Ball Joint Replacement

[DonSor]

Other than putting the vehicle on the rack and inspecting the ball joints, while driving, what would be a typical symptom of worn ball joints? I can not detect any. Seem to drive OK at all speeds and I don't hear any clunking noise. However the rubber boots are torn and the vehicle has 110,000 miles on it. The '99 Ford Rangers have no zirk fittings in any of the joints including the tie rods thus they cannot be greased. I took the vehicle to two suspension shops and I get this eerie feeling that I am getting took. Both said that I need the ball joints replaced. One said I also need the upper control arm replaced. But both agreed that it was OK to continue driving my truck. The repair job is expensive and I don't want to spend the money unless it is necessary. What's your drift?

[Davescort97]

Some symptoms would include cupped tires, steering wheel not turning back to straight ahead after turn and abnormal noise in front end on bumpy road.

[DonSor]

None of that. I think that by the time I experience any of the listed symptoms there should not be any question if the ball joints were the cause. So, I'll hold off with the ball joint replacement. My original complaint was that I was hearing a slight clunking sound when driving at slow speeds especially along smooth pavement however, the noise is intermittent and disappears as the speed up, probably masked by other road noise. I had the tie rods replaced and the wheel bearings were found a little loose so they were tightened and as the result I don't hear the noise any longer.

[UsedtobeSmart]

Loose wheel bearings cause more noise problems, I swear. I had a friend have the front bearings replaces on an '07 Saturn Ion because of a clunking noise exactly like what you described. Guess what -- the noise went away. Sounds like you may have saved yourself having to replace a lot of stuff under your truck at a very high price.