Over the last year my Bronco (1995 Bronco 5.0 E40d) has been in the shop twice for some minor repairs I couldn't tackle myself, and both times the mechanic gave me a spiel about my driver's balljoint going bad. The first time was back in August, and most recently March. Now, the truck rides fine (aside from the fact that it needs shocks badly), with no vibrations, tracks straight on the highway, doesn't pull when braking, etc. So, exactly what are the warning sighns of a ball joint going bad? I would think you'd see vibrations, bad tire wear, maybe something like bad tracking at speed, but I don't have any of these problems. I haven't had the time to jack up the truck and try and move the wheel by hand back and forth like I've heard to do, but that's cause my apartment complex has some asinine rules. So, is he just looking for my hardearned cash or is he telling the truth? There's other things I'd like to spend my dough on besides new balljoints.

 

yo,
symptoms are what you basically described that is not happening to your B: clunks over bumps and esp when you begin to move from a stopped position; uneven tire wear..some symptoms such as "play" in all directions when checking arealso caused by bad wheel bearings.

 

from previous experiences mine have always starting squeaking real bad

 

Had both uppers go in my '92. Caused terrible sawtoothing of the outer edge of the tread and wore the inner edge down at twice the rate of the rest of the tire. Basically it causes a negative camber situation. Allows the tires to rest heavily on the inner edges. If you could imagine angling the front wheels so that they sat like this... / ----- \ instead of like this... l ----- l, as you look at the truck from the front. Bad ball joints and/or wheel bearings and even badly worn axle pivot bushings will cause this.

 

how much would a set of uppers cost to get replaced by a normal garage? because mine is doing what was just described

 

I went ahead and had all four replaced on mine just because I didn't feel like having to tear that much of the front end apart again any time soon. The whole thing cost me $350 for the removal and installation of old and new ball joints. I had to bring them the steering knuckles. Personally I think I got hosed after doing a bit more research. Just my experience.

 

Hmmmm, my damn mechanic said he would do it for $500. Would I be the one getting hosed? If it is going, how tough is it to do myself, and what tools would I need? I might have some time this summer to leave the truck out of commission, so I have the time.

 

I had an estimate of $300 each on the front. Back would probably be cheaper. I was planning on doing it myself, but it's going to be difficult I think. I'm also going to replace alot of other stuff under there while I have it all apart.

 

My truck pulls to either side randomly and some times it pulls to one side while braking, i figured it had more to do with the front springs being warn, because the front sags, I was just wondering what you guys thought.

 

usually when your driving down the road and your truck falls to one side, thats usually when you need new ball joints. jack it up. check out the play on the wheel. it there is alot of play then replace the ball loint.