Don't know if this is the correct folder, but if it's not, please move it to a more appropriate one. My cousin Tony and I went over to help Keith (Meithkiller) replace the ball joints on his 96 Tacoma. The following relays our experience in this endeavor and is meant only to assist others who may decide to do it themselves. For those that decide to do this job themselves, you do so at your own risk. So please be careful.
We used a copy of the factory service manual, a Haynes Repair Manual and the following link to guide us since none of us had ever done ball joints before:
http://www.parksoffroad.com/tacomamods/upballjointout/balljoint.htm
After putting the manual trans in first, engaging the parking brake and chocking the rear wheels, we loosened the lug nuts. Here's my cousin Tony jumping in at that task:
After raising the vehicle with a floor jack and placing jackstands underneath to support the truck, we removed the front wheel and decided to start with the lower ball joint:
Keith began by loosening (but not yet removing) the four lower ball joint bolts (the ones that connect the lower ball joint plate to the lower control arm) and the lower ball joint castle nut (after removing the cotter pin):
After removing the cotter pin on the tie rod end castle nut, the castle nut was then removed from the tie rod end:
We then fastened a two jaw puller onto the tie rod end threaded stud to press it out:
Next, it was time to remove the four lower ball joint bolts and lower ball joint castle nut:
We then fastened a bigger two jaw puller (bigger than the one used for the tie rod end) to remove the lower ball joint:
The two jaw puller worked great and easily removed the lower ball joint from the lower control arm. Here's a pic of the old lower ball joint next to the new lower ball joint (pics show the passenger side lower ball joints):
We then installed the new lower ball joint onto the lower control arm. It didn't appear that any additonal pressing was required to install it since it kind of got "pressed in" by tightening the castle nut on the new lower ball joint threaded stud. Here's a shot of it installed with the tie rod end also attached to it:
(Edited for new pics)
We used a copy of the factory service manual, a Haynes Repair Manual and the following link to guide us since none of us had ever done ball joints before:
http://www.parksoffroad.com/tacomamods/upballjointout/balljoint.htm
After putting the manual trans in first, engaging the parking brake and chocking the rear wheels, we loosened the lug nuts. Here's my cousin Tony jumping in at that task:
After raising the vehicle with a floor jack and placing jackstands underneath to support the truck, we removed the front wheel and decided to start with the lower ball joint:
Keith began by loosening (but not yet removing) the four lower ball joint bolts (the ones that connect the lower ball joint plate to the lower control arm) and the lower ball joint castle nut (after removing the cotter pin):
After removing the cotter pin on the tie rod end castle nut, the castle nut was then removed from the tie rod end:
We then fastened a two jaw puller onto the tie rod end threaded stud to press it out:
Next, it was time to remove the four lower ball joint bolts and lower ball joint castle nut:
We then fastened a bigger two jaw puller (bigger than the one used for the tie rod end) to remove the lower ball joint:
The two jaw puller worked great and easily removed the lower ball joint from the lower control arm. Here's a pic of the old lower ball joint next to the new lower ball joint (pics show the passenger side lower ball joints):
We then installed the new lower ball joint onto the lower control arm. It didn't appear that any additonal pressing was required to install it since it kind of got "pressed in" by tightening the castle nut on the new lower ball joint threaded stud. Here's a shot of it installed with the tie rod end also attached to it:
(Edited for new pics)