Great video man. I am fixing to do my 92 crown vic. so wanted to see what to expect. I am more into older cars but bought this one for my wife. And your guess on the slots on the ball joint is correct. I worked at an independent Parts House for 22 yrs and Moog was our suspension products. They are the leader in making susp. parts to last and fix problems that the manufacturer didnt consider when they made them. They even put it on their products .... THE PROBLEM SOLVER !! Thanks for the vid !!!!
have the parts coming in...great video and confidence booster...talked with the mechanic around the corner, he told me to give him a call in a couple of days. Well in that time found great pricing on the parts. If I would have let the mechanic done it, I'd probably would have told him to keep the car as payment. Now I just gotta apply some elbow grease. Thanks buddy
Nice work. That car is pretty much like new! I ended up finding one bad ball joint on my Ford truck earlier this year and ended up with all 4, new sway links, rotors, pads, shocks, and pretty much a whole new front end rebuild similar to what you did. Its a bear of a time consuming/cussing/dirty job but a little work and common sense saves a lot of labor cost! I used all Moog grease able parts too. One trick I read was to put the new lower BJs in the freezer overnight and it makes the install a little easier.
I caught that too, shadow edited all the cursing and throwing tools across the yard out of the video. lol... All joking aside, he does make very thorough videos and with changing all the parts & components over from the 13,000 mile car he's done an extensive amount of work that you don't see because of the time involved. Been there more than once...
Yea, I seem to remember a lot of cussing and a few times just about ready to fling some tools but got it done eventually. Was definitely multi Miller time that evening.
You're right. It was a time consuming and tough job but well worth it. With as much work as I've put into that car already, I may as well go all the way and finish it out properly. Besides, those ball joints were in the worst shape I've ever seen. I'm confident that had I kept driving it like that, that the driver's side lower ball joint would have eventually separated from its socket. That car was a danger to drive like it was.
Yes it would have came apart and the front end would have hit the ground resting on the wheel. In (most cases) the vehicle drops while turning at a very low speed or turning while sitting stationary but it can come apart at highway speeds.
Great video. Lot of good tips and advice. Just wish I had watched it before I did repairs a few weeks ago on my ‘97 Crown Vic. Even though my repairs were a little more involved, all four control arm assemblies, both stabilizer bar links, and idler arm, the methods shown in your video would have still helped me out. Other than shocks, I have never done any suspension work on a car before so, I had no idea where to begin or what to do. Thankfully though, after reading some posts on a few forums and a badly written how to guide that made everything as clear as mud, I was able to figure out what to do and how to do it. Also had some help from my brother via email and from my brother in law who helped me get a stubborn spring back into place. A couple of days before, I had noticed that there was some minor shaking in the steering, but at the time thought that it was just an uneven stretch of road. I later decided that it was time to do some repairs after the ball joint snapped out of the lower right control arm while pulling out of the driveway on the way to my wife’s doctor appointment. I was only three to four feet out onto the street when it snapped. Glad I wasn't driving down the road at 70! Like you, I too had difficulty with the nuts that came with the stabilizer bar links. To keep the ball stud from turning in it‘s socket while tightening the nut, I used a large “C” clamp to do the job. I positioned the “C” clamp in such a way that one side of the clamp was on top of the ball socket housing and the other side of the clamp was on the opposing side of the stabilizer bar. I tightened the “C” clamp down so that it “wedged” the ball of the stabilizer bar link against the stabilizer bar so that it would not turn. It took a couple of tries to get it right so that the “C” clamp did not slip off the top of the ball socket housing or the stabilizer bar, but once it was positioned correctly, tightening the nut was a snap. Also like you, I choose to go with all MOOG brand parts. I see no reason to go with cheap generic parts when you can get quality MOOG parts for the same price or less. I was able to get the MOOG brand parts from RockAuto.com for considerably less than what I would have paid for the generic brands locally. It took about four days to get the parts in, but it was worth the wait as it saved me almost $300.00 in parts cost. Saved another $1500.00 or so on labor. So yes, I am a happy camper! Best thing is that I learned something new. Bad thing is that now that I have done it, I can never use the excuse that I don’t know how. Just made more work for myself in the future. Thanks for the video.
