I just had all 4 of mine replaced at inspection time,was told they were all sloppy. I have 80,000mi on my 97 4x4,cost was $700.00 inc. insp.

 

I would get a second opinion before handing out that kind of cash. I know of a garage that will fail an inspection due to ball joints if there is any play in the ball joint at all. He has been known to change ball joints in vehicles with less than 2,000 miles on them because they had some play.

Common sense tells me that if there is NO play at all then there is nowhere for the grease to go.

 

I am glad to see I am not the only one that has issues with ball joints. I own a F-250 LD 4X4 SC XLT, 92,000 on the clock, and have had the upper and lower ball joints replaced 4 times so far, 2 were under warranty, 2 were on me. I am getting about 15 to 20 thousand miles out of a set. Local Ford dealer says that is about right, they are replacing upper & lower about every 20 thousand±. Friends have '99 F-150's have experienced same problems, new ball joints every year practically. I am very discouraged, any one else have early replacements? I would like to know what I can do to get more than a year out of them. Thanks.

 

What! balljoints every 15 to 20K, thats just plain crazy. My truck has 136K on the clock andI think they are still original. They might be worn some and probably need to be replaced but they are not falling out of the truck, have to be replaced tomorrow sort of thing.

 

f250ld,
Did you replace your balljoints with MOOG parts. This is the only way to go and my local Ford dealer told me that ford had OK'ed and recommended them for replacement of all factory parts.
I replaced mine myself with moog at 80K and now have 102K and still good as new and even have grease fittings.

 

69mach1,
The latest set I bought aftermarket from local parts place, no grease fittings thought. What are MOOG, and where can I get them?
The latest ones are holding up well and I hope will last quite a while, we will see. Thanks for the info.

 

f250ld,
MOOG is one of the best known makers of suspension parts and most reliable. There what NASCAR and other motor sports use. I got mine at O'Rielly's Autoparts but alot of autoparts places sell them and recommend them.
Hope it helps. Follow the link below or do a search for Moog suspension parts.

Moog parts