Ford F-250: Ball Joints & Tie Rod Ends - Part III 

If he stops making videos cause of youtubers calling him, I not going to be happy...and I bet quite a few of others here as well..."Stop calling the shop"....but on a better note thanks Mrs O for the help...

That white plastic jug on the wall is doing its best Easter Island statue impression. Once you see it...

STOP CALLING THE DAMN SHOP AND BOTHERING ERIC, HE'S TRYING TO WORK!

Just a foot note Eric O. I work in the canadian oil and gas fields and kroil is by far my go to for rusted threads especially when they are out in the elements. Taking apart piping and stuff it has always helped. Keep up the great work!

It should surprise me that people have the gall to call you up during working hours and expect you to stop what you're doing and give them free advice, but sadly it doesn't. I would never in a million years call you unless I wanted to make an appointment, but that's just me. Knowledge has value and if these people really want to get your advice on something, they should pay for it. Set up a $100/month Patreon level that gives the patron 15 minutes/month of your time (off-hours of course) for questions and advice. It's a small price to pay to have access to a true professional, especially after said pro has already given us countless hours of his expertise for free!

FOLKS, unless you intend to make an actual appointment and pay for his services leave the guy alone. This goes too, for the live streams. Stop phoning in when he is live.. As he said, he has a family to take care of and I'm sure he doesn't appreciate having minutes added to his already long day having to answer a phone for non legitimate calls.. I think you will find that Eric can be very gracious and professional in his business dealings as long as you are aware that his time is valuable and you are a honest paying customer. He saved me a several hour trip to his shop one time as he was aware that I was a honest customer and one not seeking free advice. He didn't have to do that but he did. Thank You again Eric.

These guys must think you're doing this for fun. I don't even answer the phone when I'm watching your videos.

Can't believe there are idiots calling you for free advice ! Then again after working with the public all these years doesn't surprise me. Great channel sir. Keep up the good work !

I use Kroil and Deep creap from Seafoam but i agree no matter what you use you have to let it set.And let's face it sometimes there's nothing better than the blue flame,just my opinion.

Your friggin' awesome Eric. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. As always, your banter is as hilarious as your commentary is instructive. Oh, and thanks to Mrs. O. If not for her (and *her* tape measure), that F-250 wouldn't have made it off the lift.

I enjoy the fact that you don’t edit the tough parts out it makes it more believable. I don’t feel so bad when things don’t go as planned. I just give it a little more Ugga Duga.

Eric, please stop apologizing for normal everyday stuff. It's "oops that didn't work" and move on. If you did one of these every week then you should be upset with yourself. I prefer the unedited videos since they are real life and a better teaching tool. You're the best.

Lenny from Australia you remind me so much of me when i was your age ,great videos AND TO THE YOU CALLERS ONLY RING IF YOU WANT WORK DONE

Always learning something here! Great idea on scribing the tires. By coincidence I always had tire treads to use as a reference that had even lines around the circumference... but that is a great idea. More accurate, and a quick check for a bent rim or hub, or an irregular tire. I must confess when I do this its not "to get to the alignment shop"..... that IS the alignment.

the mark around the tire and measuring with a tire alignment gauge worked in many shops worked for years and years. Just a comment from an old mechanic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eric, Gary from CT here. Brother, you got one of the best channels on RU-vid in my humble opinion. I love how that dam air compressor does come on every time your talkin! Thats the funniest thing. I just thought I would send some good vibes your way . Keep up the great work and enjoy!

Great that you would take the time to make sure the toe is close enough to keep from scuffing the tires even if you're only going a few miles. Always fun, Eric, thanks!!

