NC State Inspection

[strokin99]

Ok I am new to these boards and have a question about NC State Inspections. I purchased a 1999 F-250 last week and am realizing that the ball joints are bad and need to be replaced. I was wondering if bad ball joints will prevent a vehicle from passing a state inspection? I am going back to the dealership on tuesday and going to see what they will do for me. Any advice is appreciated.

[Logan]

Welcome to the ORG. Great to have ya. Depends on if the place you take it has had a visit from a state guy or not. Most places will not pull it in and take it off the ground with a lift. Per the state though, they are supposed to be doing it to check things like ball joints. Soooo, most places you will be fine, but there are some that may not pass you. Good luck with it.

On a side note, hope you can make it to the Southern Smoke Show in Winston Salem, NC on the 10th of November.

[strokin99]

Thanks for the reply. I took the truck to the ford dealership the day after I bought it and the tech said he couldn't do an alingment becuase of this. He was also telling me that it should have never passed inspection and that I shouldn't be driving this truck. Is he just blowing smoke or was he trying to be serious? A side note to this is that everytime my dad takes his expedition to ford, they tell him he needs thousands of dollars of work done and nothing is ever wrong....

[Logan]

Well, if you just got it, I would take it back and see if they will fix the stuff. When did you get it? I know fighting with a dealership is no fun, but sometimes it is worth it.

[quick26]

take it to a 3rd party shop and get an opinion. if they were that wore out it would be chewing up your tires and driving like trash. you can jack up your front end, take a pry bar and pull up on the front wheel with it, put the bar under the front tire and pull it up and see if it moves

[npccpartsman]

F250 ball joints are notorious to be bad. I've seen them replaced under warranty because they're not greasable. They will reject the inspection for suspension parts being bad. Had it happen to me on my other truck for tie rods when there wan't anything wrong with them just because the grease boots were flat--go figure.

I am a licensed state inspector for NC. The law states that you must lift the vehicle to inspect it. I being a diesel tech ALWAYS check ball joint because they are a problem like tim said. But reality is nobody lifts these things unless they can make the money on the repairs they find. Take it to a quick lube place that inspects and get it done.

[strokin99]

I got the truck on Thursday. Took it in on friday to get an alignment done on it. Tech told me ball joints were bad and needed to be replaced. He said it should have never passed inspection. So I am taking the truck back on tuesday and telling them to fix it or that i will redecorate their dealership with the truck. I will let you all know what happens and I appreciate the feedback.

I got ya man. We tried that with Logans truck and the dealer still owes him ball joints.

[SCUFFY828]

just reading this thread , if you just bought it my understanding is that the vehicle has to pass nci before it can be sold , so make them fix it