Tire guy says bad ball joints

[heathmo]

Well finally got some new tires on my truck. Really nice ones too, BFG T/A KO. Just stock size though. Been through one blow out already, didn't want another. Had a rear tire with a divit in the sidewall and a front one with a chunk out of the sidewall. Definitely better than the Cooper Discoverer A/Ts and GoodYear Wrangler RT/S and Uniroyal Laredo that were on there. Although I kept the Laredo for a spare.

I know I need pics, should be able to do it soon, just gotta remember to take the card reader home from work. Anyways Went to a regional store (Farm & Fleet) and he told me that the upper and lower on one side and the lower on the other are bad. Wouldn't be surprised if the potholes managed to help that along (wish I could make the city pay for it). Anyway, wanted to see if my symptoms are right, and I'm going to check it more thoroughly tonight.

When I'm driving I can sometimes hear a slight clunking from the front end, usually over bumps and such, and I can slightly feel that in the steering. And it does squeak, but I thought it was my rear leaf springs that were causing that. And I already know those need replaced. Does that sound like bad ball joints?

And how dangerous is it going to be to drive it knowing that those are going bad? I'm not planning a long trip like that, but I now have to scrape up another $250 for the uppers and $80 for the lowers and it might take about a week or so. Until then I still need to get to the grocery store and such.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[ZBlackBeast]

You should be fine to drive.. All my ex's had bad ball joints for a year or two till i got around to it. Another way to check is lift the truck, grab the top and bottom of the tire, wiggle and and see if the tire moves. Also, since it is squeaking over bumps and you can feel it in the steering, chances are its the ball joints... How bad is it?

 

[heathmo]

It's not too bad really. I honestly wouldn't have noticed it if the guy hadn't said anything. I had noticed it before and most of the time it really didn't make much more noise than if I was hitting some pretty good sized bumps, but flat pavement, barely a peep. I suppose I did notice in the steering that it likes to push to the direction of the hole or bump, but it's always stayed straight on course. I figured it was some suspension crap.

The thing that got me freaked out about it was I of course read about ball joints on another site and they made it sound like if I didn't replace it soon, I'd be putting my life in danger because it could snap back and send that tire sideways. My buddy's car did that, but then again he has a 95 Grand Prix so definitely a different set up.

I have to put the new rear brakes on tonight so I'll check it out then.

 

[bisjoe]

What would have been helpful is closeups of the old tires. It can cause one sided wear or cupping on one side, although both can also be caused by other problems.

Worn ball joints will cause clunking on bumps, and if it gets too bad, can break causing loss of control. I'd suggest going slow over speed mumps and pot holes until it's fixed. If you jack it up and shake the tires up and down you will find out how sloppy they are. When you do fix it, check the tie rod ends too, especially if you have experienced any "wandering" on the freeway.

 

[James909]

From your description it does sound like bad ball joints. You should check for play like ZBlackBeast mentioned. As long as it's not too bad you'll be fine. Keep in mind though that bad ball joints may throw the alignment off a little bit. So it's possible that the bad ball joints may wear down those new tires a little faster than necessary.

 

[ExplorerBus I]

Just had all 4 of mine replaced last week... now onto the rear leaf replacement and probably the warrior shackles & TT. Need to find a deal on leafs, let me know what you find please!

 

[heathmo]

Yeah I was supposing they were bad. I'll probably put it off for a couple of weeks while I try to make up enough cash to buy those parts. Yay for the snowball effect, I guess all in all it was a good thing I put in my locker, because if it weren't for that I wouldn't have noticed the bad rear brakes and then I wouldn't have noticed the divet in the tire and therefore completely overlook the ball joints. Not something I want to indefinitely put off, but $985 in the past 2 weeks on car parts. Just a little tapped out for the time being, especially since I still have to get the parking brake stuff and I'll have to have an alignment after installing the ball joints. No way was I about to pay for the service on that though. Seeing the quotes I saw before, no way $400 is going to fly with $330 in parts. At least my brother likes helping me with this stuff.