Great video, ya know some people think Chevy ball joints are the same or compare something else to a ford…..i never really knew what a paint in the neck those are….but i find everything you do fantastic…and thanks for sharing with some of the monkey nuts and some of us that are looking for some idea what to look for…or like. You looked over the ball joints..everyone has issues and you thought about it and figured it out. It’s fantastic

Thank you Eric for the video. Sorry that folks can’t understand not to call a business and is irritating the fire out of you and the shop. I hope that these folks will get a clue and only call if they are making appointments. Again thank you Mr and Mrs O for keeping the channel up! Much appreciated on my end. 👍👍

Kroil is OK, but I prefer ATF/Acetone myself. Used it to unstick old engines. It's never failed me. An old machinist introduced me to this homebrew. Best ATF to use is the cheap stuff, BTW.

"It's not a helicopter, it's not a jet." It's a Ford! :P Thank ya for the kick ass videos. And those who be watching these videos, while Eric is kick ass. He is human and had has a family to take care of. Just keep that in mind ya'll.

The smile on your face when when the second tie rod breaks loose is priceless. Haha

I’m in northeast Ohio. I’ll use pb blaster and soak whatever I need to remove for a couple days beforehand. My experience has been if the fastener is frozen in with rust it doesn’t matter. Break out the propane and hope you can break that bond. Penetrating fluid helps it come out easier but it won’t break the rust bond.

QUIT CALLING THE SHOP!!! Eric's a great guy and has a wonderful family and makes good videos for us to enjoy. He doesn't need any more "friends". If you're lonely...get a dog.

14:12 I feel for ya buddy. Back in the `80s I had an "X" car on the hoist. They had a license plate on the left side of the front bumper. I was walking a regular pace and my head met that f`n license plate puting a cut in my forehead. I stopped wearing a baseball cap while working on a car after that. That bill blinds you.

I just did the right tie rod end and drag link end on my '08 this morning. My truck has the heavy duty front suspension and none of the aftermarket stores had a tie rod end that fit. Ford got me for $227 for a tie rod end (ouch). Fortunately, I'm a retired ASE master, so I do all my own labor. I used to tell people "If I can do it, you can do it. The only difference between us is that I own $100K in tools and know how to use them."

Work has been crazy with school starting on Monday. I haven't had time to enjoy any SMA videos lately. Well we have done all we can to prepare so bring on the kids!! Hoping everyone has a great school experience this year.Thanks Eric for your generous spirit and expertise. Well done!!

I've always had good luck with PB blaster but I think they all work equally well

“Right in the thinker” had me rolling 😂 then grabs wrong socket lol 🤕🤣

Oh man no brass hammer, no gas, no big nasty and no big drama ! Surprised you new they could ever be removed by hand like that :-P Must of been a surreal experience :-) Life too easy without the rust lol ... Size of link bars to the BJ is indeed silly ...

Dude that toe-in trick is seriously a life hack. Will remember that for future reference once I graduate medical school and I work on rusty crap on the side lol.

The secret to using the different brands of snake oils is to apply several times a day every day for several weeks . Most people looking for miracle in a can cannot wait that long that’s when the patience start to wear thin. Keep up the great videos and I promise to never call.

Wow, I wish I could spin outer tie rod ends as fast as you Eric!

I use whatever penetrating oil is cheapest whenever I have it on the shopping list. Like you said- Project farm and the other tubers have all shown there is no magic in a can. Nice video series and thanks for sharing your journey once again.

Your a man after my own heart when I seen the double combination wrench trick to get more leverage. I turned wrenches for nearly forty years so I reconize a good mechanic and your a good one. I'm glad your taking over where I left off. Things have gotten real technical now and I'm glad I left the trade professionally. I still gotta keep the Grandkids wheels moving though.

That was old school toe adjustment and how we did it on heavies and DIRT modifieds...scribe and measure...bounce,roll, scribe & measure. I don't know how many shops that replace tie rod ends and don't center them before locking them down and even had a few from alignment shops which should never happen and they are bound up...defeats the purpose of the pivot. Attention to detail. Nice 3 part series!