You're very welcome. You have saved a small fortune doing the job yourself and you know that the parts you used were high quality. Now that I've done the job, it's really not that bad of a job; Just time consuming. The car drives like brand new now. The steering is smooth and accurate, and I now have a way to grease all the fittings so that these parts can last even longer than the originals.
***** Time Consuming? LOL!!! It took me almost two weeks! Of course I was fighting cold, rainy, snowy weather. My wife also had surgery and then had a day of recovery so there went two days. Also, not having a clue as to what I was doing and having to rely on emails from my brother and doing research online slowed things down a bit. Overall, like you say, not that bad of a job. At least now, I know that I can do this on my own. Thanks again for the great video.
I would take Thanksgiving weather over July 4th anytime! Oh well.... Thanks for the great video. I just did my 1996 Grand Marquis with 132k miles. I still have the tie rods, pitman arm, and idler arm to do in the next few days. Never go to Pep Boys for anything. They did an evaluation of the front suspension for me at the end of May for $25. Quoted an astronomical price. Didn't even mention to me that the passenger side sway bar link had been broken for quite some time (thus all the noise) and also wanted $15 for a light bulb kit because one license plate bulb was out. What a bunch of greedy crooks. I had bulbs on hand and took care of that fast. Then ordered a suspension kit from a seller on ebay for slightly under $120 for everything. I guess it's not Moog, but the quality seems very good anyway, with the exception that the rubber boot designs leave a bit to be desired. Does have all the grease fittings though. On my new sway bar links, the last thing that I did was install the lower nut. I actually had no problem with the new nuts. Went on easily with no problems at all. Although I bought this car about a year ago for only $600, it's not all beat up, has no rust at all, no dents, no paint peeling, and the entire underside looks not far from the condition it was in when it left the factory. So I didn't have to deal with a lot of rust and corrosion, only the fact that the parts had been together for almost 20 years. I actually got more use out of a medium-size old ball peen hammer that I found in an abandoned house 6 years ago than I did the C-press kit that I borrowed from Advance Auto. Didn't need a larger sledge or a torch either. The people who sold me the car were getting rid of it basically because they couldn't easily get the gears anymore on the column shifter. One of the bolts up under the dash was completely MIA and the other one was loose. Once I put bolts back in, no more problem there. It also needed a new multi-function switch for the turn signals, etc, so I swapped that out. I had a 95 the same color of Medium Willow Green so I swapped out a few cosmetic trim pieces here and there as well and then sold that car. It definitely pays to know things that other people don't....and also be willing to make repairs that others can't be bothered with. Once again, a great video as always. I will be doing transmission flush and radiator flush soon.
I jus took my 95 Vic to get a wheel alignment, and the shop told me it's gonna cost $820.00, to do that, YA THINK, SHIT, I DONT THINK SO. SO IM GOING REPLACE BOTH UPPER CONTROL ARMS WITH BALL JOINTS AND LOWER BALL JOINTS MYSELF, HU, $820.00 MY ASS. THANKS FOR SHARING THIS WITH ME, ITS VERY MUCH HELPFUL. BOY I SURE ❤️ LOVE YOUR WRECKED CAR, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL COLOR IT IS. 👌✌️👍
Nice Video. I also recently replaced the upper and lower ball joints on my 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis with Moog K8685 Lowers and Moog K8678 uppers about a year ago.
35:50 Regarding stabilizer link that keeps rotating when trying to tighten: how about cut a slot in the end of bolt area to hold with flat blade screwdriver. Other thought is, perhaps Moog does have a solution: insert a small drill bit into the zerk fitting hole and see if Moog drilled a "index hole" in the ball itself, so that you can insert a "locking pin" during bolt tightening.
Good idea. At the time, I didn't think about that. Another thing Moog could have done is cut an Allen head into the end of the shaft or flatten the end of the shaft (like you see on shock absorbers) so that an Allen wrench or pliers could be used to hold it still.
For anyone else having a spinning sway link stud...take a pry bar and put pressure on the link...pry it TOWARDS the steering knuckle while tightening the nut....works every time with the right amount of pressure
Thank you. I've been driving it around since the repair and that front end is nice and tight. No rattles and clunks. It literally drives like a new car now.
