I'm reading my manual for details on replacing the steering knuckles on my 2002 4WD torsion bar Ranger with the 2004 knuckles I acquired. All looks doable for me till I read where it says to remove the torsion bars. Is that really necessary?
hell no.
DO ONE SIDE AT A TIME
loosen big nut with the wheel on the ground.
jack enough to put support under frame, and a support under the lower control arm, or a floor jack.
remove wheel, brake bracket, big nut, unplug ABS sensor cable at frame, remove it if possible. (rust!)
then loosen lower ball joint nut, upper control arm bolt, tie rod nut.
whack the parts to loosen them.
now remove the tie rod and upper bolt, lift the upper control arm, and tilt the knuckle, pushing on the axle stub. if the stub is stuck, place wood chunk on stud and hit wood. that will dampen the blow so the CV won't get damaged. when the axle stub clears the knuckle lift the knuckle off the lower ball joint. the axle stays in the differential.
assemble in reverse order, knuckle on lower ball joint, slide axle in to knuckle, tilt up, install upper bolt, finish other stuff.
tighten big nut with wheel on the ground.
the factory machining is good enough that I didn't need an alignment afterwards,,, but its best to do an alignment.
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