2004 - 2006 T1N Sprinter Lower Ball Joint R&R

 After browsing the internet and SprinterSource I had a bit of anxiety going into this job. I hate doing front suspension maintenance. It is always more difficult than I want it to be and incredibly dirt to boot.

This write-up is a synthesis of several other videos/write-ups I found. I set aside four hours to do one side and was able to do both sides in a little less than two hours.

I will say the way I did this procedure is rather "fast and dirty". I think if I had all the time and tools in the world I could make this job feel a lot less like I was just cutting things and hitting them with a hammer....but I don't. 

I will say that if I did have more money than time I would consider replacing the entire a-arm assembly. I have done that for one my shops delivery Sprinters and its so easy, but prices of the a-arms have risen considerably recently.

Finally, if you question your ability to do any of this then phone a friend or pay someone who you know can get it done. Lower ball joint failure can result in extremely dangerous situations (ask me how I know). Be safe folks!

tools

- jack

- jack stand

- large hammer (this is a 2lb dead blow I believe)

- brass face hammer (optional but deforms things less)

- 1/2" socket set (these are all high torque situations, 3/8" just makes me work too hard)

- 1/2" impact gun (this Snap-On gun rips)

- angle grinder (two fresh discs at least)

- side cutters

- 1/2" ratchet

- ball joint press (borrow one from an autocrats store, one of my least favorite tools of all time, they never have everything you need)

- propane torch (preferably one you can lock in the on position)

- ear and eye protection (for real, I'm not "tough" anymore)

The night before I put the lower ball joints in the fridge. This makes life much easier when you go to install them later. I used the set from EuropartsSD. 

I won't rehash the first step which is jacking the van up and putting a jack stand under the frame rails. I will say the socket size for the lug nuts is 19mm and the torque spec for those lug nuts is a whopping 177ft/lb!

Once the wheel was removed my first step was to disconnect the tie-rod (picture here in the left side of the picture with the nut on it). For this I loosened the nut with a 24mm socket and with the socket on the nut to prevent too much deformation I used my 2lb dead blow hammer. I supported the a-arm during this process with the jack to prevent yoking on the shock. 

left outer tie rod end

This is a great time to replace your outer tie rod end if you feel so inclined.

Now that the tie rod end was disconnected the job of disconnecting the four 19mm bolts that hold the shock to the steering knuckle is much easier. Remove the entire shock by undoing the 24mm from the top of the shock inside the cab of the van.

 There are four bolt with 19mm heads hold the lower part of the shock to the steering knuckle (grey arrows show where two of them go). Highlighted by the red arrows shows the offending lower ball joint). 

bucket.

like so

Disconnect the lower ball joint from the a-arm. When this happens all of the weight of the rotor, caliper, and steering knuckle if unsupported will fall onto the brake line. To prepare for this have a bucket ready to support the assembly on once the lower ball joint is disconnected..

The process of getting the lower ball joint to separate from the steering knuckle is one of the cruxes of this job to me. My fastest method when successful is to take the nut off the lower ball joint and then jacking the threaded portion of the lower ball joint. Then you smack the steering knuckle with a hammer. 

Here we see four arrows. Firstly remove the nut (27mm) highlighted by the red arrow. Second, use the jack to put a lot of pressure on the lower ball joint highlighted by the blue arrow (do one side at a time for safeties sake). Then using a big hammer smack somewhere around the area highlighted by the grey arrow. At some point if the Sprinter gods are smiling on you the lower ball joint will release.

If this doesn't happen then remove the boot highlight by the white arrow and using your angle grinder cut the ball joint in half at the point behind the area highlight by the white arrow. 

where to cut the ball joint. 

note the absence of the shock in this picture!

To actually get the ball joint out I started by supporting the a-arm that holds the ball joint in (red arrow) with the metal pipe (blue arrow) the jack stand held the pipe against the a-arm. 

Next I heat the a-arm where it captures the ball joint (red arrow) until it was smoking (not red hot!).

Then using the ball peen face of my big hammer I beat the ball joint (orange arrow)out of the a-arm. 

Finally its time to reinstall the ball joint. Its hard to imagine all of this just occurred in two hours. Visualization can be immensely helpful beforehand!

I pulled the ball joint out of the freezer and using the ball joint press kit I found this piece that fit the ball joint the best. I then jacked up the ball joint into the a-arm. Using my brass face hammer I tapped the a-arm so that the ball joint slowly drove into the a-arm.

The new lower ball joint nut was not only a nylock but also a 30mm instead of a 27mm. 

Reassembly is reverse of disassembly. I will say that if you wait to connect the tie rod end until after the shock is reattached it will make reinstalling the four lower shock bolts so much easier.