Uh-Oh Lower Ball Joints

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
T

Tommy VanNess

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2001
Messages
771
Reaction score
0
Location
Seattle, WA
Hey All,



Well, it looks like there is no way around it, it is time to replace the lower ball joints. The last time I took it in was about 3 months ago for the 90,000 mile check up. The lady at Ford brought it to my attention and told me that it would not pass inspection (which is coming up in Sept). Since then, I have noticed some pretty heavy wear on the inside of the front tires; a tell-tale sign as I understand. At Ford, she quoted me a price of $987 dollars for parts and labor. I have access to a garage and a friend with every tool imaginable. So I do have a few questions concerning the replacement.



Should I expect to pay $1000? Should I shop around for better prices?



Is this a job I can do myself? How difficult a job is it to replace them? Do the joints need to be packed?



Is there anything I can do to prolong the life of the new ones? I am at 96,000 miles and still riding on stock shocks.



Any info is greatly apprecaited. Thanks.

Tommy
 
Tommy,



Ball joints are less than 100.00 for a pair. Do them yourself.



Gavin, do you know how bad the roads are in Tommy's home turf? I see plenty of vehicles in my area with busted suspension's from the potholes in the my area.





Tom
 
The roads are bad here in Missouri too.



Maybe send the bill to the state highway department?



That sucks that ball joints are wearing out due to bad roads.
 
I have had friends loose tires in pot holes and try to fight the bill with the DOT department.. Good luck,,, You just suck it up and look out for road hazzards.....

ball joints have been an issue with St around here, But if you do a little research and get a needle fitting and grease them your self, you can save the headache of doing them down the road...

Todd Z
 
i just had upper and lowers done at a shop with an alignment and front brake job for $800. i was going to do it my self, but to sit in my driveway for several hours in 98 deg heat with 100% humidity you must be crazy,just to save a few hundred dollars.can not believe how good she drives now well worth it
 
Does anyone know of a company that sells upper and lower, left and right ball

joints as a kit?. Who do you think sells the best quality, (and greaseable, too!)?
 
Thanks for the input. Caymen, you are right, the roads here are terrible. They are the worst I have seen. I will look into doing them myself. Are they really difficult to do? Any projects on it or how-to-do anywhere?



Tommy



P.S. Where can I get one of those Haynes repair manuals?
 
When I used to do ball joints, I liked to use Moog, when I could find them. IMO, they always seemed heavy duty, compared to TRW or Mquay-Norris.
 
Don't pay the dealership that much money. Ask for the regional ford reps name and number and complain to him that this part has worn out prematurly. They might be able to help you out. Mine went at about 40K miles and it was covered for about $150.00 after some serious b!tching.
 
Would 90K be considered "pre-mature"? Afterall, it is a Ford -- not a Toyota. I've never expected an American car to last much longer than the warranty before needing to fix it.



Gavin -- Ford stopped using "Quality is Job 1" many years ago. They also haven't had any "Better Ideas" in even a longer time. :(
 
Speaking of Toyota. My brother had to replace a Master Cylinder, front ball joints, A u-joint, and some other crap on his daughters Toyota Tacoma.



My brother needs to replace the lower ball joints on his 1999 Explorer. 150,000 miles. My sisters 1998 Explorer's are still good. She has 130,000 miles. My cousin has 220,000 miles on his F-150. Still the original ball joints on it. Uncle Al has 280,000 miles on his F-350 Dualie Diesel, still has the original ball joints.



Go figure.





Tom
 
Question comes to mind...are they greasable fittings? And by the way, anyone know

how to do the "needle fitting" grease job on the ball joints? Do you poke a hole

in the boot of the ball joint and squirt in the grease? Thought I saw this on an

earlier post, but I can't remember. Thanks...
 
Nelson,



American quality is improving. I'll grant you that it took the quality of the inexpensive Japanese cars to get them moving, but quality now is much better than in years past.



It used to be normal to trade a car in for a new one every two years. Now it's not uncommon to go five or six or even ten years between new vehicles. Our Trac has 83,000 miles on it at 2-1/2 years old, and has had no major problems whatsoever. My GMC is six years old and 192,000 miles, and the only thing I've replaced on it so far is the water pump, other than normal maintenance items. I would not be worried about getting in either of our vehicles and driving cross-country.
 
Just had my lower ball joints and front sway bar links replaced under warranty. (59000kms)

I had complained about a thumping noise that could be heard whenI go over small bumps such as the entrance to my driveway.



Well the did this repair and now there is sort of a grinding groaning noise. I think it is the shocks, so I got them to open up a new work order linked to the last when before my warranty expires next week.



I am also looking at getting the extended warranty to 5 years 150000kms. Going to go talk to the dealer tomorrow. Got a price of just over 2K for the premium.
 


Replaced the lower ball joints last week. 84,000 miles. If the ball joints are already worn all the grease in the world will not cure the losse fitting. The job can be done without any special tools, other than a large press. Take the A arm to a car repair shop to have them press out the old joints and press in the new ones. The job is a 5 on a scale of 10. Also this is a great time to replace the shocks as they have to come loose to get the A arm out. Bought the ball joins at O'Riley car parts. The parts are Moog. O'Riley will life time guaranty the parts. The ball joints do come with grease fittings. The cost was $36 for two. Then spent $50.00 for the press work. Less than $90.00. On a project like this park the ST facing out the driveway. If you get in over your head call a tow truck and have a local garage finish the job. There is no shame in trying and failing.

This did cure a vibration I had around 65 MPH.
 

Latest posts

Top