch $14

Having the hubs drop right out of the knuckles, must be that we live in dry Montana where they don't use that East Coast de-icer - Just Lucky

Have another local shop owner open his shop up to press out the old ball joints and press in the new ones - $20

Not having to pay the local Lincoln dealership $1680 for new control arms, knuckles, hubs, ball joints and service the front end..... Priceless.

Drives nice, thanks again Eric and LVC.

s.

 

[02LincLS]

Having the hubs drop right out of the knuckles, must be that we live in dry Montana where they don't use that East Coast de-icer - Just Lucky

Have another local shop owner open his shop up to press out the old ball joints and press in the new ones - $20

Not having to pay the local Lincoln dealership $1680 to service the front end..... Priceless.

Drives nice, thanks again Eric and LVC.

s.

LUCKY B@$T@RD! Not only did I need a press to press out the hub (8000 lbs if I remember right), but I also had to cut the nut off the upper ball joint since the exposed threads were so swollen. Next time I'll run a die over it first. Same thing with my sway bar links when I put my springs in. Good ole New England It was 95 out with at least 90% humidity when I did the work too
I cleaned all the corrosion off the arm, threw the new hub in, and it too runs nice now. Ball joints were fine. Took a whole day for one side. I probably saved close to what you did by doing it myself- nice job!

 

[clubairth]

Why did you replace the lower control arms? They are not a wear item? Were they damaged?
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[swdobbs]

Why did you replace the lower control arms? They are not a wear item? Were they damaged?
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The previous owner (and the local dealership) let the pass side lower ball joint nut get loose. Let just say when I bought the car the ball joint stud had slotted the hole in the lower aluminum control arm. Its amazing that the factory didn't design the control arm with a steel bushing. The threads on the lower ball joint stud can slot the hole in just a few miles if left loose. The passenger side was not alignable, the 14mm hole was close to tolerance front to back but 17.46mm side to side.

s.