I have new ball joints with grease zerks now. Yea! ($500)

The old ones did not look too bad but there were some suspicious rust cracks in a few places.

 

That actually sounds roughly the same when they broke down the rates.

$125 per tire (so $500)
$60 or so for alignment
$300 and something for labor... not more then $400, might of been $350

Worst case, so that's $900. For some reason I'm thinking parts was only like $300 so i can't remember the explanation for the rest.

Might have to go back and ask them for the estimate again.

 

A firend of mine that works on trucks said that you should roughly pay $100 a side to change the upper and lower ball joints. I had mine done in and hour and a half.

 

Moog has come out with replacable upper ball joints. They will not fit in the factory upper a arms so you have to use the Moog upper a arm for it to work.

I had inspected my lowers a few years ago and they were loose. I made a mental note to replace them and at the end of the month when I got around to doing the repair one of them was no longer loose. The ball had worn itself further into the bearing and tightened up to the point where it appeared normal. So my word of advice is if you are told that it is going to need replacement get it done as soon as possible. Oh and don't cheap out and replace only one side. The other side may have worn itself tight again.


JMC

 

After 118K miles on my 97' f150, 4x4 offroad package, the ball joints have finally said that they were done. I called around and the best price for greasable replacements was $306.82! I guess I feel fortunate. . I also noticed that my left outer tie rod was whining and complaining (squeaking everytime I turn the wheel or go over bumps). I gues for 118K miles and never had to do anything other than routine maintenance, I have a winner

Oh yea, I also forgot......somehow I lost one of my links (snapped off) on my stabilizer bar.......HMMMMMM wonder how that happened

 

Heh, roughly the same mileage and same truck I've got. I'll have to call around some and see what prices I get quoted.

 

If you look close at the two ball joints above, you can see the one on the right is starting to dimple. Definately time to replace.

 

Ok EsoxShep, enlighten me. Is dimple like the little things on a golf ball?

 

Well, maybe dimple is the wrong term. If you look at right picture, the what should be a flat serface on the top of the ball joint, you will see a bump appearing. That is what I meant when I said dimple. Mine had bumps nearly 1/2" high. I didn't notice it until I got them out and saw how much the ball moved inside it. The bump is caused by the ball hammering it up, because it is loose. It looks like the left is beginning to show this too.

You can see this while still on the truck, if you turn the wheel all they way to the side you want to see. It will also look like the rust is flaking from that spot, too.

 

The dealer tried to scare me into replacing my ball joints when the truck only had 40k on her. Just replaced them last summer at 145k.

 

Heh, maybe your looking at the small dab of greasey dirt that is on the top of the left ball joint? The greasy dirt is at about the 2 o'clock position. I guess I should have wiped it off.