Hi folks,

I have just under 90,000 miles on my 1998 V6 XLT. I just took in my truck to have the front disc brake pads replaced and the service guy said that my tie rods and ball joints were really loose and that I should have them replaced soon. Does this sound right? I didn't think I would be replacing them so soon. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Ox

 

you drive on...if the roads you drive on are rough and you drive them daily,with 90,000...yep..tie rods suffer the most especially the pass. side(damn curbs) start there..the ball joints and arms are one unit...you can,t just replace the ball joints...you gotta replace the whole thing...start gathering the parts and in a couple of months you'll have all you need and it won't kill your budget

 

So you are saying that I can't replace just the tie rods, and that I have to do the whole entire assembly? How much does all this cost by the way?

Ox

 

If you have a 2wd, all parts can be replaced individually except the upper balljoints. The upper balljoints are part of the upper control arm. If you have 4wd, then the lower balljoints are also intergated into the lower control arm and cannot be replaced alone.

The individual links, such as tie rods are not that costly or difficult to replace and do affect the feel and handling of your truck. If you replaced all of the steering and suspension links, the truck would likely feel new again.

If you plan on keeping the truck for some time, I'd suggest replacing any part of the steering and suspension that is questionable at the same time because you need to have it alligned each and every time you replace one of these parts.

You can probably do tie rods yourself, but the balljoints are tough.

 

I read in a manual that the upper and lower ball joints are intergrated. I'm planning on new lift spindles for a 2wd, and want to replace the ball joints. Are the lowers a simple change out?

 

I have a 2wd and had the lower balljoints replaced. If you look at the upper's, you can see that they are part of the control arm. The lower balljoints are pressed into the lower control arm.

I had mine replaced last winter because it was just way too much work for me to do in a cold garage. The Ford dealer wanted neary $500.00 for parts, labor and alignment. I purchased the balljoints and had them replaced at an independent shop, plus an alignment for around $350.00. It was all very pricy to me.

If you are removing the control arms anyway, then you can replace the lower balljoints without too much trouble, but not the upper unless you buy the control arm as well.

 

So then, what does that snap ring on the lower control arm hold in place. It looks like it's right on top of the ball joint. I just don't want to find out the hard way what it's conected to.

 

The snap ring doesn't actually do anything unless the balljoint pops out of the control arm. The balljoint is pressed into the control arm and the snap ring is there just in case it comes loose. Otherwise the wheel could fall off.

 

Sounds like a job for paid professionals! Thanx for the help Aj.

 

Thanks for all your replies. After some research I found that there probably isn't any cheap way to address my problem.

So what would be the consequences of just ignoring the tie rods and ball joints? Would it result in a failure/breakage, or will it just make my truck handle/ride bad? I only ask because, I have not noticed any degradation of performance and I am only going on the suggestions of a "service manager" at the dealer. I mean, it doesn't ride quite like it used to, but who am I foolin? The truck is 4 years old and has 90K on it.

This has been a bad year financially, and with Christmas just around the corner, I would like to wait until spring to address this "problem." Any help or opinions is always appreciated.

Thanks,
Ox

 

ttt

 

if you were to lose a tie rod end or ball joint while on the road...well lets just say that x-mas would be the least of your worrys at the time

 

You should be able to tell when those components get really bad. When my ball joints were out my truck shaked horribly. Was hardly drivable sometimes.

 

I have a 98 ford f-150 s-crew with 84,000 miles on it and I just checked it myself at a friends garage this past weekend and have a lower ball joint loose on the drivers side. This has all the original parts, so 84,000 miles is along time to go with the originals. We just checked a 99 f-150 with 44,000 miles on it last week and both of the lowers and one upper were gone. I guess its how you drive it and where. If you travel the highway alot, you will get more miles on them.

 

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