Today I took my truck down for a front tire and an alignment because my tire was wearing unevenly. The mechanic at the shop told me that I needed:

1. All new inner and outer tie rod ends on both sides
2. All new ball joints both sides

Another thing that he told me was that I needed new upper control arms because the upper ball joints don't come out of the upper control arms.

I want to do all this work myself because he wanted close to $600 to do it all for me. The lower ball joints I have no problem with but replacing the whole upper control arms seems fishy to me.

Is there anywhere I can order upper ball joints? or a package of all the tie rod ends?

By the way my truck is a 2000 XL 111145 miles 5.4 triton tow package w/ 4r100 no fron abs

 

I got the same rundown of parts that needed to be replaced from one shop. My local Goodyear gave me a second opinion and determined that I only needed one set of ball joints. Had them do the work. The alignment has been dead on and I have no wear on new goodyear wrangler silent armors.

 

First off $600 doesn't sound bad for all of that. Also, the upper control arm/ball joint is an assembly on our trucks. These, tie rod ends and the idler arm are gih wear items on our trucks.

 

are you positive that the upper control arm and ball joint are an assembly. At auto zone I was told that I can buy the ball joints separate. I don't see why ford would create a part like this. Also I am going on a trip to Yosemite in 3 weeks and was planning on taking my truck. Its 380 miles there. What could happen if i took the truck without replacing these parts? other than abnormal tire ware. I figure that the only thing that I can damage are tie rods that are screwed up anyway and ball joints that are trashed too. I am a college student and don't really have $600 to drop on repairs I just spend $340 on a spark plug repair and $157 on a tire that I couldn't get aligned because according to the mechanic my front end is "trashed" it rides fine other than a squeaking ( may be pitman arm) when i turn the wheel and the camber on the passenger side tire wearing on the outside.

 

Yes the uppers and ***** joint are all one assembly. The lowers you can buy the ball joints seperately and have them put in.

 

crap... well I found the control arms from autozone the are duralast I dont really care if they last me another 100,000 miles. They are $180 a pair. In total I will be replacing the tie rods and all 3 ball joints for $400 myself. I just gotta find a ball joint press. anyone know where I can rent one?

 

you can greatly cut the cost down by doing the installs yourself since your on a budget

autozone rents them for fee (pay deposit but get it back when its returned)

 

Thanks a lot for all you guys help but i need to know what I can damage by going another 1000 miles on all these warn parts. The day I get back from my trip I will be replacing all of the parts but I just need to to last a little longer.

 

im shouldnt be much since youll already be replacing parts, just gonna be annoying imo

 

Thanks man, if it weren't for guys like you to help me through all this stuff this truck would have been cash for clunkered.

 

glad to hear you kept it. these things will run for a good long time if theyre kept up

 

just make sure you get an alignment after you put the tie rods on.

when you do the tie rods get a rough measurement with a tape measure from the center link to the spindle, and try to match that length with the new tie rods so the truck will be in the ball park of the old alignment.

You may also need camber bolts for the upper control arms and it would be a good idea to pop a set in there while you have it torn apart doing the upper ball joint/arm.

 

The engine runs like a tank. I have beat the hell out of this truck and can honestly tell you I will never own another truck in my life other than a ford. Ive bottomed out, high centered, gotten stuck, and pulled others out and this truck has never failed me. After losing 3 coils in a mud pool it even made it all the way home running on 5 cylinders. This truck deserves some new parts and I want them to be put on with my hands not someone who doesn't even know half the story of my truck.

 

haha sweet man. glad to hear. im the same way i just cant see myself in another brand of truck really

 

I found the rental press at Advanced auto to be better than the one at Auto Zone. I changed all these things on my 04 a few months back. The left upper ball joint had 3/4 in. of play. I was hearing a sound comming from the wheel and couldn't tell what it was till I pulled the wheel and noticed I was down to the cords on the inside of the tire due to the balljoint being sooooo messed up. Good luck