I have been told by a couple of shadetree mechanics that my ball joints are gone on my 88 F-250 4x4. The steering wheel is loose and sloppy when underway. The tires front tires are worn on the outer edges pretty badly. Is there any way to inspect or tell if the ball joints really are bad? Could this all be a tie rod end? How do you test / know if these parts have gone bad?

 

To test the ball joints, jack up the front end or just a single front tire, about 4-5 inches off the ground, put some jack stands under a strong point in the front suspension to prevent injury in case the truck falls, next put one hand on the top of your tire and your other hand on the bottom of your tire, your fingers will be over the tread area, and rock the tire back and fourth from top to bottom, if the tire moves then your balljoints need replacing, im not sure if there is a certain amount they can move and be ok, someone with more expertise can answer that for sure. For your tie rod end, put your hands on the left and right of the tire with your fingers over the tread again and wiggle it back and fourth, if it moves then you need to replace the tie rod end. Then pull the jackstand and lower vehicle and repeat procedures on other side of vehicle, any questions feel free to pm me--Dinty01

 

A good way to check balljoints is to jack the truck up so the front wheels are off the ground. Then slide a pry bar between the tire and the ground and lift. If there is play you should be able to see it and feel it. This is more accurate than rocking back and forth because of the weight of the tire. Any kind of play is generally a bad thing, at least as far as being able to align the vehicle. Tie rods are checked by rocking the wheel side to side, if there is play, check to see what is loose in the steering linkage because it could possibly be something other than the outer tie rods.

 

You can check the tie rods just by watching them while someone wiggles the steering from right to left. Any play is unacceptable. While you are doing this also watch the steering wheel and pitman arm for play in your steering gear box.