The rubber boot on the ball joint pictured below is dessicated on both sides of my 2000 Disco II. I am basically going over this vehicle fixing everything that is obviously wrong. Is this a difficult part to replace for a medium skilled home mechanic? I've read https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...nts-dii-31471/ but I'm not clear that is the only way to do it. I do have the ball joint toolset (and have never used one before).



I sprayed white lithium grease on it to highlight it.

I believe that is the bottom ball joint on the steering knuckle. I heard a clunk in that general are when driving for a short distance offroad and turning left. Now that I am looking at the picture I should probably replace the one in back (of the picture) too. I am hoping (against hope), that this can be done with the axle and hub in place.... seeking advice from anyone who has done it.

Best,

 

I'm unable to view your picture but if you are planning to do the upper and lower ball joints that connect the steering knuckle to the axle housing, this is a job I did on a P38 Range Rover and it is a very similar project. The main issue you are likely to encounter is difficulty with getting the hub out of the knuckle. My vehicle had spent time in Maryland, Georgia, Massachusetts, Florida, then finally back in Massachusetts before I tackled the repair. The hubs actually came out fairly easily but they certainly didn't fall out on their own. I also had to use some pieces I had around to make the "rented" ball joint press work. The kits you can get from an autoparts store typically don't have the pieces needed to work with a Rover. There is an adapter kit available from HF that has some usefull pieces in it. On the P38, you adjust the position of the knuckle to center the axle shaft in the housing using a special tool for alignment. I just made some marks on the knuckle and the axle and took a measurement and then set the knuckle a touch lower when it went back together to account for the old joints being off due to wear. After I was done the truck steered great and nothing leaked so it must have been close enough.

The entire project took me about 6 hours. I have air tools and am fairly experienced with automotive repairs but pretty much anyone can do this project. Just follow RAVE and take some pictures along the way and you'll be fine. By te way, I bought the ball joints from AB for something like $35 each so the cost is all in labor. Get the axle seals also and do them at the same time. If your need brakes, do them also and you should take a good look at the CV boots and hubs while you are at it. This will be the best time to replace either of those if required.

 

If it took you six hours, it will take me longer. Ugh. Thanks for the response. I do have the HF kit and sufficient air/electric tools. It does make sense to replace everything that looks like it needs it, but I am still adjusting to the fact--recently learned--that I can't just pop out hub bearings on my Disco II. At least, here (Texas), there is no salt/snow/rust causers to make the hub and knuckle harder to remove. Again, thanks for the response.