I have an 04 F250 2WD CC and I want to know the correct way to check for worn ball joints. Jacking up the front end and putting a bar under the tire produces less than desirable results. Do the factory joints have wear indicators and if so what do I look for?

TIA, Tim

 

Popular method here is to jack up a front wheel, then grab the wheel at the top and the bottom and try to move it back and forth. If the wheel moves on that vertical axis you need new ball joints.

 

I dont know if this is ball joint or what, but i have an 06 fx4 and this morning i went to get in the truck and noticed a yellow substance that has started to come out from behind the plastic hub covers. Of the five spokes on the lariat wheels the fluid has run down three of them. Anyone have thoughts on this? Is this the beginning of problems or did some cat take a perfect **** right on the hub and it dripped down while driving?

 

its the front left wheel

 

Did it stink?

Sounds like a dog lifted his leg on your truck.

 

I tried to get a smell but i have a stopped up nose. I guess will get a buddy and try to get to the bottom of it. If that is the case that dog is good! What color of fluid should i be looking for if there are any troubles on the rise on that region of the truck?

 

Brake fluid is reddish, a little thicker than water. Not uncommon to see on a front tire, but a bad sign. Get it fixed ASAP!

Axle/Differential lube is dark brown and very thick like pancake syrup. You might see some on a front tire, if a seal has failed, but rare.

The hub will have some grease, which can be green to blue to yellow to red to off-white, it can ooze out of a failed seal, but it'll be like peanut butter, almost a solid.

Sometimes you can have motor oil up around the front tire, if you get a good oil leak and it sprays all over creation, but you'll smell that long before you notice oil on your tire.

The only yellow fluid I can think of is engine coolant, which shouldn't be leaking from a front tire.

 

As what redford says.Also a poping sound when turning wheel at low speed.

 

I am not sure what you mean by less than desirable results, but this is the correct method to check the ball joints. It requires 2 people to do though, one to operate the bar and one to lay on the ground and stick your head up close to them and look for movement. Just grabbing the tire and rocking it does not generate enough force to duplicate movement. Think about it like this. These trucks weigh several thousand pounds. That means that as it is going down the highway the truck is bouncing up and down with, in excess of, several thousand pounds. Early on, you will hear poping, and feel some wobble, but it takes the full force of the truck bouncing up and down to simulate the movement. Now, just grabing it by hand and rocking it you can generate at the most, around a hundred pounds or so of force. Not to mention, you can see the movement before you can feel it in your hands. From what I have seen, if you can rock it by hand, your joints were toast a LONG time ago.

Another indication is tire cupping, and this is the first thing that clues me to look at ball joints. If the tires are cupping across both sides of a given front tire, the ball joints are very likely toast, and the only way to see the movement is with the bar method. I have found that by just shaking it, there was no movement.