Need FAST Reliable cheap ball-joint mech Mesa AZ

AprilWhine wrote:
good...reliable...cheap

Pick one ;)

I believe there is also one that is;


Fast

Cheap

Good

Pick any two. :B

good...reliable...cheap

Pick one ;)

Well having had "Bad Ball Joints" I found the driving in a straight line was becoming difficult. Usuall when front end part start getting loose it it is a challanged to keep straight and in curves the wheel moves a bit too much. I didn't mean to offend you it may have come on slowly so you didn't notice.
Good luck on you repair.

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First... hope your day gets better.

If you have a choice on ball joint brand, I would suggest staying with original, reliable Ford ball joints. The OEM balljoints are especially designed with a layer of plastic under the cup to allow for a tight upper and lower factory build tolerance between the axle housing knuckle forks, yet still not bind. Most other designs are a steel-to-steel configuration that offer durability but I believe lack flexibility. The resultant stiff steering is often mistaken for wandering as though the steering is too loose, but it is just the opposite... too tight.

It is important that all steering joints (including the sector) allow free steering so that the front tires automatically track straight ahead as per caster setting. As a matter of fact self-centering is the only reason there even is a caster alignment setting. A good example to remind us of this necessity is to try backing up in a straight line at high speed (the caster is backwards and particularily unstable). Also note from your experience that ball joints work great even when they are mostly worn out, but I assure you, never well at all, when too tight. Many shops aren't even aware of this principle (blank stare), but the good ones will often pipe up, "Oh, you mean F-250's..." when you mention trucks with tight steering. There is a good reason Ford spec'd the plastic in their OEM ball joints.

Wes
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rhagfo wrote:

cannesdo wrote:


One is gone, the other is close to gone. Maybe I'll have them do the one then do that other later. Just as I was getting into Mesa the clanging started.

Missed this earlier! How in the name of God can you let ball joints go that far!! Mine were still within tolerances, but the truck was wanting to follow the road ruts too much for me. To get one to the point of failure that truck must have driven like it had a mind of its own.

Aw, you guys are always so sweet to me. I can always count on "told you so's" and sarcasm and comments generally suggesting I'm so stupid I deserve to die on the open road from this bunch. Is it just your generation or is this the way men talk to each other all the time?

To answer your incredibly rude question:

1. I'm a woman, whose never owned anything but Subarus, which never need work and never die.

2. There was absolutely no indication there was anything wrong with the truck. I've had it 7 years and it felt just like it did the day I got it. It went from working great to clunking like crazy. No indication during the two day trip...I just got to Mesa and stopped at a light and started up and the clunking began.

And before you conclude I'm just some fragile flower without a clue I've saved 15K in the last 7 years doing work myself, just installed new carpet -- myself. Removed and rebuilt my shower with new glass -- myself. Fixed my refrigerator by removing it -- myself, turning it upside down and replacing it -- myself. Replaced my roof antenna, redid all the caulking on the roof, replaced 800 exterior screws, removed all my day/night shades, washed and restrung and rehung them and instaled a 2nd A/C -- MYSELF.

It's both funny and sad -- but mostly sad -- how you guys assume the absolute worst about everyone...people you've never met. Oh, if she's only going to do one, then that means she's just going to wait for the other one to fail. Then she's going to come crying back to us. Really... is that my plan? You make up a whole story about what a naive irresponsible loser I am. Righto...Truth is, I'm bright, probably brighter than you, as I do use critical thinking skills to determine which risks are worth taking and which aren't. And I save a lot of money that way and I've yet to get it wrong. I meet great hardworking people by doing this as well. And, since I'm on a roll, I treat other people -- including those I don't know at all -- with respect, because unlike you I'm not some kind of shaming power junkie looking for a fix.

How about telling me how to recognize the signs of ball joints going bad rather than coming in here and waving your ____ around and telling me what an idiot I am. Are you here to make the world a better place or just in it because it lets you deliver some quick anonymous kicks to the virtual kidneys of complete strangers? Squirrely steeering? I didn't notice anything like that. What else? Do you have anything kind to say, anything helpful? Because I just drove 15K lbs a thousand miles and the last hour was scary as hell and I'm 3 days behind on work and the last thing I need right now is this **** on top of everything else.

And after that nightmare, when I was finally here, exhausted and shaken, I got both tires of a 36' 5er a half inch from the concrete pad on the first try. I've seen you guys park. Sometimes it takes you 40 minutes to get it in there and it's *still* crooked. And if I was a man I would probably come over and say, "That might be too much rig for you, Brother." But as a woman I don't even think it. All I do is think about how to make your day better. I may not know anything about ball joints but I've gone above and beyond for my neighbors everywhere I go, crawliing up on their roofs and fixing their ceiling fans, curing their pets of their food allergies and just generally helping out any way I can.

So I suggest you check yourself and begin again, or just back off, because right now, energetically, I am at a really...low...ebb.

And I would suggest, if there's a woman in your life you go and get her some flowers because if that's the way you talk to people who are having a rough day, my guess is she deserves them.

Guy offering it for $500 and change for all four joints has an A rating by the BBB and the reviews give him a 4.76 out of 5 stars. That works for me. Chas's Desert View Automotive. I'll report back about my experience. I'm thinking about about $100 or so for the inspection at the other place? $125? Still coming out $300 ahead. I tried calling the place that has my truck right now (Reliable) all afternoon and just got a recording. Everytime I got that **** recording I wanted more and more to go somewhere else. I like helping out the little guy.

cannesdo wrote:


One is gone, the other is close to gone. Maybe I'll have them do the one then do that other later. Just as I was getting into Mesa the clanging started.

Missed this earlier! How in the name of God can you let ball joints go that far!! Mine were still within tolerances, but the truck was wanting to follow the road ruts too much for me. To get one to the point of failure that truck must have driven like it had a mind of its own.

Gdetrailer wrote:

ScottG wrote:
1k parts and labor is a normal cost.

Eh.. a bit on the high side.

Seems to me the last time I had ball joints changed (all 4) on our 2006 F250 2wd the entire job was about $800 AT THE FORD DEALER.

Could the OP "save" some money?

Since their vehicle is already in a shop and the shop will charge for the estimate AND the next tow will cost them a bundle, NO.

Towing isn't cheap and most likely will cost them at least $150-$200 just to tow it.. So, since it is there you may as well get it done for the $1K..

I would however steer clear of the $500 place, they may not have decent mechanics and or they may skip (or charge extra) the alignment (hidden cost)..

I'm sure it depends on where you live. Things are high here.
I had mine done on my last 2WD truck about 13 years ago. It was over 1K then.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

One is gone, the other is close to gone. Maybe I'll have them do the one then do that other later.

Say WHAT :H

That sounds like another future post asking 'Where can I get front end work done in such and such place?"

Do yourself a favor, just get ALL of them done at the same time.

In the long run the LABOR cost will be cheaper since the shop will have your vehicle on the rack AND you will only need ONE alignment done.

Splitting the job will require paying for a second alignment..

Generally if one is done the others will be very close to being done and will only buy you a short amount of miles down the road.

Been there, done that and learned the hard way.

BINGO, there is a big difference in part quality, and if you are going to pay the labor to have the parts changed, put in the best parts you can get. I have always liked Moog, Raybestos Professional is good also, and of course Motorcraft.