OK, I've watched these (several) vids from *shadowrider460* Crown Vic/Marquis (pre-'03) Q1: If he were doing it all over again, and watching the other vid, start w/ buying the *LOADED* LCA (i.e., a-arm *w/* the ball joint!) on any *OLDER* Vic/Marquis seems the way to go? Q2: Is it possible/likely the (horribly) bad ball joint *caused* the sway link to fail?
Got a 1998 Lincoln TC trying to order the upper control arm assy (comes with Bushings and the ball Joint already installed) but there is two different options, with or without handling package. Does anyone know the difference or how to tell which one a person might have. Thanks
The mid 1990's Lincoln lower ball joints are notorious for wearing out prematurely and making a lot of noise because they blow their boots. I don't care at all for sealed joints.
I don't like "lube for life" either. To me, it's a deception on the part of the manufacturer. Instead of actually making a better part that doesn't need lubrication, they simply removed your ability to lubricate the part and claim that it's "lube for life," as if some grand technological miracle had been discovered. What a scam. My '72 Lincoln Continental still has the original upper/lower ball joints because they have zerks and can be maintained. Even the grease seals are still in tact.
Yes sir, as a 27 year Ford technician it's a way to sell parts. There is a needle adapter that goes on the end of a grease gun which inserts between the ball and boot to inject grease into these sealed units but it doesn't work very well.
Is the same on 99 crown Victorias police interceptor? Happy holidays! Also can you tell me the part # for the ball joint remover thing plz. And spec torque on all suspension parts you removed?
Yes the suspension is the same, though the torque specs do vary a small amount based on the year. Heres a list of the Torque specs straight out of the Haynes Manual for a (1998-2002) Crown victoria, Grand Marquis, . ( lower ball joint to steering knuckle nut 129 ft-lbs, upper ball joint to steering arm retaining nut 118 ft-lbs, upper ball joint to steering knuckle pinch bolt 66 ft-lbs, stabalizer bar to link nut 41 ft-lbs, stabalizer link to steering knuckle nut 22 ft-lbs, inner tie rod to center link nut 35-47 ft-lbs, outer tie rod to steering knuckle nut 35-47 ft-lbs, tie rod clamp adjusting sleeve nuts 21 ft-lbs, front hub bearing nut 221 ft-lbs, upper shock mounting nut 25-34 ft-lbs, shock to lower control arm mounting bolts 11 ft-lbs. brake front caliper slide bolts 21-26 ft-lbs, brake hose to caliper 35 ft-lbs, brake caliper bracket bolts to 80 ft-lbs, wheel lugnuts 85-105 ft-lbs.
If it has the stamped steel lower control arm, then yes. The later models used aluminum lower control arms so the procedure would be a little different.
I ordered it online but can't remember the place now. It was about $130, but well worth it since it can be used on many vehicles. So it should pay for itself over time.
Those Ford engineers worked hard to design an OEM part destined to fail. I'm sure management told them how many miles it should last, and no longer. I'm sure GM and Chrysler engineers are schooled in "planned obsolescence" too. You make a good argument for MOOG, instead of "Genuine FORD Parts."
Sometimes, using OEM parts is not the way to go. In this case, Moog re-designed the parts the way they should have been designed to begin with. These parts are much better than the originals and the car still drives great and holds its alignment. :-)
I've watched this video twice now. its great, knowing this is why I became a mechanic. ... if only there was youtube back then.
How much would this job cost?
Great video man. I am fixing to do my 92 crown vic. so wanted to see what to expect. I am more into older cars but bought this one for my wife. And your guess on the slots on the ball joint is correct. I worked at an independent Parts House for 22 yrs and Moog was our suspension products. They are the leader in making susp. parts to last and fix problems that the manufacturer didnt consider when they made them. They even put it on their products .... THE PROBLEM SOLVER !! Thanks for the vid !!!!
have the parts coming in...great video and confidence booster...talked with the mechanic around the corner, he told me to give him a call in a couple of days. Well in that time found great pricing on the parts. If I would have let the mechanic done it, I'd probably would have told him to keep the car as payment. Now I just gotta apply some elbow grease. Thanks buddy
5-Stars for this video! Excellent job sir!
