Ball 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.

"Foon" > wrote in message
...
> 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.

I'd would suggest that you take the vehicle to an independent mechanic that
you trust and get a second opinion.

Ed

"C. E. White" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Foon" > wrote in message
> ...
> > 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.
>
> I'd would suggest that you take the vehicle to an independent mechanic
that
> you trust and get a second opinion.
>
> 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.

On Feb 12, 2:21*pm, Foon > wrote:
> 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.

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!

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:08:18 -0800 (PST), Mickle79
> wrote:

>On Feb 12, 2:21*pm, Foon > wrote:
>> 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.
>
>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!

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.

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.



>, 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
>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.
>

"Mickle79" > wrote in message
...

> 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!

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/billav...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

"C. E. White" > wrote in message
...
> 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
> 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/billav...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


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.
>
>