Balljoints, Bummer

[Brandon Poorman]

Well I took the 01 in today for an alignment since I put new wheels and tire on it. The guy comes in and says I need 4 new ball joints. I walked out and he showed me, bottoms are pretty bad, tops aren't as bad but need replaced. If I'm going to have to replace one on each side, I'm going to replace both. I have gotten 2 estimates, 1 from the dealership, 1 from AutoTire where it was getting aligned, and I'm waiting on my third from my normal mechanic. All I have to say is OUCH! That isn't something this college student saw coming in the budget, but needs to be done. Its got 117,xxx on original balljoints so I guess it's time. I plan on keeping it until the wheels fall off, then put them back on and drive it more.

 

[EddieS'04]

Ouch, for sure...

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Yeah, I'm hoping mine hold out until I do my SAS because I don't wanna replace all them just to do the swap right after.

 

[Gil G]

If your gonna "do it yourself" make sure you have the pickel fork to remove them

 

[Todd Z]

Some times you just wish We all lived closer..... the sad thing is the parts are about $100.00........



Todd Z

 

[Chad Merry]

How far are you from St.Louis, Mo??? Ball joints are SOOOOOOOOOOOO frickin simple to replace.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Aren't the upper balljoints a one piece with the UCA?

 

[Chad Merry]

Yep.

 

[Brandon Poorman]

I'm about 45 minutes from STL. The bottoms move about 1.5 inches up and down. I'm driving it until next week.



Todd....i always wish you all lived closer, and would pay for my upgrades.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

I'd set up somthing with Chad since you live so close to him. :banana::haveabeer:

 

[Brandon Poorman]

My cousin is going to do them for me. He works for a local dealer. The plan is to put all moog in it. All 4 ballyhooed are going to be replaced and camber kits installed while the control arms are out. One question is since the moogs are a complete control arm, will it need new bushings?

 

[Brandon Poorman]

btw, Chad, Where in STL are you, we should meet up and talk trac sometime.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Always a good idea to replace parts while you have it apart, I'd replace the bushings because of age, mileage. If your balljoints are old enough to replace then the bushings are ready to replace too. JMO

 

[Brandon Poorman]

I was just wondering if the upper control arms needed the new bushings since they were new control arms or if the moog kit came with them.

 

[scott degroot]

The control arms come complete with bushings already installed

 

[Jeffksf B]

Maybe consider doing the swaybar endlinks while your in there. Original shocks to?

 

[Brandon Poorman]

Shocks are a year old and endlinks are about a year old. And after looking further into the moogs I did see that they come with bushings. Also, Moog only has explorer listed....I'm guessing that's the one I use. I found moog-suspension.com and got everything with free shipping 346.40 (2 camber kits, 2 lowers, 1 one piece upper, 1 two piece upper). I'm going to check my normal part store tomorrow and my cousin is checking his prices through their supplier.



But....does moog just include our ST in the explorer?



And, I know I have a two piece on the passenger side.

 

[Chad Merry]

I am in south county in St.Louis hwy 55 and 270 area.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Your right across the river from Sauget, Il., right? Back when I drove OTR I used to go there quite often hauling a Hazmat load from PPG out of three different plants in W.V.. When Jess backed into their loading dock I'd look over the corn fields at the Archway. :supercool:

 

[Brandon Poorman]

Chad, I work in South County off South Broadway a mile or so south of the brewery. I actually live in the Edwardsville, IL area.