Problems with Ball Joints!?

[Dave Spade]

I just found out from a trusted mechanic that I need all new ball joints on my 2001 Sport Trac. He says that this is a common problem with all Ford trucks... including the F-150, Explorer, and Excursions. Is this true? The reason I question is because he is telling me that it will cost approx. $850 to fix, (includes parts & labor). That seems a bit pricey to me. Does this sound reasonable or fair to anyone here? Has anyone had the same problem.. considering that I was told this is a common problem? I realize that if they are not replaced soon, they can cause me more problems and damage in the future.



I am no mechanic, and am practically a numb nut when it comes to major car repairs. My steering and suspension seem to be in good driving condition. I just recently purchased the 01 Trac about 2 months ago... and now I am being told this.



Thanks for any feedback!

 

[Yardsale]

Yup. I ('01, 4WD) and others here have had to have the ball joints replaced.



You (yes you) can test them yourself. Raise the front, grab a wheel or place a board under and try to push the wheel up. If there's a bad ball joint, you'll feel and hear it.



Unless things have changed, the upper control arms will have to be replaced and only the lower ball joints.



I went aftermarket with Moog parts and it cost about $800.00 (all included). I don't recall whether the Ford replacement parts come with grease fittings, but the Moog do.



I choose aftermarket parts because I didn't want to experiment with whatever it is that Ford wants to try now (they should have gotten it right the first time).

 

[Jake Levin]

Does anyone know if this is a problem on the '02s also?

 

[ChrisP Riley]

Well..I just had it done to but i did get a better deal than that. I had an alignmet 4 tires put on the rims and balanced, mounted, rear brakes adjusted,camber kit purcahsed and installed and upper control arms replaced and the lower ball joints. All that cost me $868.00. But either way i needed it done and i have a 2001 S/T with 78,000 miles on it now. So i think i really came out good on the whole thing. Fords are bad about this i know now,lol. Hope this helps . Later on, Riley

 

[Tom Schindler]

My brother has a 1999 Explorer. Ball joints are bad. As far as we can tell the bad ones are the original. We are changing them out tomorrow.





Tom



ps. His Explorer has 140,000+ miles on it.

 

[Cliff R]

Mine too. I have a 2001 4x4 and the ball joints are all bad. I am trying to nurse it untill I can afford the ball joints, shocks and brakes so I can do it all at once.



Cliff

 

[Tom Schindler]

Ball joints are cheap. Brakes are cheap. Shocks can be cheap. We are doing shocks and lower ball joints tomorrow.





Tom

 

[Mike Wilson]

As I said before, I wish we could hit C+A+D to rid ourselves of this common

problem on most Fords, and particularly, the tracs.

It is an all too common problem, but one that we can remedy together.

Always go with Moog, TRW, or a good aftermarket supplier on these parts.

Ford didn't get it right the first time, and there is no reason for them to get

it right the second time around, either, since a lot of us are out of warranty

by the time these suspension problems show up (although, prematurely).

80-140k miles are not bad miles to have a suspension component fail.

But when you figure some trucks, with greaseable fittings can go 150k

plus-miles without any suspension problems related to premature wear

(non-greaseable fittings, etc.), it makes you wonder.

Depends on how you drive your truck, but I still think it's early wear for

them to fail like this. :angry:

 

[Mike Wilson]

Another By the Way...

Do any of you experienced members/Trac Owners out there think that there might

be some relation to someone keeping the factory shocks as long as they can,

and the premature wear on (especially) the front suspension components?

In other words, the excessive bouncing and play caused by weak or poorly

designed shocks in the first place, causing excessive travel in the suspension,

and thereby causing our early suspension wear?:huh:



:blink:

 

[Tom Schindler]

tracnblack,



Actually, I think it has more to do with the climate and road conditions more then anything. My brothers Explorer is from California, LA area to be exact. I had my old OE shocks sitting in the basement, for the heck of it, I pulled his off and installed my "new" (OE) ones. Sitting the shocks side-by-side and pushing them up and down, they felt identical. They were, as far as we know, the original shocks on his '99. After just over a year being in Ohio, the shocks are shot with no dampening ability at all. The front lower ball joints are bad. 1 year in Ohio on our bumpy roads and salt covered roads in the winter.



The really sad thing is Gov. Tax, I mean Taft, raised our licence plate fees something like $20.00/year 2 years ago to fix the roads. They are worse now then ever before. Wait until next spring. You would think we got bombed the roads will be so bad.





Tom

 

[Glenn Brown]

Yep....80,000 miles and mine also failed. I replaced the oem shocks with Edsel shocks about 40,000 miles ago. It cost me around $1,000, I had to have both upper and lower and all ball joints replaced, and a control arm. Only good thing is that the shop has a life time warranty on parts!! New parts have grease zerts so this should help!