lincoln ls ball joints?

[ia10280]

Ok I have bought this used lincoln, and appears to be a fun car but.... This terrible squeal appeared about a week after I bought it. The squeal comes everytime I turn the wheel. I took it to my car guy, we looked at it and the right ball joint is loose and dry and is pretty much toast. The left is following closely behind. So we can't just order a new ball joint or knuckle? we tried and got this runaround about the suspension being re designed and we have to order knuckles, hubs, and control arms. Does anyone know anything about this?

[CGGorman]

That's correct. I just mine replaced this summer. It was about $800, IIRC. I was less than thrilled with the bill.

[ghize]

Had the same problem with my '01 and they replaced the steering knuckle on the right side. It was covered by my extended warranty but would have been around $600.

[grayls]

Did your steering wheel also knock when you had the ball joint problem?

[CGGorman]

Mine? No, but mine weren't that bad yet.

[finance01]

I just took my car in because I was having some steering problems and found that it was my lower control arm among other things. I ended up having to get my car aligned and the total bill was $925. Because my 00 LS is no longer under warranty and the damage was caused by an object in the road that I ran over, I filed it with my car insurance and only had to pay the deductible. The LS is a sleak - sharp car and I love mine, but they are expensive to maintain.

[CGGorman]

Originally Posted by finance01

The LS is a sleak - sharp car and I love mine, but they are expensive to maintain.

It's all relative.

Compared to a base-trim Ford/Chevy/Dodge, yes. Compared to most any other similar luxury/near-luxury sport sedan, no.