So i am taking my truck in for new ball joints in the morning....quoted price around 800 bucks.....idk if that is high or not but i know my friend is not gonna screw me on it..... I am just wondering what the normal turn around is on this. i know they are gonna have to replace the control arms for the upper but with just two bolts it don't seem like it should be that bad....

I cannot believe that these newer trucks are made without grease fittings its crazy like ford just wants the parts to wear out.....my dad has a 86 250 and has never NEVER had to replace any of the parts that are greasable....but i guess i can't really complain cause i love my truck....

 

Price sounds a bit on the high side though I don't take my truck to the shop, I just do all the work. I'm not sure what the labor quote is but it does sound high.

Do you have a lot of slop in your current ball joints?

 

i don''t have much of anything left i can pinch the rubber piece down to the metal so they are done

 

Just for ball joints? I bought both UCA's, 2 lower ball joints, and 2 tie rod ends from RockAuto and Patman03SprCrw and I changed them all out. Grand total: around $425.

 

800 sounds pretty high to me

 

^^^^ agreed.... i bought my parts from rock auto, and had them changed out in a couple hours. upper balljoints- about 100.00 each, lower ball joints- about 30.00 each... and those are MOOG brand with grease fittings.

 

Moog is what brand I got too. Top quality and greasable, better than stock.

 

What is the labor rate for the work? In most cases parts are the same as labor so 400 x2 sounds about right. Alot is how comfortable an owner feels doing his own work. And if there are any special tools to buy. I consider myself quit handy and fairly mechanical but also know my comfort zone. As my truck is my daily driver , I can't have it down for long. If I can make 600 bucks doing my job while a mechanic charges me 400 bucks for the same time frame then he can spin the wrenches!!

 

on my 2002 i was quoted 450-500 to change all 4 of mine with MOOG

and yea i hear ya i love working on my truck but some stuff is for others! ball joints being one of them

 

I paid $900 for mine. Its a mechanic rip off. Its easier to replace the arm than for them to do more work removing the OEM ball joint and fitting a new one in, for a much lower amount.

 

800 sounds about right for a shop to replace the balljoints IMO

 

I suppose it's about right, but still high IMO.

 

Need to remember that shops charge shop rate...which is labor AND marking up the parts.

 

I agree its a ripoff. I was quoted $750 to change mine out since they were toast. I said screw that, bought the Camburg Uniball UCAs and put them on myself. Saved a few hundred bucks and wont ever need to change them again.

 

800? Screw that man. Even if he charges $80/hr he should be able to take both them off and on in 2hrs max. I myself just took the whole left and right side front suspension in 1hr. That included taking tires off, brake calipers and rotors, knocking off the tie rods, UCA/LCA, taking off my hub assembly and actuators from the truck. Then assembly for both after swapping out my hub actuators took about 1 1/2 hrs. By no means am I a mechanic. I don't even have the tools. I have to go to a garage bay and rent the bay but tools are included.

Total cost in labor( renting the bay) = $15

But jus for UCA you don't have to take apart all that stuff. So a good mechanic should be done with just UCA's no more than 2hrs max.
So Moog ball joints are what? 100 a piece?

Install at $80hr ?

Alignment $80 ?

So total $500-600 for parts and labo. Also forgot the case of beer so add on another $20 sense its your buddy helping you out.