Oh, another question while I'm at it, drivers side parking brake was stuck before. How do I fix that, I'm getting the hardware that I'm supposed to need for the parking brake tonight too, just wondering if that's all I'll need or if I'll be beating the hell out of it. Because it being stuck allows the hub to rub on parts of it now when I make a hard turn.

 

[heathmo]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that they thought that I needed to replace my sway bar links too, but one I just replaced this past winter and the other has already been replaced with an aftermarket, but I think it's a Spicer brand, it's got the red bushings rather than the Moog blue.

 

[heathmo]

My brother and I didn't see anything wrong with the ball joints. The truck itself moved more than the tires.

 

[ZBlackBeast]

Take it to another shop for a second opinion.. Usually they will do it for free..

 

[sdaviddr]

If they just told you your balljoints are bad and need replacement Chances are the balljoints are okay.A good shop will show you that the joints are bad and needs to be replaced.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

If you do need ball joints, I'd install nothing less than MOOG brand joints. Chinese cheap joints are exactly that- they don't last.

 

[gavin]

You should be fine to drive.. All my ex's had bad ball joints for a year or two till i got around to it. Another way to check is lift the truck, grab the top and bottom of the tire, wiggle and and see if the tire moves. Also, since it is squeaking over bumps and you can feel it in the steering, chances are its the ball joints... How bad is it?

a lower balljoint on my mom's blazer completely broke as she was backing out of the driveway one day
left the dri. side on the ground, and even busted part of the lower control arm.

but I know they have a different design than the Explorers.

how I test them, personally, is jack up the side with the jack under the lower control arm, get the tire a couple inches off the ground, take a pry-bar underneath the tire and pull up; there should be no play in the joint.

the hold your tire at 12 and 6 never worked too well for me.

 

[heathmo]

As far as we could tell there was no play at all. I took a tire iron and lifted it and the truck started to move before anything else. One idea I kind of came up with on my own is that he knew that those tires were hard to get a good balance on (I thought I heard). So just to cover his butt he put that in there.

Gotta say it rides much smoother, and quieter. The BFG T/A KO is much better than the mix and match of 2 Cooper Discoverer A/T and the GoodYear Wrangler RT/S and Uniroyal Laredo. Funny thing is my brother has the exact same tires and he says his tire noise is much worse.

Anyways thanks a lot for all the advice. I think I'll let time tell me when I need to replace those. I'll definitely get the MOOG replacements, but I think more or less a lot of the noises are in my head. Had one too many failures on vehicles and just don't want to miss something again. Thanks again.

 

[lwrdxsport]

after the bfg's start to wear a bit they will get loud if you dont keep them rotated

 

[mshuler009]

The proper service procedure for checking ANY front suspension components is to raise and support the vehicle safely. Then load up the front suspension (placing jackstands under the lower control arms is fine). Place your hands at 12 and 6 and feel for any play; or try the prybar trick. Also check for side to side movement. If you can see the outer tie rod end move it needs replaced. If movement is felt but the outer tie rod end is tight, have someone move the tire as you were, while you place your hand on the inner tie rod. You should be able to feel a clunk as they move the tire.

Easy way to remember tie rods......Outer = look for play.................Inner = Feel for play

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

my ball joints are bad on my explorer too my gf brothers dad told me i need to replace mine. My gf bro dad is a mechanic as well.

 

[mshuler009]

I actually have a bad upper driver's side ball joint right now. It has about two inches of play in it (dangerous). I found a complete balljoint set on ebay (both upper control arms, and two lower balljoints) for $99 in Canada. Shipping to Ohio is only about twenty bucks. I'll let you guys know how good the quality is. I'll be installing the parts Saturday at work (dealership), and will align it up and see how well she drives. I also have play in the steering wheel which I thought to be an I-shaft. I'll pursue that after I fix the problem with my wheel about ready to fall off....lol

 

[fsumotorhead]

I wouldn't buy the cheap ball joints unless you don't mind doing them again in about a year. The moog are more expensive for a reason, i used the cheapie autozone one and the only lasted 11 months, i decied to trash them instead of warranty, the moog i replaced them with have been in for 2 years and still tight.

 

[mshuler009]

either way I'll let you guys know how it turns out....