Took my 2000 F-150 2WD Extended Cab 4.6L V8 in to get tires rotated and wheels aligned (thought I noticed some uneven wear), and was shown that my ball joints need to be replaced. I have about 96,000 miles on the truck. How much should this cost, assuming I replace the (original) Ford joints with aftermarket joints with zirc fittings? The place I took it to said about $850 because they said they need to replace the arms as well. The local dealer said $1100 for "all four joints" but would be replaced with Ford parts. A third place said they did not have the tool, but thought the cost should be around $350...This is a big spread...Wassup?

 

If you need to replace all four then i would think it should be about 500. For just the uppers then 350 is more reasonable. You do have to replace the arms if they are factory. Only the upper ones though. If you have aftermarket ones then you can just change the ball joint.

 

All four ball joints (upper control arms) and two lowers will cost about $275.00. Make sure you get ones that can be lubed. (Moog or Spicer). You will also have to get a camber kit for each side or pay the alignment shop about $100.00 dollars to put them in.

 

Had it done by my usual shop. Cost about $830. Installed four joints and two arms, Moog parts, camber kit, and two hours of install time and an alignment. This outfit has been pretty honest; I hope I didn't get screwed too badly, but at least it is better than the dealer...

Thanks for the replies.

TS

 

yah i have to replace my lower ball joints also. It is know for that perticular year that they tend to go out soon i only have 70,000 miles on my 99 and i can't get an alignment until those are replaced or it won't do anything except waste my money so...

ROSS

 

I wonder how much longer it would have been before I would have had to do that to my old truck as it had 96k on it when I traded it off after the tranny acted up on it.

 

I wouldn't say you got screwed all the way. Just a pretty good bit. About $400.00 over the do-it-yourself price.

 

Yeah, I suppose, but DIY is not a good option for me, especially for something as critical as suspension. It would have taken too long, and I would have had to have another car around to fetch parts/tools or to be taxi for the kids.

I am satisfied with the cost/quality of the work. The truck drives noticably better now. It is amazing how a slow deterioration can keep you from noticing how crappy your steering has become. One issue I had was pulsing brakes, which someone told me was due to having installed ceramic pads, which don't dissipate heat as well as the stock pads do. Well, most of the pulsing is now gone. This is not to say that the ceramic pads were unrelated to the problem, but the loose ball joints certainly accentuated it. No wonder I could see odd wear on the tires!

 

Just got an estimate for my '99. $707 for both sides, upper and lower. Not sure of manf., but I'm not going to put OEM on it. 109K on the truck.

 

If you are not having to add the camber kit (Had I known they were going to add that, I would have told them not to), then your cost is about the same as mine. I think the alignment kit is usually not necessary, unless you really beat up your truck. There is a line of thinking that it should have been standard, but I don't buy it.

Ford tried to sell me one 30,000 miles ago due to alleged impossibility of getting the camber in spec. I felt that camber (closeness to vertical) was not particularly critical, and my truck was in spec anyway.. So at that time I told them not to put it on. IF you search the archives you might find my old post on the subject.

Had it done at Meineke. They have been known to send customers away if they felt there was nothing wrong. Generally pretty honest.

 

Cost me $1050 to do all four plus the Pitman arm. All junk because Ford is too cheap to put zerks on the fittings.