Lower / Upper ball joint repair evaluation and cost

[ratterrier]

Hi Folks,

My 1996 Explorer (2WD) just failed inspection because of lower and upper ball joints. I had heard previously that the lowers were due, but the uppers came as a surprise. My car is not allowed on the road until fixed (thanks PA). I am not equipped to handle a repair job like this and must have a mechanic do it for me. Basically I have 2 questions.

1 - How can I tell if the upper ball joints truly need replacing? I figured I could handle the cost of the lower repair job, but now the price has gone much higher.

2 - What is a reasonable price for replacing both upper and lower ball joints? I need to find a mechanic who is competent enough to do this, as my current guy has proven himself not too good...he also wants to charge me almost as much as the dealer. So I would like to use a ballpark price that an independent shop would charge, which I figure would be a bit less than Ford.


Thanks,

Richard

 

[ixiswaggerixi]

I had my uppers replaced and as well as a lifetime alignment and it was 480 total. I believe that the alignment was about 1450.

 

[beach]

You can buy the parts cheap and do yourself and save a lot of money, it's not hard at all. Haynes manual and threads on here on exactly how to do it.