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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Explorer / February 2008Ball joints
Just got off the phone with a local Ford dealer who was doing a cruise control repair on my '03 XLT Explorer (55K gentle miles) He said the mechanic observed lower ball joint wear on both sides and recommended replacement at a cost of $500+. He said failure to repair would cause uneven tire wear and eventually might cause axle breakage. He also said I should notice this wear and a clunking noise when I turn. To date the vehicle as performed very well with no vibration, wobble or uneven wear that I can tell. Should I take this to another shop or assume the mechanic is looking out after my safety and ok the repair? Any help is appreciated. > Just got off the phone with a local Ford dealer who was doing a cruise > control [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > assume the mechanic is looking out after my safety and ok the repair? > Any help is appreciated. I'd would suggest that you take the vehicle to an independent mechanic that you trust and get a second opinion. Ed > > Just got off the phone with a local Ford dealer who was doing a cruise > > control [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Ed I'll second that. I've had Ford try to sell me all kinds of stuff I didn't need. They even tried to sell me new radiator hoses when the ones on there were only two weeks old. When my auto-hubs failed on my '91 it was going to cost about $4500 to get the 4X4 working again. The car was worth about $4000 at the time. I put on manual hubs for under $200. OTOH I used to take my '78 F350 to a Ford dealer whenever it needed something and they always seemed to be fair and honest but it was a different Ford dealership. > Just got off the phone with a local Ford dealer who was doing a cruise control > repair on my '03 XLT Explorer (55K gentle miles) He said the mechanic observed [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > assume the mechanic is looking out after my safety and ok the repair? > Any help is appreciated. I've taken my '99 XLT Explorer (78K miles) to my local mechanic and have had them replaces both the upper and lower ball joints. From what I've gathered, the front-end suspension on the Explorers is one of the first things to go on them. I agree with everyone else that you should get a second opinion, but I wouldn't be surprised if after only 55K miles that you would need to have them replaced. That's about the time that I had my uppers replaced. Good luck! >> Just got off the phone with a local Ford dealer who was doing a cruise control >> repair on my '03 XLT Explorer (55K gentle miles) He said the mechanic observed [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >only 55K miles that you would need to have them replaced. That's >about the time that I had my uppers replaced. Good luck! I cannot find a good independent shop in my area any more. The ones I dealt with before are now out of business. Last time I had the oil changed at an independent shop and I believe they put the wrong oil in, so I'm having it changed again at the Ford dealer here. I don't like it, but that's the way it seems to be here. > I've taken my '99 XLT Explorer (78K miles) to my local mechanic and > have had them replaces both the upper and lower ball joints. From [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > only 55K miles that you would need to have them replaced. That's > about the time that I had my uppers replaced. Good luck! Unfortunately ball joints are one of those things that shops like to sell. It is a straight forward, low skill, high profit job. And it is easy to setup a demonstartion that will convince a Customer that he needs new ball joints, even if they aren't actually out of spec. Take a look at http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PDFs/Moog_Ball_joint_spec_chart.pdf or http://tinyurl.com/29moao. A lot of shops use the wrong procedure for checking Ford ball joints. In some cases I think this is just a lack of knowledge, and in other caes they do it wrong on purpose in order to convince you to pay for ball joints you don't need. Almost all Fords are the same - don't check for axial movement, radial movement must be less than 0.031. Regards, Ed White > snip< > Unfortunately ball joints are one of those things that shops like to sell. > It is a straight forward, low skill, high profit job. And it is easy to [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Ed White Excellent .pdf Ed. Thanks. It says for my year Explorer(1998) that only radial movement is measured, NOT axial. Seems like a mechanic placing a bar under the tire isn' going to give the propper indications. Thanks for the responses. I researched the ball joint question on several Car Forums and typically the responses were all over the map from guys who'd had original ball joints with over 100k on the vehicles to guys who had them replaced on warranty under 36k. Consensus is that the front ends of the explorers are not that rugged and even under normal driving conditions you can wear down components. Like others I have a hard time finding a good independent shop but I will go for a second opinion to see what their price is for replacement. Ford quoted me $500 plus an alignment $75. Judging from what I've read that's not entirely out of line but I may be able to do better. Since I may be in the market for a new set of tires this year I may just nurse the old ball joints along as long as they are not giving me any noticeable trouble until such time that I get the tires. Thanks for everyone's input. <fosrj808fm@drn.newsguy.com>, Foon says... >Just got off the phone with a local Ford dealer who was doing a cruise control >repair on my '03 XLT Explorer (55K gentle miles) He said the mechanic observed [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >assume the mechanic is looking out after my safety and ok the repair? >Any help is appreciated.
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