I have a 2002 f150 XL 4.2 with 185k miles on it. It is time to replace the upper and lower ball joints as I am getting the symptoms of the popping noise. I wanted to ask should I replace with the Motorcraft or go with the Moog? Yes the Motorcrafts are more expensive but wanted to hear some recommendations. I plan to keep the truck until the wheels fall off. Any suggestions are helpful.

Jeff

 

Their probably one in the same . Ford don't make ball joints . I all ways feel better with the Moog problem solvers when I come to steering and suspension parts . Everything either comes from Japan, China or Tia wan, or Mexico anyway. The MPS gives me a peace of mind and cost a few buck less than Motorcraft

 

Truck is right... Motorcraft does not make ball joints, or oil filters, or motor oil, or transmission fluid, etc.......... find out who is making their stuff if you really want to compare.......... in this case, just go with MOOG.

 

Moog. I just did mine and use the Moog Problem solvers. < $150 for 2 Moog UCA and 2 Moog lower ball joints on Amazon.

 

Thanks Blupupher! What is the difference between the Moog problem solvers and the ones I found on Ebay for $81.12?

 

Get the good Moogs there are some chinese Moogs.

 

If money is no object get Motorcraft. I've always been happy with TRW, and I believe they were the factory stuff for our trucks. When I did my ball joints I worked at a shop that got an unbelievable deal on Moog, so that's what I went with. They have zerk fittings and you can replace just the upper joint instead of the entire arm in the future if I'm not mistaken.

 

If cheap is what you want go for them . If quality is what you want go for the MOOG P.S. like said Moog has a knock off also the PS might be made in the US and be better made . If you don't go for the Moog PS you might as well get the cheapest ones you can find.

Go to Rock Auto. Com there you can compare price as well as quality. You can get them cheaper than 81.12 . Anything other than MPS there all the same JUNK . I used to go with TRW because they were actually OEM for Ford Motorcraft But if you look at any almost most Motorcraft is made in Mexico

Go figure

 

Good call MPS. Looking at the same for mine. Lowers need replacing more than upper. The bushings that come with upper will probably benefit me even more.

 

I like the Moog PS because they have greasable fittings. With the OEM ones I took off mine (180,000 miles, 14 yrs old) the grease had turned into a thick plastic like gunk. I need to do my steering linkage too, since I am sure the "grease" in there looks the same, even though I really don't have any play in the steering.
The difference between Moog and the cheap stuff is longevity and overall fit. Some of these cheap e-bay kits wear out in just a few thousand miles. You get what you pay for. Like I said, I shopped around and found Amazon to be a few dollars cheaper than Rock Auto. I got the lower ball joints for $18 each shipped, one UCA was $45 shipped, the other was $47 shipped.
Took about 6 hours for the first side (included time to go to Harbor Freight to get a 27mm socket that the new Moog castle nut is, old one was 21mm), the other side took less than 2 hours. I borrowed a puller and press from Advance Auto (you pay full price for them, then get full refund when you return it).

 

 

Well got my upper and lowers along with outer tie rods in. Decided to go with Motorcraft all around. Now just time to get it done along with an alignment

 

How does one determine if the Moogs are chinese or not?

 

Have a 4x4 supercab and did all of mine with Mevotech parts. Substantially more robust than the OEM parts.

 

Update: Just got done installing the outer tie rods and what a difference. Only took me about an hour and that was because the driver's side seized up so I had to use Blaster and Heat it up to get it off. Anyway both had alot of play in them and the driver's side boot had a nice tear in it. The alignment seems pretty good when I took it for a test drive. The steering wheel stays straight. I still am probably going to do the upper and lower ball joints anyway just to be safe and then get an alignment since I am at 197k miles on the clock.