Ball joints
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 22,436
Likes: 17
From: Louisville,Ky.
I have a little trick I use on my 04, u may have seen them it is a large hypo dermic needle with a jerk on the other end that will fitin a grease gun just insert in the rubber boots of ball joints and tie rod ends pump full of grease and remove makes such a small hole no grease comes out and not water goes in so we will see how it works I am at on 70K, not sure what the 2011's, but to me it looks like ford has cheapened them up all the way around, the engine compartment on the 5.0 just plain looks cheap to me...♦
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
Very good then maybe I can keep my 04 going for quite awhile, I am not very impressed with the 11's I can see lots of issues down the road with them.....
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 687
Likes: 1
I have a little trick I use on my 04, u may have seen them it is a large hypo dermic needle with a jerk on the other end that will fitin a grease gun just insert in the rubber boots of ball joints and tie rod ends pump full of grease and remove makes such a small hole no grease comes out and not water goes in so we will see how it works I am at on 70K, not sure what the 2011's, but to me it looks like ford has cheapened them up all the way around, the engine compartment on the 5.0 just plain looks cheap to me...♦
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 687
Likes: 1
You are supposed to jack it up, put your hands at 12 and six on the wheel and try to see if you can move it. If you got play, your ball joints are probably bad. If you have a shop you trust they can check too. I have one that did my alignment, I told the guy to check the ball joints and he knew I was prepared to put them in if he said to, he told me they were fine, even told me how many thousandths of an inch of play they had in them, and that it was way below the amount you are allowed before replacing them. BTW, I found that grease injection needle at autozone, found it on line too, but got it at the zone. I am gonna try it soon.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,157
Likes: 3
You are supposed to jack it up, put your hands at 12 and six on the wheel and try to see if you can move it. If you got play, your ball joints are probably bad. If you have a shop you trust they can check too. I have one that did my alignment, I told the guy to check the ball joints and he knew I was prepared to put them in if he said to, he told me they were fine, even told me how many thousandths of an inch of play they had in them, and that it was way below the amount you are allowed before replacing them. BTW, I found that grease injection needle at autozone, found it on line too, but got it at the zone. I am gonna try it soon.
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