I finally gave in and took my 95 2wd Explorer to a shop (the one that put on my BFG 31s) for these clunking/tire noises and to get an alignment, and they told me after examining the car for the noises that the lower balljoints were worn out so bad that the truck could not be aligned. The counter guy said that this is a common wear point in explorers (much like the radius arm bushings in 91-94 4wds), and that I was lucky to get 110K miles out of them, especially considering the driving condidtions (mild trails, heavy city driving). He said that some downtown Explorers (baaad roads here) get 45K and need new ones.
He told me that both lower control arms needed replacing, as the balljoint and control arm are one piece. He quoted me $105 each for the control arms and $189 labor (said it was a 4-hour job). I checked my shop manual when I got home, and indeed, the shocks AND the torsions have to be completely removed to pull the control arms.
Is this a reasonable charge ($400 for the job) for this procedure? Has anyone done/attempted this themselves? It looks like you need a special tool to pull the torsion bars, but the tool (in the picture) looks kind of pointless. In any case, I would need a shop to align it afterwards, but if anyone has had this done or done this themselves, insight is appreciated!
Thanks
Scott Brawner
[This message has been edited by sbrawner (edited 11-27-1999).]
He told me that both lower control arms needed replacing, as the balljoint and control arm are one piece. He quoted me $105 each for the control arms and $189 labor (said it was a 4-hour job). I checked my shop manual when I got home, and indeed, the shocks AND the torsions have to be completely removed to pull the control arms.
Is this a reasonable charge ($400 for the job) for this procedure? Has anyone done/attempted this themselves? It looks like you need a special tool to pull the torsion bars, but the tool (in the picture) looks kind of pointless. In any case, I would need a shop to align it afterwards, but if anyone has had this done or done this themselves, insight is appreciated!
Thanks
Scott Brawner
[This message has been edited by sbrawner (edited 11-27-1999).]
