BALL JOINT JOB

It is dirt cheap if it is Zim $. If it is US $ it may be a bit steep compared to SA currency but how would I know.

If you let us know from where you are or relate the it to for example the price of bread you may get better responses.

Hendrick ,

I live in Upstate N.Y. U.S. $

sparks ,

good info , thanks . his labor rate is $70/hr. U.S.$ .

Damn Sparksperson... you beat me to it again.
I was going to say if it takes him an hour and a half per joint he ain't much of a mechanic!

Del

Here in the Northeast, that's not a bad (but not great) price, but do shop around a little.

You could do this job yourself, for about $100, including the special tool, plus the cost of the alignment, (maybe $50).

For me, I might just pop for the $580. The alternative is spending the afternoon in the driveway on my knees. (I'm not as young as I used to be).

I work on cars a lot. I think that sounds fair. If he has all the right tools and is proficient he stands to make decent money for his trouble. I do most of my own work. I would probably get a second price just to be sure. Ask others who they go to and recommend and get a second opinion to verify if the ball joints are bad and the price to replace.

Good luck!

If the price was from the same facility that that decided the ball joints were bad, get another opinion. There ain't a lot of money to be made charging $49 for an alignment when today's electronic wheel alignment racks cost as much as a new car. I worked with a person who went to Sears and bought a lifetime wheel alignment service on his truck. When he went back for the next years alignment, he needed an idler arm. He bought the arm, and installed it. When he went back he got his alignment. Two years later, he needed another idler arm. He asks why so many idler arms? When we look, there is no play in the arm in the truck. So he gets the last one that he had replaced out of his garage. No play on this one either. After you pay for the lifetime alignment, the rest are free. Good way to sell parts though.

Bring your truck to another facility to have your ball joints checked. If they are bad, tell them, Show Me The Play. If you can't see the play don't buy the job.

thanks for all the replies ! All 4 ball joints are worn , no doubt . I've known this for about 6 months when I rotated my tires last . I took it in for a new set of rear tires last week and the mechanic pointed them out to me again . I'm definately going to get another estimate . I've done alot of work myself on this truck but never ball joints . I'm not sure I want to take on this one . I have a buddy with a lift but don't want to waste one of his saturdays helping me work on my truck . I have given this garage ALOT of business in the past couple years and just want to know if this price was fair . Thanks again everyone ! .

I don't know cars so well, but I do know about bringing them to garages, and of doing ALOT of business with a garage you feel comfortable and have experience with. I suggest you ask the manager if there's something he or she can do for a long time customer who does alot of business specifically with this garage. You probably already have, and I don't know if it will do any good, but it might.

Good luck.

That not to bad of a price!

I did all 4 ball joint on my 2000 Ford Expediton. If you do it your self plan on 12 hours, the first side was 8 hours the second side was 4 hours. Nice learning cure. Make sure you have all the tools you need before you start or you will be running out to get them.

Take your truck to a different shop. Do not ever go back to this guy. Ball Joints are one of the most common rip-offs used. Any time you take your vehicle in for any kind of service on the front end, alignment, brakes or even tires, the first thing the typical rip off artist will do is tell you that you need new ball joints. He will "prove" it by showing you that there is "play" in the suspension. There is play in a brand new suspension. Take the truck to a Ford certified mechanic. If you want to do the public a service, get the police involved and get an inspection from the Ford mech and another by this guy, then he can be arrested and locked up so that he can not run this scam on the next person that dirves in.

By responding as "guest" am I to assume that you were busted for this scam? Must be. Why else would you be embarrassed by your identity

BOB ,

THANKS FOR THIS INFO ! I FOUND IT FUNNY THAT , JUST BEFORE I CHECKED THIS THREAD , I WAS ON THE NAPA SITE CHECKING PARTS PRICES AND CALLING AROUND TOWN FOR OTHER INFO !! I CALLED ANOTHER GARAGE (FRIEND OF A FRIEND) AND HE CAME BACK WITH A PRICE OF $600 ($85 X 4 FOR PARTS + $260 LABOR) I APPRECIATE THE ENCOURAGEMENT ON TACKLING THIS JOB FOR A FIRST TIMER . I AM MECHANICALLY INCLINED BUT GET EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS WHEN I CONSIDER DOING A JOB LIKE THIS MYSELF . ONE REASON BEING A COUPLE YEARS AGO MY OIL PAN WAS LEAKING ON THIS SAME TRUCK . I DECIDED TO CHANGE IT MYSELF . FINALLY GOT IT IN , ABOUT 8 HRS. LATER . I'M HEADING TO THE LIBRARY TO SEE IF THERE IS A FORD TRUCK MANUAL IN THEIR SYSTEM . IF NOT , OFF TO THE PARTS STORE FOR ONE . YOUR INFO WAS VERY HELPFUL , THANKS .

TIM

If you are really mechanically inclined, try this before you leave the computer.

