Warning: non-mechanic here.

I've posted a couple of photos from inside the front right wheel of my 99 F150 XL; can anyone tell me whether everything looks okay?



Is this the ball joint? This cover appears to be wearing out.



Lower than the first picture and closer to the wheel; whatever it is, is it supposed to be leaking fluid of some kind?


Thanks,

Tracey

 

Tracey, yes that is the upper balljoint and the plastic piece is just a cover to protect the grease boot, it is not a critical component.

You had your wheel turned all the way to the right when you took this picture ........... yes? If so the worn out part would be directly under the upper A-frame when the wheels were turned straight ahead, that is why its worn out in that particular area. Just normal wear & tear from the suspension moving up and down and rubbing against that plastic cover. It's no sweat I bent mine down & forward so I could get a grease needle in there to lube things up. Some folks remove the plastic piece altogether.

the second picture shows the lower balljoint and the fluid you see is grease coming out of a little hole in the ball joint. I'm not sure what the purpose of the hole is, maybe a vent or possibly where a grease fitting was supposed to go? Mine only leaked grease out when I used the grease needle to fill the boot and some of the grease came out of the very same place.

All looks normal visually and if the steering & suspension feel OK then you should consider greasing the front end components to keep it that way.

Good luck.

 

Thanks! This truck has about 84K on it and is starting to shake, rattle and roll. Makes me paranoid.

This is a great board...