I'm a homebrew ATF/acetone guy but i'll use WD40 in a pinch. I think on occasions it helps but i'm always ready to grab the air chisel and the map gas. Although on several occasions i've had to just cut stuff off with a cutting disk and go to the scrapyard and get something that isn't rusted solid. Thanks for the video Eric. Really interesting as always. ALSO. I HATE TO GET ALL CAPSLOCK. BUT WHO THE HELL KEEPS CALLING THE SHOP? SERIOUSLY WHOEVER YOU ARE, ERIC IS TRYING TO FUCKING WORK AND HE DOESN'T HAVE TIME FOR 20 QUESTIONS 30 TIMES A DAY. JEEZ.

As a mechanical engineer employed in Australian mines, we have been able to test numerous penetrating fluids, both commercial and industry specific, with little real word effect. Our goto fluid, if you can refer to it as, is liquid carbon dioxide at - 75 °C. Extreme ? Hell yeah but always successful. Our technique of ' pour and punch ' with a pneumatic hammer, chisel or ratchet drive never fails to loosen. 👍👍

Guess some RU-vidrs don't understand boundaries. This is the man's livelihood. Figure it out yourself. I never met a tech that can accurately diagnose a vehicle over the phone.

Looks like the HF impact gun is chugging along just fine. Thanks for taking the time to produce/edit/publish these great videos.

I use deep creep from sea foam. I love it. Public works here uses a magic potion I cannot seem to find. Got baseball batted with my drag link today as I was pickle forking the steering tire rod end, the castle on the tie rod link let got.. shiner and a lumpy face🤣🤪

Good Job Eric O! Special shout out to Mrs. O! YOU TUBERS! STOP CALLING THE SHOP! THE MAN HAS WORK TO DO AND VIDEOS TO MAKE! HE'S BUSY ENOUGH!

I made myself a locking telescopic tube that i use fore and aft on the rim, it gets you right on the money for tow.

Thanks for the videos! I really appreciate that your videos show when "whoops" happen and how to fix the boo-boo because Papa Jon certainly makes more than his fair share and the whoops correction is often vitally important to learn...

Suggestion on how to handle callers. Run promotion. Here is an example. Anyone who spends $250 or more on swag, patron , fund me from Oct 6 to Oct 10 will be given a private number to call you and allowed up to 5 minutes. Calls will be recorded and will be on featured as a you tube video. Buy a prepaid phone and give out number and throw away after that.

I've always used Zep. The only reason is my old man swore by it. And 1 thing I've learned in life is to listen to old timers.

Great video! It's like dinner and a movie, keep up the GRRRReat work and Thanks Mrs. O for your assistance!

It never occurred to me to call the shop. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth! Thank you for the honest videos. I’ve learned a lot from you. Ignore the jerks.

nice eric I liked your pre alignment checks and I like 2wd ball joints a little better the rust stuff only works when the fastener in broken loose it don't do jack making it break loose easier

Eric, I watched another you tuber do a brake job. Compared to yours it was like watching paint dry. Keep them coming love the video’s

Hi Eric awesome video learning a lot thanks again 🇺🇸🇺🇸

You know what Mr O sometimes we get the bull and sometimes we get the horn way to show everyone not to give up great video

In addition to liking, subscribing, ringing the bell, and all that stuff.. You forgot to make sure we all call your shop, and leave messages!!!

You Sir, do Excellent work! Haven't seen a better done RU-vid video. Appreciate your time and knowledge.

Love the nuts & bolts videos, that came apart like a southern vehicle, LOL! Awesome video Eric!

Heat and Beat, Air Hammer, Swear and throw a fit.. T SHIRT!!!! Keep em coming MR O!!

Great series, Eric--very educational. Mistakes are great--we learn from them too. Thanks for sharing.

Love your videos, thanks for sharing. Completely understand about the phone calls as well as needing to get it off your chest once in a while. Don't worry about the mistakes that you catch. Everyone makes them and you rock! Hope the rest of your day goes smoothly!

Project Farm did a good test on rusty bolt penetrating oils, and it turned out that few if any really did penetrate much, though there did seem to somewhat of an improvement over dry rusted bolts, not much, but some.

