Ball Joints bad = unsafe to drive?

[jrfranz]

Hello:

I am in a bit of a crisis as my dealer scared the crap out of me today. I am usually fairly level headed and knowledgable (I think) but this really freaked me out.

I went in because I was seeing some unusual tire wear on my right front tire - looked like toe in was off a bit - truck drives straight - no noticable thumps or noises other than some creaking that has been there for years. So I went in to have the front alignment redone and get a free oil change and have the tires rotated (I had a free coupon for everythign but the alignment.

The service advisor came over right after they took the truck and told me that 2 of the studs on my right front had "bad threads" and that the lug nuts were siezed and would need replacing. They then looked at the ball joints and said the upper and lowers were bad and needed replacing. Total cost $860. I am in the middle of closing on my house and need every dime I have right now - so I said can we put this off for a bit? The service advisor was cool about it - but when I picked up the truck I noticed that the service paper work said my truck was unsafe to drive?? I pulled off the wheel center caps and all 5 lugs are on both front wheels - I thought two were broken stripped but all are on -

What gives am I driving a death trap? Will I be OK until I close on my house and can start running up credit card bills again? I have about a week to go -

Will my ball joints just suddenly and catastrophically fail?

I know the $$ the dealer quoted is way high - have a local guy that can do it for about half with after market parts -

Any and all replys appreciated.


Jeff

 

[karl_burns]

I'll give you the two opinions I got:

1) "Have you ever seen a vehicle where the tires go all the way up into the fenderwell? That's what happens when ball joints fail. The entire front end falls onto the tires."

2) "I'm sure your ball joints won't fail. When mine were about to go out, I physically feared slowing down the Buick because I was afraid of all the vibrations. Ball joints don't all fail a tteh same time. They are independent mechanical pieces, so you may only need to replace one."

A tire place told me they couldn't align my truck b/c of bad ball joints. They wanted to replace both bottoms and one upper. When I took my truck home and checked the ball joints, only one lower failed (you could feel there was no more grease in there). I repalced both lowers in a couple of hours. $40 or so......

Hope that helps. I wouldn't take any highway trips, but I suspect you will be OK for a week. But I am in no way guaranteeing anything.

Karl

 

[glfredrick]

Though ball joints can fail, it takes a bit. If they are not all hogged out so that the ball can physcially slip out of the joint you still have a bit of time. The dealer has to say that so they are not liable for sending you on the road if something happens later. Its all about lawsuits these days.

The dealer price is too high. You can do the work yourself, or find an independent mechanic that will do it for less.

Harbor Freight currently has a nice ball joint C-Frame press kit on sale for $29.99. I have one and it works perfectly - and they have lifetime on all hand tools - bust it and you get a new one no questions asked. For that price, and about $35 a pop for the lowers, you can have them in there yourself in an afternoon at home.

 

[Diggman33]

Better Ball Joints?

I was told by my tech that I need lower balljoints for my 97 sport - does anyone know which manufacturer makes better balljoints? I've always used Moog in the past, but as a new Explorer owner, Im not sure if there's something better out there.

Thanks!

 

[glfredrick]

General consensus is that Moog are best. Perfect Circle are also OK. After that, they start going downhill fast.

 

[boominXplorer]

With that free oil change stuff they try to get you on any little thign wrong. I replaced my ball joints on my dads truck 10k ago and took his in for one of those cheap oil changes at the stealership and thye said the ball joints were bad. I was like they have not even 10k on them. They then just got me the bill and suggested no more work. It would be best just to get a smaller shop to look at it and give you their advice. Its better than not getting any other than replacing. My .02