Ball joints serviceable?

[JasonF]

Sorry if this has been covered before, but we have a 96 XLT with 100,000 miles on it. It's on its second set of lower ball joints and we were just told they are almost due for replacement again. Service people said they are not greaseable since they are sealed units. Maint schedules call for "inspect and lube ball joints." Who is right? Can you grease these for longer life? Thanks in advance.

 

[88vert]

What service people are you talking about if its Ford they will replace with non greasable u-joints which suck You need to replace with a good greaseable balljoint I would suggest moog balljoints they are in my opinion the best

 

[Odman]

When ball-joints are bad, they are bad. Like 88vert said Moogs are the best. Greasing ball-joints get the water out of them, which can rust and pit the joint. Then it gets so rough in there that it wears out quicker. Its not an easy do it yourself job, but it can be done. Just take it to a good front-end place for alignment. Also, there could be something else wrong with the front-end, so look carefully.

 

[rwest!]

BJ

Jason,

Mine went bad and I had them replaced (front) the end of April, I couldn't pass inspection without getting them replaced. Greasing them will not help, get them replaced. I paid $450 and that included labor.

Good luck!

Renee

 

[Doug]

You can do ball joints yourself it isnt that bad. I did mine a couple of months ago and theyre fine. The only thing I regret was I was in a rush to get them In and I ended up damaging one of the ball joints and I had to get a new one. I highly recommend having the balljoints pressed in by a shop. I was able to pound in one of my ball joints (which i dont suggest.) And I devised a way to press in the 2nd joint using a couple big sockets and a vice. I just pounded out the old ball joints with a hammer. I suggest getting a chiltons or haynes manual, theyre not the best but it does give you some guidance. The only special tools i need was a gear puller to remove the torsion bar.

 

[X24]

I got a quote for replacing my upper and lower ball joints with MOOG greaseable joints for $1100. Does that seem high?

 

[Odman]

To answer 98Fordx24's question...For Moog #K8676 Upper ball-joints $33.69, and Moog #K8673 lower ball-joints $33.69, from Auto Value. I got a ball-joint press from Autozone for free ($100 deposit till you return it), and did it myself. Then $100 for an alignment ($80 for labor, $20 for an offset bushing).The total, when I was finished, was $172.42 that includes tax.

 

[X24]

Wow, odman... thats pretty good. The upper ball joint is part of the entire A-arm assembly, correct? I was told that it was and the MOOG uppers were around $150 each and the lower ones were around $35 each. This isnt a job that I could do myself so that kinda sucks. I was quoted for parts, labor (3 hrs. per side), alignment and a camber kit since I'm lowered. He also told me that the ABS sensors have to be removed in order to do the job and that they are not easy to get out and often times break. Those go for around $100 each and were not included in the quote. The quote is from a shop that does strictly front end work on all cars and most of the time its on big things like buses and trucks. I'll have to look around and get a couple more quotes.

 

[Odman]

My mistake, I have a '94 with the cross I-bean front suspension, I think the '98 have the upper and lower A-arm. My experiance is with the older version. The '95 and newer have the more the comfortable suspension.

 

[Doug]

Ive got a 96 sport with the torsion bars and Im pretty sure the upper A-arms are $78. Im gonna have to check on that though.