Nice work. That car is pretty much like new! I ended up finding one bad ball joint on my Ford truck earlier this year and ended up with all 4, new sway links, rotors, pads, shocks, and pretty much a whole new front end rebuild similar to what you did. Its a bear of a time consuming/cussing/dirty job but a little work and common sense saves a lot of labor cost! I used all Moog grease able parts too. One trick I read was to put the new lower BJs in the freezer overnight and it makes the install a little easier.
I caught that too, shadow edited all the cursing and throwing tools across the yard out of the video. lol...
All joking aside, he does make very thorough videos and with changing all the parts & components over from the 13,000 mile car he's done an extensive amount of work that you don't see because of the time involved.
Been there more than once...
Yea, I seem to remember a lot of cussing and a few times just about ready to fling some tools but got it done eventually. Was definitely multi Miller time that evening.
You're right. It was a time consuming and tough job but well worth it. With as much work as I've put into that car already, I may as well go all the way and finish it out properly.
Besides, those ball joints were in the worst shape I've ever seen. I'm confident that had I kept driving it like that, that the driver's side lower ball joint would have eventually separated from its socket. That car was a danger to drive like it was.
Yes it would have came apart and the front end would have hit the ground resting on the wheel.
In (most cases) the vehicle drops while turning at a very low speed or turning while sitting stationary but it can come apart at highway speeds.
Great video. Lot of good tips and advice. Just wish I had watched it before I did repairs a few weeks ago on my ‘97 Crown Vic. Even though my repairs were a little more involved, all four control arm assemblies, both stabilizer bar links, and idler arm, the methods shown in your video would have still helped me out. Other than shocks, I have never done any suspension work on a car before so, I had no idea where to begin or what to do. Thankfully though, after reading some posts on a few forums and a badly written how to guide that made everything as clear as mud, I was able to figure out what to do and how to do it. Also had some help from my brother via email and from my brother in law who helped me get a stubborn spring back into place.
A couple of days before, I had noticed that there was some minor shaking in the steering, but at the time thought that it was just an uneven stretch of road. I later decided that it was time to do some repairs after the ball joint snapped out of the lower right control arm while pulling out of the driveway on the way to my wife’s doctor appointment. I was only three to four feet out onto the street when it snapped. Glad I wasn't driving down the road at 70!
Like you, I too had difficulty with the nuts that came with the stabilizer bar links. To keep the ball stud from turning in it‘s socket while tightening the nut, I used a large “C” clamp to do the job. I positioned the “C” clamp in such a way that one side of the clamp was on top of the ball socket housing and the other side of the clamp was on the opposing side of the stabilizer bar. I tightened the “C” clamp down so that it “wedged” the ball of the stabilizer bar link against the stabilizer bar so that it would not turn. It took a couple of tries to get it right so that the “C” clamp did not slip off the top of the ball socket housing or the stabilizer bar, but once it was positioned correctly, tightening the nut was a snap.
Also like you, I choose to go with all MOOG brand parts. I see no reason to go with cheap generic parts when you can get quality MOOG parts for the same price or less. I was able to get the MOOG brand parts from RockAuto.com for considerably less than what I would have paid for the generic brands locally. It took about four days to get the parts in, but it was worth the wait as it saved me almost $300.00 in parts cost. Saved another $1500.00 or so on labor. So yes, I am a happy camper!
Best thing is that I learned something new. Bad thing is that now that I have done it, I can never use the excuse that I don’t know how. Just made more work for myself in the future.
Thanks for the video.
You're very welcome. You have saved a small fortune doing the job yourself and you know that the parts you used were high quality. Now that I've done the job, it's really not that bad of a job; Just time consuming. The car drives like brand new now. The steering is smooth and accurate, and I now have a way to grease all the fittings so that these parts can last even longer than the originals.
***** Time Consuming? LOL!!! It took me almost two weeks! Of course I was fighting cold, rainy, snowy weather. My wife also had surgery and then had a day of recovery so there went two days. Also, not having a clue as to what I was doing and having to rely on emails from my brother and doing research online slowed things down a bit. Overall, like you say, not that bad of a job. At least now, I know that I can do this on my own. Thanks again for the great video.
