I don't know, that's just what I ran into. I guess they wanted it done right and more money.

 

Okay a final update on my truck. I had a different shop check the toe and they did also looked over the front end. They said that the lower ball joint on the drivers side has a small hint of play and the inner tie rod on the passenger side has a little hint of play. Other than those two items the front end is still solid, and they did a full alignment on my truck. They actually said that someone put a small pinhole on the boot to grease the ball joints and it seems that it has worked out.

 

glad it worked out Skil. and i said it before, you CAN align a truck without the Cams on the upper a- frame. a lot of shops will say no, but i tell you it can be done, i have done it. also, how did FORD align it at the factory???????

 

I didn't say it can not be done. I said they (shops) would not do it. Read. I'm not here for a fight. I'm here for the discussion. I'm telling you my experiance.

 

Frankly.... Im weary of shops that try to scare you into getting service done that you dont need.

I took my 04 Heritage in to get new tires...only new tires... I wanted to get a set of tires that would hold up better on the washboard roads that I sometimes drive...the techs started poking around the front end as if I had asked them to...

Now mind you this is only a month or so after I bought the truck and it only had about 12k miles... so naturally I asked them what they thought they were doing?

Their response.."Well we noticed that it looked like your ball joints were bad so we were checking them....a truck this old should have its ball joints replaced with your mileage"

So I asked them..."Really...I wasnt aware that a 04 with 12k miles would need ball joints already"

The techs demeanor turned right around " Oh its an 04?" He hadnt even looked at the paper work short of 4 tires to know that my truck was what it was...he assumed that it was a much older truck and that it had higher mileage etc.

Long story short...I know never to go to that shop again. Glad it worked out and you didnt let em try and stick ya with something you didnt need.
-Chris

 

I had to replacce the Ball Joints in my 97 150 5.4 after 120K+ and they were very loose. No signs of trouble, but the tire shop would not aline it after new tires saying the joints were bad. They were. Changed my own at 1/3 cost or less.

For the sake of your safety and those on the road with you, get them changed now. To drop a ball joint at speed is not a pretty sight and the collateral damage can easly run several times the cost of the joints.

 

Obviously you didn't read my last post I made. I had it looked at a second time and the technician said they are in good shape and don't have to worry about replacing them yet.

 

On the 2002, the upper ball joint and A-Arm are all one piece..
its very simple to replace
the lower ball joint is pressed into the lower control arm, though

So, What I did was remove the lower control arm,
and I replaced the bushings and the ball joint and put it back on...
MOOG parts.. and $40 at the machine shop...
otherwise no real problem...
P.S. you have to remove the shock and slowly lower the control arm to release
the spring... do this slowly..the spring just falls out.. (it might hit your foot!!!)

Otherwise rebuilding the front end on a 2002 RWD F150 is very straightfoward...
The only suggestion I can make here is... use factory parts for the tie-rods
(the factory parts are lifetime lubricated - no grease fittings...no grease jobs
The aftermarket (MOOG) require grease fittings , and grease at every oil change..
the same with the ball joints, pitman arm and idler arm...
The factory parts cost alot more.. but no grease jobs!!!!!

Having done it all with MOOG, I would recommend using factory...
The grease jobs get to be a PITA after a while...

GOOD LUCK

 

This is true about greasing a front end is a pain. But the main reason the front end components go bad is because you cant grease them. The orginal grease sits in there forever and goes bad, but if there was fittings you can pump out the old grease and put fresh in. I would rather get MOOG parts over factory for this reason, esp. if you go through alot of water and mud.