they are pressed in you have to replace the assembly

 

its not a easy job.

 

I had the upper and lowers replaced on my '96. At 110k, the rubber boots failed on the uppers, and they started to squeak. At first, the alignment shop said I needed to replace the whole (upper) control arm. I said "No way....." Then he called back, and said he found a service bulletin explaining ball joint replacement without replacing the arms. And so he did.

4 ball joints and an alignment $550.

 

Its not that hard of a job. They are pressed in, but you can rent a balljoint press for free from autozone.

 

go to napa or autozone and get a set of moog balljoints, and rent the press from autozone(you pay 100 but you get it back when you return the kit), then get ahold of a good impact wrench cuz you will need it, then just disassemble the control arms set up the press, and pop em out and then reverst the steps and press the new ones in making sure there very straight. It is possible to do this with out removing your control arms and that can save you the price of an alignment.

 

Thanks to all that replied, I rented the press from Auto Zone and replaced all four ball joints without removing the control arms in about 3.5 hours, it's not an easy job, but they wanted $700 and by my doing it the cost was $125. Thanks again. Fredd

 

yea its a pain in the ass to press them but not that labor intensive.

 

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm new to dodge trucks and rather bump an old thread than start a new one. I'm looking to replace the front lower balljoints on my 99 2x4 Ram, and was wondering what the procedure is for replacing the balljoints without removing the control arm.

 

After removing the wheel and tie rod, as I remember all that is necessary is to press out the old joint and press in the new. I think after you look at it you'll see it's pretty straight forward. Auto Zone has the tool for rent or loan. Good luck. Fred