Ball Joints Question

Took my '05 to the dealer today so that he could change the fuel filter (the car has 46K on it and that particular filter was never changed so I thought it prudent). I do all the other maintenance right on time so really no worries about anything yet... until today that is.

While in the shop I was shooting the breeze with the mechanic working on my car and he said by ball joints are worn and should be replaced. The car runs straight and no wiggle or play in the steering wheel at any speed. Tires have been rotated every 5-k and have worn evenly too.

The service advisor quoted me $650.00 for the balls joints, needless to say that "ain't" happening.

My question is: is it possible for the ball joints to be worn and get no warning? Is he BSing me? How can I tell?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Another Ford dealer nearby??? Take it there or to a reliable shop and ask for a front-end alignment, if they're shot, they'll let you know... do not take it to a tire shop, unless you have a trusted one, in my experience they are the worst for the hard sell..

With only 46k on the car it is doubtful the ball joints are worn beyond servicable limits. They can be checked by putting a jack under the lower control arm. Jack it up until the wheel is just off the ground. Grab hold of the tire at the top and bottom and try to move it back and forth. If there is any play in the ball joints it will be feel loose.

That's the time that you want to ask the technician to show you, on your car, the bad ball joints. If they try to pull some story about their insurance not allowing customers in the shop, then find a shop that does (this can actually be a legitimate reason).

With only 46k, I agree it's unlikely that the joints are bad. However, that will depend somewhat on your driving style and the roads that you frequently travel. You may not notice looseness in your steering since the looseness with occur gradually. It won't be like an on-off switch where one day it's completely tight, the next day it's loose. A second opinion on the ball joints is certainly a good idea. Even if it costs you $40 for an alignment check, it may save you $650 (if you opted to have the dealer do it).

-Rod

Thank you for the advice guys. I will have another garage look at it and give me their thoughts.

Hi Guys,

Just getting back to you with the results. I took it to another dealer today as you folks suggested. They put it up on a lift and found that all is fine with the ball joints. No issues at all.

I have a comfort level now. Thank you for the sage advice!

Glad to hear the good news, but that rogue dealer needs to be reported to the BBB for their fraudulent practices. In my state, our vehicles are required to be inspected. If done completely they would have found the loose ball joint if it was bad or said it was ok if it was. That way, hopefully car owners don't have to worry so much about their car's soundness and safety for everyone on the road. Unfortunately, it is no guarantee that things won't wear out, break between inspections or even missed.

I put new ball joints on my 2004 SES at about 70,000 miles. I had the car in for a state inspection and fuel filter. Ford dealership said the car wouldn't pass inspection with the ball joints that were on it. They took me into the shop to show me, although I didn't quite understand what the exact state requirement is. The job cost about $450-$500 total I think for both sides. It wasn't something I was capable of doing myself anyway. About half of my driving is on potholed city roads, so I figured that had something to do with the wear on them.

I'd report the mechanic; there might be a history of this guy pulling stuff like that and one more report would be the last straw. Then again, it could have been an honest mistake. The balljoints on my Taurus (97 GL) are squealing like the proverbial stuck pig, but it's the rubber dust boots or whatever it is -- they've twisted up and gotten pinched, so the only fix for it is to replace the joints. Maybe he heard something and assumed they were worn.

Never know, but having seen inspection shops swap tires on people's cars so they had metal sticking through the treads... I don't trust mechanics unless I can watch them work anymore.:disappoin

I've got a '97 GL wagon I bought new in '98. In winter 2000, I struck a high curb at low speed (first time in my life I had done anything stupid like this) and it blew the tire. This ball joint has just started to fail - 7 years and almost 100k miles later. The other ball joints are fine.

I just went past 266,000 miles on my 98' with the original ball joints. The boot rubber is starting to get some surface cracks, but they are still as tight as they were ten years ago new.