I HAVE A 04 F350 6.0 CC SB AND BESIDES THE MODS LISTED BELOW EVERYTHING ELSE IS STOCK INCLUDING THE WHEELS AND TIRES. I JUST STARTED HEARING A NOISE FROM THE PASSENGERS' SIDE FRONT TIRE WHEN GOING OVER SPEED BUMPS AND SOME POT HOLE ON RURAL ROADS. TOOK THE TRUCK TO A FRIEND WHO DOES TIRES AND SUSPENSION AND HE TOLD ME THE UPPER AND LOWER BALL JOINTS ARE SHOT ON THE PASSENGERS' SIDE. THE TRUCK ONLY HAS 14,000 MILES AND IS NOT USED FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN A WEEKEND TOY.

HAS ANYONE ELSE EVER HAD THEM GO SO SOON? AND WHAT ARE THE ODDS THE DRIVER'S SIDE ARE STARTING TO GO ALSO?

 

Moved to SD...enjoy.

 

Is it a 4x4 truck ?
reason I ask is the front needle bearings can cause a noise also when going over a bump.To chk your balljoints jack up the front place on jack stands ,put a bar under the tire and pry up on the tire and watch the ball joint area for any movement.
yes we have seen them go early ,that diesel engine is a heavey beast.
05 are you still under 3yr 36 waranty?
take it in they will replace ask to have moog greaseables put in.some dealers would do it.

Rich

 

Ball joints on these trucks go very quickly. Mine were shot at 40K miles. Another place the check for the cluck is the sway bar bushing. Mine are very loud going over bumps. The Ford oem bushing is not of high quality. They are not wore out or damdaged they just are not that great either. Replace them with aquality eurathane bushing that cluck will be gone.

One aside note about Moog ball joints. I just had a issue with them. The shop that replaced my right side had to put in Ford ball joints. The 2 sets of Moogs were too tight and would not slip properly. The steering wheel would not return to center. The ended up putting a Ford lower ball joint on that side. The left sides have Moog upper and lower and no issues (done last year). The right ssides have Moog upper and Ford lower (done last week).

 

Forty Fords.... Yes The Truck Is A 4x4. And The Waranty Is Still Good. It Goes In Wed.

Boxcar1974.... Removed The Say Bar All Together And Took It For A Test Ride...still Made The Noise.

Pretty Much Narrowed It Down To Ball Joints...just Seems Crazy They Would Be Shot Already..truck Has Never Seen Anywhere Near The Abuse It Should Be Able To Take.

Thanks Guys For The Input...

 

dont forget about the stabilizer links and bar bushings-also a common area for noise

 

A loose cab mount bolt can also make a thump noise in the footwell when hitting bumps. However, if your friend already looked at your truck and said the balljoints are bad I would probably start threre (I'm assuming he actually looked at your truck and didn't just hear the symptoms and say ball joints).

 

yep, I posted ball joint problems with my '05 F350 DRW with 22K miles last fall. When speaking with FORD customer service, they deny ANY problems with ball joints on these vehicles. I had to go to an independant tire shop to find out why the steering was loose and the front tires were wearing VERY VERY badly as all the FORD dealers denied there was a problem with the ball joints. Finally a Ford dealer that specialized ONLY in trucks agreed that the ball joints were dangerously loose! As the truck was under warrenty, they would only replace the ball joints with Ford OEM parts(no grease fittings). With the ball joints and tires replaced we were once again happy truck owners for a short time.

Now we have 49K miles on the clock and again its seems that the ball joints have loosened up! Note this is a vehicle with only highway/suburban miles on it. We have never been off roading, plowing snow or driving it through big city pot holes. FORD boldly makes the statement of what kind of vehicle you purchased by putting in big print on the windshield "SUPER DUTY"!

Are the Moog ball joints with grease fittings the solution to these problems? Its seems that the OEM F350 ball joints do not have grease fittings. Further we have been looking at the new '08 F450's and noticed that the ball joints on these trucks have grease fittings. Since we initailly expected to get many trouble free miles because Ford truck are built "Ford tough" (NOT), we held off replacing the truck. But since this is now the second time for the ball joints we have been investigating replacing this truck with GM, Dodge or the new Toyota 1 ton with a CAT diesel I'm told to expect in the next year or two.

Does anyone have first hand experience in resolving the premature ball joint failures on this vintage truck ??

 

I have yet to find out. I drop my truck off tomorrow morning for mine. I know the GM at the dealership and i'm not anticipating any problems but i'll let you know. As with you i have never done anything other than drive my truck on pavement. This truck has not even seen snow. I know it says "Super Duty" but it's just a toy for me to drive when i'm not working.

 

My truck is pavement driven daily 100 miles round trip highway miles back and forth to work. I just replaced my ball joints at 95,000 miles.

Truck unfortunately still out of commision due to large axle seal installation problems. Seal installation tool enroute to me as I speak. Should have tool by tomorrow and will finish truck tomorrow night.