I would take Thanksgiving weather over July 4th anytime! Oh well....
Thanks for the great video. I just did my 1996 Grand Marquis with 132k miles. I still have the tie rods, pitman arm, and idler arm to do in the next few days.
Never go to Pep Boys for anything. They did an evaluation of the front suspension for me at the end of May for $25. Quoted an astronomical price. Didn't even mention to me that the passenger side sway bar link had been broken for quite some time (thus all the noise) and also wanted $15 for a light bulb kit because one license plate bulb was out. What a bunch of greedy crooks. I had bulbs on hand and took care of that fast. Then ordered a suspension kit from a seller on ebay for slightly under $120 for everything. I guess it's not Moog, but the quality seems very good anyway, with the exception that the rubber boot designs leave a bit to be desired. Does have all the grease fittings though. On my new sway bar links, the last thing that I did was install the lower nut. I actually had no problem with the new nuts. Went on easily with no problems at all.
Although I bought this car about a year ago for only $600, it's not all beat up, has no rust at all, no dents, no paint peeling, and the entire underside looks not far from the condition it was in when it left the factory. So I didn't have to deal with a lot of rust and corrosion, only the fact that the parts had been together for almost 20 years. I actually got more use out of a medium-size old ball peen hammer that I found in an abandoned house 6 years ago than I did the C-press kit that I borrowed from Advance Auto. Didn't need a larger sledge or a torch either.
The people who sold me the car were getting rid of it basically because they couldn't easily get the gears anymore on the column shifter. One of the bolts up under the dash was completely MIA and the other one was loose. Once I put bolts back in, no more problem there. It also needed a new multi-function switch for the turn signals, etc, so I swapped that out. I had a 95 the same color of Medium Willow Green so I swapped out a few cosmetic trim pieces here and there as well and then sold that car.
It definitely pays to know things that other people don't....and also be willing to make repairs that others can't be bothered with.
Once again, a great video as always. I will be doing transmission flush and radiator flush soon.
I jus took my 95 Vic to get a wheel alignment, and the shop told me it's gonna cost $820.00, to do that, YA THINK, SHIT, I DONT THINK SO. SO IM GOING REPLACE BOTH UPPER CONTROL ARMS WITH BALL JOINTS AND LOWER BALL JOINTS MYSELF, HU, $820.00 MY ASS. THANKS FOR SHARING THIS WITH ME, ITS VERY MUCH HELPFUL. BOY I SURE ❤️ LOVE YOUR WRECKED CAR, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL COLOR IT IS. 👌✌️👍
Awesome video. Helping me with my suspension job.
Nice Video. I also recently replaced the upper and lower ball joints on my 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis with Moog K8685 Lowers and Moog K8678 uppers about a year ago.
You should call the dealer and see how much money you saved. :-) Now that you've had them for a while, how have they been holding up?
they can handle the abuse i put my 96 grand marquis through so id saying there doing pretty good. the orgionals had 140,000 miles on them
Thia ia now years later but, How did this effect the driving? Did it make a world of a difference once you got back on the road
35:50 Regarding stabilizer link that keeps rotating when trying to tighten: how about cut a slot in the end of bolt area to hold with flat blade screwdriver. Other thought is, perhaps Moog does have a solution: insert a small drill bit into the zerk fitting hole and see if Moog drilled a "index hole" in the ball itself, so that you can insert a "locking pin" during bolt tightening.
Good idea. At the time, I didn't think about that. Another thing Moog could have done is cut an Allen head into the end of the shaft or flatten the end of the shaft (like you see on shock absorbers) so that an Allen wrench or pliers could be used to hold it still.
For anyone else having a spinning sway link stud...take a pry bar and put pressure on the link...pry it TOWARDS the steering knuckle while tightening the nut....works every time with the right amount of pressure
That's for the top stud I mean....the new Moog links for this car actually have a hex nut cast into the stud for the bottom part
Tough Job, very well done. Excellent Video !!!
Thank you. I've been driving it around since the repair and that front end is nice and tight. No rattles and clunks. It literally drives like a new car now.
thank you for your time and effort. This will help me a lot on my 2008 lincoln town car.
