I cleaned-up the hole in the control arm with emery cloth. There's "green goo"; some sort of anaerobic press-fit locking chemical that's applied to the new ball joint housing before it's pressed into the hole in the control arm.
Photo 18. Anaerobic compound applied to ball joint housing.
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The instruction sheet provides some conflicting information about the BJ alignment. On the one hand, the grease zerk needs to be aligned with the recess provided in the control arm. On the other hand, the new-style rubber boot for the ball joint has an arrow on it saying to "Install Inboard"; that's the vent that allows excess grease to escape rather than rip the boot--and they want it away from the brake rotor. Aligning the grease vent inboard made the zerk inaccessible. I guess I'll just be careful when pumping the silly thing with fresh grease...
Pressing the BJ into the control arm is a two-stage process. The ball joint press is not big enough to do it in one "squeeze". I used a very thin adapter on the pressure-screw side to get it started, then switched to a taller adapter so I was assured that the ball joint housing wouldn't interfere with the first, thin adapter as it was pushed through the control arm. The lower adapter is the same throughout the installation process.
Photos 19 and 20. The different adapters used with the ball joint press, as the BJ is crammed into the control arm. (First photo posed while I was still assessing which adapters to use, I haven't gooped-up the ball joint with the anaerobic locking compound yet.)
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With the ball joint shoved in, I needed to install the grease zerk, and align the cotter-pin hole so that it's easily accessible. An awl shoved into the hole allows rotating the stud so that the cotter pin is easy to get to.
Photo 21. Still need to tighten the grease zerk, cotter pin hole moved for better access.
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Once all that is done, it's just a matter of pumping grease in, and reassembling "everything". Some folks are insistent on performing an "alignment"; but I figure that if everything up front is in good condition--new ball joints, serviceable control arm bushings, untouched but decent tie rod ends, etc. the alignment is going to be just as the factory built it--unless the vehicle's got collision damage. If anything is worn-out, various alignment angles could be "off"; and if there's bent parts--frame, control arm, etc--the alignment could be "off".
In my case, I still have to pop in the other lower ball joint (next-summer project) and I'll replace all four tie rod ends at that time. Maybe the idler arm. So the alignment is going to wait awhile.
I expect to put ~200 miles or less on this truck over the winter. It's main purpose is to push the snow-plow around my driveway. My goal for this project has been achieved--the ABS light is out, and the ABS seems to work. I made a hard stop with the left wheels on pavement, and the right wheels on the gravel shoulder. ABS rattled, I could feel vibration in the pedal. But that doesn't mean all three channels of the ABS module are working. Time will tell--I'll find out when the roads get icy.
Next big project: Inspect rear brakes, install TrueTrack differential carrier.