I worked with a guy who didn't think penetrating oils worked. One day we were trying to change a lift brake band on an American 7220 crane. They have a 1-2/2 inch pin about 8 inches long anchoring the dead end that hadn't been installed using anti-seize. We had a drive pin with a shaft welded to it to hang on while driving it with a large hammer. We spent about 20 minutes trying to pound it out using a 10-pound hammer. You aren't supposed to use heat on the metal in lifting cranes because it alters the structure. My co-worker had cut the brake band on the other side to get the similar pin out. The band cost $2000 so we didn't want to do that again. It was late in the day so we decided to bring the slice torch out the next morning to bore a hole through the pin. I soaked it down with K&W Knock'er Loose and he laughed at me. The next morning we decided to try driving it one more time. On the first hit, it shot out and landed about 6 feet from the crane. It made a believer out of my co-worker. The guys that worked on the overhead doors brought a bracket from a door to the shop to use a vise. They had soaked it down the previous day with PB Blaster and couldn't get it out. The bracket was no longer available and they were trying to replace the roller. I gave him some Knock'er Loose to try. Later in the day, he asked me where to buy it. He said it was like it just like it disolved the rust. It's available under both the K&W and CRC brand names. I've had good luck with Liquid Wrench. PB Blaster seems to take several days to work. I haven't been a Blaster fan since the salesman came around with their air tool conditioner. He wanted to demonstrate it. He put it in our 3/4 inch drive CP and it promptly seized up. Any of these products take time to work. The longer they have to soak, the better they work. I had the advantage of knowing what I would work on ahead of time so I could spray it down at least a day before. Most shops only see the vehicle on the day they work on it so they don't have time to wait but if it's sprayed as soon as possible, it has a chance to work. If you wait until you are trying to remove it, it won't work in a couple of seconds.

Please stop calling SMA for free advice - I love these videos and want to see more new content from SMA!

Time for the alignment and another satisfied customer!

For the wheel alignment I use a piece of brown string attached to the outside of one wheel then around the front and other wheel and back again. You can see if there is any degree and how much by measuring the clearance of the string against the outside of each tire. Oh and you can do it with the string solo which is great if alone or everybody is busy.

I watch A.J. Foyt at the INDY500. Bent a tie rod. came into the pits. replaced the part. set the tow in/out with a stanley tape measure. went back out and WON! convinced me you can do well enough the way you are doing it..

Love those rainy road sounds coming from outside. Pretty lonely in these with Miss Hannah and Josh back to school. Yes you should post the numbers of the problem callers. We can then send them pizzas, 20 at a time ! Or set them up with a nice Craigslist ad ( Old Snap-on rollaway tool box) free, call first to set up pickup!!

Thirty-Two, It was Thirty -two. HUUULLLOOOO! 32-33ish!

the tie rods was 32/33 turns Eric lol i wished i lived closer you would be my mechanic no doubt love the videos

GREAT VIDEO SERIES AND ALWAYS NICE TO SEE MRS O. MAKE A GUEST APPEARENCE

Nice job dude 👍 thanks for going to the trouble of filming

Always liked PB. Never heard of Fluid Film til I met you, but now I use it on everything !

I've been working in the rust belt of Canada for 10 years and the best penetrating fluid will always be the torch

Yep stop your calls and comment below instead. Great work Eric. 👏

JB 80 is my favorite rust buster. It fizzles into the dry rust. Of course they all work better when ya spray and let er soak a while.

"..Unless you have an alignment machine...." I'm thinking most viewers don't have 1/32 of all those fancy tools you use.. ;-) Thanks for the great videos, one of the few channels that really puts an effort into teaching others.

Down here in Florida we use a product called elbow grease. If it can’t break it loose grab the torch. Liquid metal can’t stay tight.

You the man Dr. O Great entertainment and a bonus tie rod video can’t beat it!!

Thanks for coming in today Fella, nice 3 part series

great series on the f250. just went through ball joint replacement on mine and had some of the same experiences you had. in my shop we use either a mix 50/50 of diesel fuel and mineral oil or atf and acetone. both are superior to anything I've ever bought. best wishes to you and your family.

