Well I took my truck to the local repair shop to get the front end aligned and they checked it out and said the alignment was fine. I asked them what about the bad wear pattern on the inside of both tires. They said maybe tire pressure or shocks. Then I remembered I had been hearing some knocking noise in the front end at lower speeds they said maybe ball joints, so they checked and sure enough both sides lower ball joints are bad. They want $407 to do the job. Is this a normal price, and how hard is it to do myself, will I need any special tools?

Thanks

 

you can get the OEM ones from Tasca for about $40 each, or a good set of Moog for $45 each, and im sure you can rent a balljoint press tool from a local autoparts store for basically free. so i bet for less than $100 you could do it yourself!!

 

UPDATE

Good news I called my extended warranty company and they said it would be covered. Woohoo. Now I just need to find time to bring back to the repair shop. Best part is I don't have a deductable or co-pay with my warranty so it will be free to me.

 

I'd replace the upper ball joints also. If they are not worn out now, they can't be far behind.

 

I'll have to see if the repair shop can say they are bad also, so the warranty company will pay for them also.

 

Well I finally got to bring my truck back to the shop today. They are going to call the warranty company and tell them I need all 4 ball joints replaced we will see what the warranty company says. Hopefully they won't say they need to send an adjuster.

 

Got my truck fixed, lower ***** joints and upper control arms. They told me on my truck the control arm had to be replaced in order to replace the upper ball joints. So I am a happy camper. Only cost was to get it aligned. I just need to get tires balanced and rotated and I am good.

 

Just think if you did not obtain the extended warranty...

 

You are sooooo right. The alignment cost me $59.95, the repairs would have cost $747. So far my warranty has payed out about $3200. Almost 3 times what I paid for it. So it has paid for itself and then some.

 

Did you get a third party extended warranty? If so, what company? I need to get one, but I've heard a lot of horror stories about them.

 

us fidelis

 

Yes I got my warranty from my credit union when I purchased my truck. It is Mercury Insurance warranty.