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Ball joints

1K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  adfields 
#1 ·
How much wiggle is acceptable. 02 4x4 120000 mi. The lowers move a little and the uppers move but hardly at at all. I'm low on funds and they want $700 to replace. I'd like to nurse it along till I get funds.
 
#2 ·
I would think you should be ok for a while. but I believe there shouldn't be any play. I would tell whoever wants 700 to do your ball joints to shove it you know where. I've got to do my upper & lower on the drivers side & am going to do it myself. 2 ball joints & oil seal was just under 200 hundred bucks. Suprisingly the cheapest I found was at Ford.

Here is a how to on how to change them.Ford Super Duty Ball Joint Replacement Procedure | Superdutypsd.com

There is a link in the how to for parts even cheaper. I elected to by mine local.
 
#4 ·
$1200 is what it cost me to have my front end replaced back in 08 on my 2000 f350. right after i got the truck too. i was pulled over twice, because both times the cop thought i was drunk. thats how sloppy it was. i think that $1200 bucks got me all the ball joints, axle seals, and universal joints. it cost me $500 bucks to have it done on my old 97 back in 2002. mechanics charge WAY too much money. the thing that gets me is they wanna charge 8 hours for a job that takes 3. the aftermarket ones i got are greaseable. MAKE SURE you do yourself a favor, and get greaseable joints. back in 02 i had the guy replace the ball joints on my 97 with more sealed joints, and had him doing it again in 05. luckily that time i was able to get him to do the labor for nothing, in exchange for work on his shop. that time i made sure to have him put the grease fitting joints on. 3 years later when i got rid of the truck they were in pristine condition.



i gotta say though. if i EVER have to have my ball joints replaced on my truck again which i hope not to for a while since i got grease joints. if i i do someday though i will definitely try to do them myself or have a friend help me. if i'm still young enough to do it. even if it takes a whole weekend. believe me these mechanics SUCK! i'm in the service business myself so i know first hand. one thing i do practice differently though is if i charge 3 hours to do a job then the job is definitely only gonna take me 3 hours. the most i've round off to is a half hour.
 
#5 ·
Spend the extra $100 and get the Moog kit from Powerstroke Shop. It will include all of the necessary seals that are needed for the job, and do it yourself. It's not that bad, you just need tools.
 
#6 ·
I've never done them before but it doesn't look too hard. A few parts to take off to get at them but not too bad. Just make sure you have a pickle fork, puller( may not be needed) ball joint press & axle seal installer. I'm lucky cause I have friends that are mechanics so I never have to worry about tools. I try to do as much of my own work as possible. You can usually find a good how to on the interweeb for just about anything. I would much rather do the work myself & save money & be home then go to work to earn money to pay someone else. Home over work usually wins.

I hear yah about bad mechanics. Most of the ones I run into work at dealers.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Any play you can see will cut the crap out of your tires in no time flat so if you like your tires fix the ball joints and have it aliened . . . Sears just charged me a wrapping $65 to 4 wheel alien mine Monday after I put in new balls Sunday.

Don't buy ball joints from Ford, most stores have the Motorcraft for under $25 per . . . Napa here in Alaska was $19.99 upper and $22.99 lower. However they are junk and only go about 90K before your in there all over again so don't buy Motorcraft ball joints!!

Get Moog ball joints or Napa lifetime which is made by Moog, they will go 300K easy even with big tires. The set I put in last weekend was Napa and $298 here in Alaska so should be around $230 is the down south stores.

I use a $50 Chinese ball joint C-clamp tool from Harbor Freight and it works fine, done 13 sets with it so far . . . seems like I’m doing these all the time for someone anymore. The trick to the cheap tool is to cut the old stud off with a grinder or torch so the tool will have enough through to remove it. Works fine turned the other way putting the new ones in. Lots of work, the first set I did took 2 full days but now it’s about 5-6 hours to knock out both sides.

Oh and no pickle frock, you will ruin the boot on the tie rod with that. Use a tie rod end puller, most parts stores will rent them for nothing or next to it.
 
#8 ·
Prices must be different in Nova Scotia cause I checked Carquest, Napa, Canadian Tire & Ford was the cheapest. Upper was 60 bucks & change & lower was 70 bucks & change. Oil seal was 35 bucks. I found them cheaper online but the are in the states. I have been burnt before with unreal shipping & duty charges before so I figured it wasn't worth it.
 
#9 ·
Yea everything seems very expensive in Canada since the exchange rate has been around 1to1, I used to find some stuff cheaper on my trips up and down the highway but no more these days. I hear you on the shipping too, I hear “We only ship to the US, not Alaska.” All the time like Alaska is still Russia or something . . . then they charge me extra to write Alaska on the flat rate box that’s the same price to anywhere.

If the ball joints at your Ford dealer are Motorcraft like they are in the US (may be better brand in Canada) I would stay away from them and find the best deal I could on good Moog parts. A ball joint is not just a ball joint, Moog are made with much stronger stuff and highly polished bearing surfaces inside.
 
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