I was thinking about calling to express my gratitude for your videos, but I chose to leave a comment instead. I'm a computer technician, son of a retired master mechanic, who does most of his own auto repairs. I love watching these videos, especially because you leave everything in, including your mistakes and how you fix those. I'm no mechanic, but I certainly do better work than the majority of "certified" stealership morons who don't know a torque wrench from a breaker bar.

I used kroil for years at my last place of work. Never heard of it before. Its super thin and seems to work ok. My biggest complaint about Kroil is the larger cans run out of pressure before they are empty. I've used wd-40, pb blaster, liquid wrench. i would say kroil is closest to pb blaster. now, 10 years ago at a different job i used Zep 45. loved that stuff, smells like bananas. expensive though. but that would be my choice. it handles heat well too from what i remember. seems Zep makes pretty damn good stuff.

Another excellent video. Competency has its not always positive rewards.

...good job Eric... it ain't all rocket science, but it seems that chasin' yer tail is often a requirement... & we ALL congratulate you for having Mrs. O as a trusted side-kick... & Hannah when she can... thanks for the video. ; )

Eric, I didnt see any mistakes - I just see a guy who knows what he is doing and does it really well. Thank you! SMA#1 God bless Paul

"no, we don't need to put in according to nasa laws" *Puts cotter key in according to nasa laws* I had to chuckle at that.

Eric, I admire you, I really don’t know how you work on this crap everyday and not cus like a sailor. When I work on this crap in my driveway, let’s just say the newborns don’t like me. Lol

Eric I was always taught to count the remaining threads not the threads to loosen it. You have a better chance of maintaining the overall links by counting the remaining spreads.

I'm old school, I like WD40 for about everything. Nice tip marking the center of the tire for the toe in.

Always a pleasure to watch your videos. Even better when we get to see the lovely Mrs. O and the little O's. I could almost feel it when you hit your head. There were many times over the course of my career that i banged my noggin. The worst time was when I hit my head while working on a plow truck. I cut my head and it put me on my knees. There I was on my hands and knees, seeing stars with blood running out of my head and the service writer asks if I am alright. My reply was no I am not alright what do you think I am a Stunt Man!

I've had luck with acetone and atf,(50/50) so I think... As always, thanks for the videos... Good stuff !!!

Hey Eric, were only human! Been there done that!

Good job “O”! Enjoyed the series! May the fleas of a thousand camels infest those who bother you!!

Thanks for the videos man. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

I've made worse mistake brother, you're a true veteran. Peace! God bless you.

I'm going to call Eric and suggest that he respond to the phone call situation by writing a book - "The SMA Car Repair FAQ." The book will answer all the questions that most people ask: "My check engine light is on. What should I do?" "My Valiant is running rough. My Dad says to add SeaFoam to the gas, my uncle says to put Marvel Mystery Oil in the crankcase. What do you recommend?" "After installing new brake shoes on my Galaxy, I have a few extra parts left over. Are they important? Can you tell me where they go?"

Great job Eric. Mrs O.

Another great SMA video.

Oh man, I wanted to see the alignment. Oh well, maybe next time.

"time to get a little hammer' **grabs a sledge**

Been turning wrenches professionally for about 30 years in the worst rust belt known to man, Quebec and ironically did the same job on two different f250 this week. I agree totally about penetrate fluid being so so at best .love your videos' Eric .i use a tape measure from end of tube to stud of tie rod instead of counting turns and both trucks were bang on for toe adjust, probably lucky tho lol.i didn,t see all your videos on this job i assume you covered that the camber caster sleeve has to be clean and lubed to avoid torque steer problem and that there is a sequence to follow when tighten the ball joints lower 44 ft lbs then upper 70 ft lbs then lower again at 150 ft lbs all to avoid the torque steer problem

Our daily bread & butter.Keep hammerin bro 👍