Lower Ball Joint Issues

[elliswife]

I had my suspension inspected and my shop said lower left bal joint is worn and tire has 2" of play. Is that a lot? I don't know specs which is why I had shop check. I get my tax return in about 2-3 weeks. Should I drive the spare car for now?

 

[mrboyle]

There is no possible way a ball joint can have 2" of play! If they are infact bad you will have 1/4"-3/8" of play max. The first thing that I would do is get a second opinion. If they are indeed bad it can still be driven, just remember that it will wear the tires worse than normal and try to avoid hitting curbs and large potholes as much as possible. One other thing to consider when/if you have the work done is to go ahead and have the upper and lower ball joints replaced at the same time. It won't cost a whole lot more since they will already have to disassemble the front end to do the lowers. Also make sure to get it aligned after the work is done.

 

[elliswife]

I probably misunderstood what the guy said. Blonde moment perhaps? (Not blonde but who knows) it has turning squeeks and a bit of shake. He said only lower is bad but he did say same as you about doing both sides uppers and lowers. Only $295 and this level of nonsence is out of my shade tree level. I'll probably drive my spare car for the next few weeks just for safety. Someone told me if it goes you can flip your car or wreck it depending on how it fails... dunno.

 

[MrShorty]

Worst case scenario is that the ball joint outright breaks off, which causes the wheel to either lay on it's side or fall right off. That kind of thing can turn pretty ugly, especially if it happens at 70 mph. If you have alternative transportation, that would be best.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

i did my own work... but it took me a while, i got the spindles off and had the shop press out the old ones, and press in the new ones for 100 dollars... 275 doesn't sound to awful bad if the work is warrantied, and depending on how attached you are to the explorer.

is 275 for one side, or both? i'd imagine if one is going bad, the other might not be far behind if they're about the same age...

 

[elliswife]

One side, they checked the other and say it's fine so I dunno. They said it was a waste of money to fix it at this point. Weird.. you'd think they'd want my money LOL

 

[fordnut71]

for $275 you could buy the otc ball joint press an do it yourself

 

[firewolfm]

From Harbor Freight you can buy this press for Balljoints and U-joints for about $60.00