I CANT THANK YOU ENOUGHH
Lucky me!! I have basically the same car as Shadowrider460. Very well done video..
thanks for making this video! I have a 94 towncar myself that needs upper and lower balljoints,, am I better doing the top or bottom first?
A quality job well done.
This was very good, thanks.
Classic video
OK, I've watched these (several) vids from *shadowrider460*
Crown Vic/Marquis (pre-'03)
Q1: If he were doing it all over again, and watching the other vid, start w/ buying the *LOADED* LCA (i.e., a-arm *w/* the ball joint!) on any *OLDER* Vic/Marquis seems the way to go?
Q2: Is it possible/likely the (horribly) bad ball joint *caused* the sway link to fail?
Thank you video helped alot
many thanks indeed!
Got a 1998 Lincoln TC trying to order the upper control arm assy (comes with Bushings and the ball Joint already installed) but there is two different options, with or without handling package. Does anyone know the difference or how to tell which one a person might have. Thanks
Thanks a lot. Mr chevyK1500! Do you know the part # for the ball joint press?
no i dont know the exact part number
The mid 1990's Lincoln lower ball joints are notorious for wearing out prematurely and making a lot of noise because they blow their boots. I don't care at all for sealed joints.
I don't like "lube for life" either. To me, it's a deception on the part of the manufacturer. Instead of actually making a better part that doesn't need lubrication, they simply removed your ability to lubricate the part and claim that it's "lube for life," as if some grand technological miracle had been discovered. What a scam. My '72 Lincoln Continental still has the original upper/lower ball joints because they have zerks and can be maintained. Even the grease seals are still in tact.
Yes sir, as a 27 year Ford technician it's a way to sell parts. There is a needle adapter that goes on the end of a grease gun which inserts between the ball and boot to inject grease into these sealed units but it doesn't work very well.
Is the same on 99 crown Victorias police interceptor? Happy holidays! Also can you tell me the part # for the ball joint remover thing plz. And spec torque on all suspension parts you removed?
Yes the suspension is the same, though the torque specs do vary a small amount based on the year. Heres a list of the Torque specs straight out of the Haynes Manual for a (1998-2002) Crown victoria, Grand Marquis, . ( lower ball joint to steering knuckle nut 129 ft-lbs, upper ball joint to steering arm retaining nut 118 ft-lbs, upper ball joint to steering knuckle pinch bolt 66 ft-lbs, stabalizer bar to link nut 41 ft-lbs, stabalizer link to steering knuckle nut 22 ft-lbs, inner tie rod to center link nut 35-47 ft-lbs, outer tie rod to steering knuckle nut 35-47 ft-lbs, tie rod clamp adjusting sleeve nuts 21 ft-lbs, front hub bearing nut 221 ft-lbs, upper shock mounting nut 25-34 ft-lbs, shock to lower control arm mounting bolts 11 ft-lbs. brake front caliper slide bolts 21-26 ft-lbs, brake hose to caliper 35 ft-lbs, brake caliper bracket bolts to 80 ft-lbs, wheel lugnuts 85-105 ft-lbs.
Hey shadowrider, happy thanksgiving! Great video would that apply for 99 crown victoria police interceptor too?
If it has the stamped steel lower control arm, then yes. The later models used aluminum lower control arms so the procedure would be a little different.
where did you get your ball joint c clamp tool set?
I ordered it online but can't remember the place now. It was about $130, but well worth it since it can be used on many vehicles. So it should pay for itself over time.
Yo is funny my car just broke down last week same problem I'm gonna replace both I have a 2000 crown victoria.
Everyone shows how to fix these panther platforms no one shows how to test ball joint
Those Ford engineers worked hard to design an OEM part destined to fail. I'm sure management told them how many miles it should last, and no longer. I'm sure GM and Chrysler engineers are schooled in "planned obsolescence" too. You make a good argument for MOOG, instead of "Genuine FORD Parts."
Sometimes, using OEM parts is not the way to go. In this case, Moog re-designed the parts the way they should have been designed to begin with. These parts are much better than the originals and the car still drives great and holds its alignment. :-)
Torch it it'll come right out