Should have joined FTE sooner...and been reading up. You would have found out really quick that the ball joints are a weak link. Sorry to hear that you missed your warranty period. That is a bummer!

biz

 

I just bought my 99 F250SD PS CC Lariat with 176k on it. Appears a couple are bad. I purchased the NAPA Gold (the good ones) with zerts (moog). Replacing all 4 this weekend 11-04-06. When I bought this truck a buddy of mine that is a certified Ford mechanic said the ball joints and the tranny are the weak links.

 

76,000miles, used Moog greasable replacements and grease them every time i change my oil and rotate my sneakers.

 

Several months after waranty expired the front end on my F250 started making a loud squeeking noise while turning the steering wheel. Dealer says its the ball joints. Quotes me in the neighborhood of $1200 to replace. Seems kind of steep to me. Also bugs me that the ball joints on what is suppsose to be a heavy duty truck lasts just over 36,000 without having to be replaced. It was not like I was beating the crap out of them on a lot of gravel back roads or anything.

 

My moog joints end up with the uppers breaking off their grease fittings because of the 4x4 axle. I'm not really sure what to do about it either. I greased them when they went on and then never again after I used 4x4 the first time. So far I have 17,000 on them. No squeaks or wobble yet.

 

dcf4x4:

The Moog ball joints mounted in upper position must be greased and then zerk replaced with a plug. To grease again, you have to reinstall the zerk, grease, and then reinstall the plug(s). Kind of difficult, but beats the alternative--ball joints that cannot be greased at all.

 

Just so you know... I totally knew that (he said foolishly).

The current plan for tomorrow is to go out and pick up a new fitting and a plug. The fact that I didn't think of that 2 months ago is why I LOVE THIS SITE!

Thanks, Forest.

 

First of all that sounds like a personal question.

 

The NAPA ball joints .... the upper came with a 45 degree grease fitting, that I was able to grind down, and it works fine in place.

 

The shop I took it to Oct 27th was a independent alignment shop I've used for years. The shop manager suggested that I try to get Ford to replace these ball joints since the warranty period is only just passed, and ball joints don't wear-out in just 2K miles. So I called Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center and spoke with a representative, Tammy. She said that first, a Ford authorized shop would have to determine if the ball joints are bad. It's a rainy day here in Memphis, so I finally got my truck into the Ford shop this morning. The service advisor said that their Front-end Tech checked it out and everythig seems fine. Nice and tight. I get the feeling that Ford and associates are circling the wagons here to avoid replacing thier crappy ball joints under warranty. Why get get into a "Sorry, you're just out of warranty range" arguement, when you can get the Ford shop tech to claim there's nothing to fix.
While it's in the shop, I'm having one of their 'Golden Diesel Techs' attempt to address the issue of the low power followed by 'pa-put, pa-put' at highway speeds (65-70mph). And since I had the series of recalls done about this time last year (CAC Duct,Wiring Harness,Reflash), I've had less power and fuel milege dropped about 2.5mpg. I wonder if there's a liability-lawyer attached to the diesel tech's hip, too.
When I get my truck back, I'm gonna jack up the front and give the wheels a shake for myself.

 

I voted "Have not replaced / zero problems".

I have 82,386 miles on my truck at this time.

 

Changed mine out for the first time at 131,000 with Moogs. I only had very slight play on the pass upper the other three were fine but I replaced all of em along with my sway bar links and shocks. And I still have a rattle

 

I'm starting to notice play in the steering wheel. I can move the wheel an inch or two either direction before the truck responds at freeway speeds.

 

Check your tierod ends they go quick...All the ends..And steering box and track rod bolts.


Dick

 

^what he said.... I have seen many a ball joint replaced, when it was actually play in the tierod ends that were causing it.

Grease them regularly (I think 05's are greased for life unfortunately though )