Ball joint replacement
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Senior User
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Ball joint replacement
Just replaced the tires on my 2002 Ranger 2WD 2.3L 5 Spd at 37,800 miles and wanted to have an alignment. Was advised that I needed a left ball joint! Surprised me, I did not expect to have a ball joint go bad that quickly. Anyone else have this experience, and if so, any success in getting Ford Motor Company to pony up some/all of the repair? I know I have had the car 4-1/2 years and it is out of warranty, but geez, that seems early for a ball joint to fail...would seem it was defective from the start.
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Joined: Dec 2003
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i had one of my ball joints fail at about 35,000. So I am right there with you. It's a 2000 ranger, and it failed this past year. I didn't bother to ask ford to pony up on the repair, they probably woudn't anyway. I replaced it myself. I will never buy another ford. Their vehicles are hard to repair, i.e. oil pan gasket, and they are sueing my favorite mustang aftermarket companies.
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Joined: May 2004
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From: Cheswick, Pa.
That sounds way too early. Mine went at about 70,000 on a '99 xcab 3.0. I had already worn the inside badly on one tire and eventually had to junk it. Once I worked up the courage, I replaced both uppers in my garage with advice from Advance Auto Parts and their loaner tools. Front end feels like a new truck.
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Since I understand the upper is part of the whole control arm assembly, what does it take to pull and replace it? I just did the brakes last spring and had to turn the rotors, does that mean I get to pull the wheel hub assembly again?? (Of course, I guess this time I wouldn't have to necessarily pull and repack the wheel bearings if I don't disturb anything or get dirt in them...) I purchased a repair manual last year, but I'll tell you, there is definitely not enough detail and photos. What tools do you need other than ratchet, sockets, breaker bar, and other ordinary hand tools?
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From: Zimmerman, MN
35,000 is about par for course (if you read back in the forums). Many people have had the upper ball joint fail, as have I. I had the extended warranty on the truck so I just took it into a local Ford Dealer and had them fix it.
Truck was just in a month ago, as I thought the other side was going (60,000 now). Turned out to be a whole front axle was shot. Good thing I had the ext warranty as that was a 1000 buck job.
hancockr, I would suggest doing an advanced search in the ranger forum for upper ball joint. There have been numerous threads on the subject. I think people have even posted the part #s of what to get as some parts stores are confused about whether you can replace just the upper or need to replace the entire assembly. As billj6 stated, go to your auto parts place and they can get you hooked up with the right loaner tools to do this.
Good luck to ya.
Truck was just in a month ago, as I thought the other side was going (60,000 now). Turned out to be a whole front axle was shot. Good thing I had the ext warranty as that was a 1000 buck job.
hancockr, I would suggest doing an advanced search in the ranger forum for upper ball joint. There have been numerous threads on the subject. I think people have even posted the part #s of what to get as some parts stores are confused about whether you can replace just the upper or need to replace the entire assembly. As billj6 stated, go to your auto parts place and they can get you hooked up with the right loaner tools to do this.
Good luck to ya.
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As I only drive about 8500 miles per year, I figured the extended warranty wasn't going to save me anything. Thought I would have had the truck 6 years or so before problems started cropping up, and even then that would be at only 50,000 miles...SO, I didn't invest in the warranty. Oh well...
Thanks for your suggestion, I will search through some of the other threads. From what I have been told by the mechanic who was going to do the alignment and the one parts store I have checked so far, it is an assembly on this truck and the ball joint is not replaced separately.
Thanks for your suggestion, I will search through some of the other threads. From what I have been told by the mechanic who was going to do the alignment and the one parts store I have checked so far, it is an assembly on this truck and the ball joint is not replaced separately.
