'59 Plymouth Forum

Hi guys,

In a glance of spontaneous stupidity, I "overgreased" one of my front upper ball joints on my 59SF today and the rubber cone burst open (see picture). Well done, Eddie Ok, now do I have any other option than to replace the one (or better both) upper ball joint? I found there's also a Mopar ball joint kit, which comes with new cones/washers etc.: http://www.ebay.de/itm/57-58-59-60-61-6 ... XQ56ZSConZ

I'd rather replace the rubber than the whole ball joint, except you would recommend replacing the joints anyway. I dug a little in the forum and online and it seems at first I'll need special tools for that, i.e. ball joint socket (1 15/16"?) and a puller... Ok, might run over to the local Chrysler dealer or US car shop and ask, if I can borrow the tools from them. Should be possible to find them somewhere I hope...

Next I'd need no ball joints, found MOOG joints for the 57-78 Fury at the Moparshop here in Germany - reasonably priced at around 60$ the pair.

I'd be thankful for some feedback on the whole "operation". I watched a video online on how to replace those things and even though I'm just a mediocre experienced hobby mechanic, I'm confident I'd make it...

Thanks for any advice!
Have a great weekend

Doesn't anybody have a few tips on what's important when changing the upper ball joints? I already got the new parts and would be thankful for some instructions...

EDDIE; When I did mine I soaked it with penetrating oil the day before.Wire brush any rust or dirt and clean it up as best you can.I rented the socket from advance auto, or locate A napa store. used A pickle fork to separate the taper and long breaker bar to get it moveable then used an impact gun to remove it.Clean up the threads after it is out and be careful not to cross thread the new one when it goes back in. I always use moly lube graphite paste when I re-assemble any threaded parts. The threads are very fine. Do A forum search and there will be some showing up from past members. Good luck Mark

Hey Mark! Thanks a lot for the reply! Renting out a Chrysler fitting ball joint socket is quite difficult here in Germany - that's why I was asking for the measurements. Would a 1 59/64" socket fit? I found an older thread about that in the forum and it seems that it should be a size 1 15/16". Can someone tell me about the size needed?

I goofed I forgot you are in Germany. Do A forum site search "Front suspension rebuild" Looks like A 1.915 socket ? I thought it was under 2" mine was in A kit that had them all,I just can't remember the size. I know it is 3/4 drive. Mark

Hi Eddie,

The shop manual (here: http://www.59plymouth.net/59gallery/alb ... ension.pdf) says the tool you need is a C3560. I googled it, and it came up!

It's 1 15/16", and that's 49.21250mm - a 50mm socket ought to do it. I'm guessing a deep well!

Dan

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the help! I found several used sockets on Ebay, which are quite affordable (betw. 20-40$). However I'm still confused regarding the size, whether it's 1 15/16", 1 29/32" or 1 59/64". There are even auctions for the same sockets which state different sizes

There are Snap-On Sockets (S9365A) which should be a 1.924 diameter, which is slightly bigger than the 1.915 dia. Mark pointed out. Seems to be good to me. Otherwise I also found a Miller C3560 in a used condition on Ebay. Guess, I both would do it, right?

If the ball joint is still tight, they used to produce a drive on boot that works really well. I haven't used any for some years now. but being in the repair trade I know that they exist. you pry off the old boot after you separate the ball joint from the spindle/knuckle, then drive on the new replacement.