1. Find the control key on the lower left corner of the keyboard.
2. Count up three keys.
3. Push that button, and see what happens when you type.

Let us know what happens.

Oh , so that's how you get small letters .....

Why would you change your joints? Are they broken or just noisy. Perhaps reapplying a good grase, the most expensive, would cost you just a fraction of the repair costs and hold the joints for several more years.

You should read Post #10 (and for that matter all the posts). OP stated that the joints are worn.

If OP has grease fittings on these joints AND has not added grease for a long time, then by all means DO SO now.

Then report back to us with an update.

There is surface treatment to resurface worn metals in a form of a grease. It can be applied to mechanical components like CVJoints and it does the job during operation using frictional heat.

www.rewitec.com

Not on my truck you don't!

Ball joints effect stability, hence safety. No place for a "quick fix", of dubious quality.

15 to 20 years ago there was a product marketed called "Shimmy Stop".(I think) It was a plastic that would harden when injected into a grease fitting. Directions were Unload joint, inject , allow some time for hardening before reloading. Now there is a comforting thought.

If you are driving in Atlanta and repairing your car that way I need to look out for you.

j.

Its an easy job if you buy the proper manual, the tools are not expensive, do it yourself!

It will take about 6 hours maybe slightly less. Take 6 hours at $65.00 to $75.00/hour. Thats $420.00 average for labor and $160.00 for parts. is OK.

On my vehicle, the upper ball joints were joined to a control arm (also deemed worn at the control arm pivot points). After getting the run around and 3 trips to a Firestone service place, I ended up with all new ball joints, a control arm and an ABS wheel sensor (botched by the 2 ball joint repairs), not to mention an alignment... KA CHING!

I am a die-hard do-it-yourselfer have been for years. Having said that I will always recommend that if you are mechanically inclined and have changed a starter or alternator then ball joints are not any more difficult that that.

I would also going with the NAPA parts as they are a better quality part than what you get at other parts stores. Be sure to get the ones that have a grease zerk installed.

Third I would recommend a Haynes auto repair manual for your specific year and model of truck. I have use both Haynes and Chilton and like the Haynes better they are a bit more organized.

Lastly I would recommend a Chevrolet I have driven them for years and have only had to change a balljoint once on what is now a total of 11 vehicles. It was on the Only Ford I ever owned. (long story)

Oops one other thing. Be sure and use a good quality water resistant grease preferably a Molly lube. Good preventive maintenance on any vehicle is a must.

Thanks Double j ,

I think I'm going with Moog parts . I got a price today I liked and also heard that they are good quality parts . I just replaced the starter on my f-150 last year so those were encouraging words . Thanks for the advice .

Moog offers two parts, an economy and a premium with a slight difference in price. They are a good choice for these parts, better than Ford OEM IMO. Go for it. You don't need the more expensive ones, but the price difference is not that much.

Not a problem glad to help. If you need any other information just let me know.

By the way good choice in using Moog parts they are good stuff.

Welcome to CR4. That was a very good answer. I would always recommend that you have your old parts available for inspection when you have your vehicle repaired. If you can not see the reason the part needed to be replaced, why did it need replacement. On exchange parts, have them hold for your inspection. It just tends to keep us all honest. Thanks for your post.

Thanks mental ,

As i said before , I've given this garage ALOT of business and they're telling me that this is a 6 hr. job ! From what I've been reading it should take an experienced mechanic about that time . I'm having my doubts about them which is too bad . Have a Dead Guy Ale for me , will ya ???

Maybe they are charging time to take the truck offsite to the alignment shop and then back. (If they do the alignment on-site, this would not be the case (travel), but they will charge for the time to align).

Maybe the mechanic has a boat payment due.

HA HA ! Don't know about a boat payment but he did just get back from 10 days in the Virgin Islands .

What a coincidence. I know of a fellow that just picked up his car from there. He had to have his whole air conditioning system replaced. It was all bad.

Yea, and I heard there was one fewer virgins since he made the trip.

Hi Banjo - just my nickle....I'm pretty good doing most anything to my vehicles, as long as I have the right stuff to do it with (and I have a lot of stuff).....Soooo

'92 Full-Size Bronco - I made the leap to do what you need to be done (not ever having done it before) took me forever, and as an earlier post noted - Huge learning curve...busted knuckles were fun too

My '93 Bronco went into the shop when it's time came....not gonna do that again...my guy pointed out design flaws between Mfgr's which means it harder changing the Ford stuff out...

Anyhow - pay the man & hold him accountible, you may thank me later- just sayin'

Best of Luck!

Thnaks tiger ,

It helps hearing from someone with first hand experience . Everyone here has been very helpful . I blew a transmission line today driving into work so the ball joint job is now on the backburner . I'm coming closer everyday to just getting rid of this thing . Thanks for your input .

Hello 5BANJO5

You need reliable eco-friendly transport these days

Kind Regards....

HAAA ! That's funny ! With the economy here in the U.S. my transportation method may come to this .