Ball joints -How often
Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,725
Likes: 3
From: Florence,SC
depends on driving habits, terrain and so on. i used to do front end work and i did not see alot of early ball joint failures. i have had several trucks come in because of other shops stating failures, but i will check them and they are ok.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 939
Likes: 1
bowtiehatr..know theres alot of variables, but is there a average.
southbound, dont know how to tell on the diesel but in my gasser, you could hear a thud inside the cab coming from the front end. Also if you jack up the wheel so its off the ground and grab ahold of the tire and can rock the tire/wheel back and forth the ball joint is bad..
southbound, dont know how to tell on the diesel but in my gasser, you could hear a thud inside the cab coming from the front end. Also if you jack up the wheel so its off the ground and grab ahold of the tire and can rock the tire/wheel back and forth the ball joint is bad..
Last edited by SDTruckMan; Apr 29, 2007 at 08:25 PM.
Got Diesel?
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,345
Likes: 21
I have 94,000 on my '03 Excursion and my passanger is a little loose, but my dealer told me to check back in 20,000 miles (no charge) and see if it has gotten worse. Had a mechanic friend tell me (whe he checked) I could probably wait until 30,000 or so????
That's the only mileage I can give you for my '03 Excursion with 94,000 miles... and all is still OK (I rotate tires every 5,000 - 10,000 miles) and got 89,000 on my stock OEM BFG Rugged Trails with no abnormal wear.
That's the only mileage I can give you for my '03 Excursion with 94,000 miles... and all is still OK (I rotate tires every 5,000 - 10,000 miles) and got 89,000 on my stock OEM BFG Rugged Trails with no abnormal wear.
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,274
Likes: 1
From: Milroy, PA
my 2002 has 141k on them and they are still tight. It gets beat going to tower sites, but spends a fair amount on highway too. Our early 99 needed them around 120k, and it gets beaten hard, and plowed with, our other 2002 has had two sets, and hes around 160k now.
EDIT : these are all diesel, f250s aswell. (dana 50 fronts)
EDIT : these are all diesel, f250s aswell. (dana 50 fronts)
Junior User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
From: Abbotsford B.C
My 04-350 has almost 300.000 km and is due for a ball joint change i am told....Already had the lowers done at around 125.000 km......I was told when wheel is up and with a bar under tire ...there should b no play at all...is this true....both sides have very little movement.......thx guys
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Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,725
Likes: 3
From: Florence,SC
the best way to check for ball joint slop is to jack a vehicle up by either the arm or the axle so the wheel will be relaxed. put a pry bar under the tire and pry up while watching the ball joints, you might want to have a helper. ANY movemet is bad and dont let anyone tell you otherwise for your own safety. other manufacturers have play in theirs, but ford doesnt. now as far as a timeline on failures, i cant give that and i dont see how anyone else can. driving conditions and terrain play a big part of ball joint/front end damage. to me a little play will definitely turn bigger because it is rattling around in the socket and will elongate the hole. i may be over cautious with front end work, but i like to always be in control of my life, exspeacially with my vehicles.
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Elder User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 855
Likes: 5
Originally Posted by BowTieHatr
the best way to check for ball joint slop is to jack a vehicle up by either the arm or the axle so the wheel will be relaxed. put a pry bar under the tire and pry up while watching the ball joints, you might want to have a helper. ANY movemet is bad and dont let anyone tell you otherwise for your own safety. other manufacturers have play in theirs, but ford doesnt. now as far as a timeline on failures, i cant give that and i dont see how anyone else can. driving conditions and terrain play a big part of ball joint/front end damage. to me a little play will definitely turn bigger because it is rattling around in the socket and will elongate the hole. i may be over cautious with front end work, but i like to always be in control of my life, exspeacially with my vehicles.
As far as wear intervals, I can honestly say that I have not seen an 05-06 truck that has made it past 50k without at least showing wear. I don't work for Ford, but I am fleet manager for a comany that has 15 company owned ones, and about 10 privately owned ones that we maintain. Now, all of these trucks drive in Louisana and louisiana roads really stink, so we might just naturally wear them out faster, however, I have heard from many places that 50k is not uncommon at all as a benchmark for service life on the newer trucks. I can also say that on our older ones (99-03), We had several that almost made it to 100k, and some that even never wore out before the truck floated away...............now we will never know.
Senior User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 279
Likes: 0
From: Trappe Pa
I just replaced my original ball joints on my 2004 crew cab Power Stroke at 95,500 miles last month, with a set of Moog greaseable joints. The left lower joint was squeaking pretty bad when turning.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 102
Likes: 0
From: USA
2003 F250 Fx4 had to replace them at 30k. No off road driving ever... Upper and lower, steering stableizer, and both hub locking mechs as they were frozen. TG for ESP!! I had the extended plan as the truck was 4 years old at the time. Would has cost me about $3500.