83gtragtop

Realize that this is kind of a tough job and if you are a novice this may be a bit much. Your working around a spring and if somehow that spring goes off you could get very hurt.

83gtragtop

Ford shop manual

Hawk

TRW is a high quality ball joint and exactly what I used. If they are shot, they need to be replaced. I am not sure what was meant by damaging the top of the spindle nut unless you can't swing a hammer because you should only be making contact with the old ball joints to get them out, and the lower control arm to get the new ones in. And vibration could be a number of things, including wheel balance, which I am surprised no one mentioned. But again, if a mechanic who you trust said you need new ball joints, I would replace them. And yes, these could cause you steering issues. Good luck.

LOUDexhaust

ok im going to attempt this tonight i think. ill try to strap something around the spring incase it flys off. Im not going to pay $200 to have this done. i need the experience.

LOUDexhaust

oh, what should i torque my wheels to?

and how do i tighten the rotor correctly?

Hawk

The spring should not come out. You should never have to lower the lower control arm so far that the spring could even clear out. In terms of torque the wheels, I never put a torque wrench to the lugs. I just tighten them from experience with a breaker bar. Just never overtighten them. In terms of reinstalling the rotors. Put the rotor on the spindle and then put on the castle nut. Tighten everything down, then right before its completely tight, rock the castle nut back and forth just a few times to cinch it down and make sure everything seats correctly. Then install a new cotter pin and your good to go. You may want a string or piece of wire to help hold the caliper out of the way and to keep you from having to take off the brake hose, therefore keeping you from having to bleed the brake system. I think my total install time was about 4 hours including running back and forth to my box to grab tools.

LOUDexhaust

ok thanks. should i use loctite any where?

Hawk

In regards to the proper way to do things. In the early years of mustangs, the coil spring was mounted against the upper control arm. With those models, yes you did replace the entire lower control arm, but that was seldom done because that was the follower ball joint, which very seldom needed to be replaced. The upper ball joint was the load carrying ball joint, and the one that would usually go bad. But now adays, the spring is mounted against the lower control arm, and the lower ball joint is the load carrying ball joint. And by no means is it necessary to replace the enitre control arm when the ball joint is worn.

If you want to replace the stock control arms with a better performance part, by all means go for it and you will see a suspension improvement. But it is not necessary.

Hawk

LOUDexhaust, don't take this the wrong way, but from a safety standpoint, I am getting nervous about you doing this job. You asked about reinstalling the rotor and now about loctite and I am afraid this might be too challenging a task for a first timer. From your questions I am just worrying about your experience. If you have someone you can refer to for help that has experience with this sort of thing, by all means, go for it. And no, you won't need loctite for anything.

Don't take this the wrong way, I am not trying to belittle you. I am just trying to look out for one of my fellow mustang brothers and make sure he and his car last a long time.

mrbigshot

its not as daunting task as many make it seem. when i changed ball joints for the first time i bought a ball joint press, its like a giant c clamp. i did it do i could do it with the spindle still attaches to the car. $89 and all you do it use an impact to press them out.