Hey all I have a quick question. I recently over the weekend had a run in with the curb at church at about 10mph and now the steering wheel is off to the right a little. I went to go and have the alignment checked on it today, I got a call saying that the ball joints are shot, both uppers and lowers. So they can't align the truck without doing them. The truck has 207,500 miles on it and the ball joints are still original. I bought the truck at 170k two years ago, and the wheel was straight up until Saturday when I hit the curb. I asked my dad about it and he said that if the ball joints were that bad the truck wouldn't hold an alignment. In the 37k that I put on the truck the wheel has always been straight. My question is, wouldn't the alignment gone out a while ago if the joints were bad?

 

If you have over 200K on the stock ball joints, I would definately replace them. The origional BJ's are prone to early failure on these trucks. Mine were replaced at around 50K-60K...

 

ATC is right, the ball joints are due. I would guess you could see some tire wear on the inner or outer edges in the last year. Thats what happens when the alignment or ball joints are worn. Also if you break from 60 MPH and noice a shall shudder or wiggle side to side, that can be the ball joints. The steering wheel being not centered means the tie rod took a hit, but that has nothing to do with old ball joints.

 

I know they are due. The thing is I haven't noticed any abnormal tire wear. When I do brake from 60 their is no shutter. I kind of figured the tie rod took a hit, I asked for the shop to align it but they wont with worn ball joints. I had my dad call a guy he used to work with. I just let him know to check the toe adjustment.

The alignment has been great up until hitting the curb. That's after two winters in MN. I have had the tires now for about a year and they have been wearing even.

 

you can do a simple toe in -out and let it go at that. i can do mine at home in 20 minutes. find a guy that will do that and forget the caster, camber, etc. will track down the road and steering wheel align. tell him to show you the ball joint clearance and you will change them later, but need a toe in job NOW.

 

I went to three shops and they wouldn't do a simple toe adj. because I had bad ball joints. They just won't do it. On top of the ball joints, to get an allignment you need some upper A-arm cam adjusters to get an alignment. You don't just replace to upper ball joint, you replace the upper A-arm. I did it all last winter, upper A-arm with cam adjusters, lower ball joints and tie rod ends at 120K . My front end felt fine also with a little tire wear. At 200K you need it done soon. Have your tie rod ends been changed out? They tend to come apart at 100K, so I'm sure they are new. The fornt ends on these trucks seem to wear out, but still feel fine while they do.

 

Does the front end squeak when you hit a bump or turn. I can't seem to find a 97-03 w/ over 100K miles that doesn't(unless the ball joints were changed). If it squeaks, then the ball joints are bad. And at 200K miles, they are bad.

99.9% chance the alignement was already off before you hit the curb, doesn't mean it was pulling, or steering wheel was turned, but do to old/bad ball joints, it would be off.

Since the ball joints need to be replaced, why not just replace them and have the truck aligned after.

 

Thanks for the input guys. My dad says to keep pushing them off, but I would rather get them done before it's really bad. My truck is my pride and joy, I do live at home with my parents and can take their car if need be but would prefer to take my truck.

I'll have my dad check with a guy he knows if they can just do the toe in. I know around here business is slow for repair shops and they'll do anything to make a quick buck. I do plan on changing the ball joints in the near future. Right now it's a little tough because I'm working two jobs, and trying to get the truck in is going to be a little difficult.

 

MBB -- the only noise coming from my truck right now is from the alternator bearings, which is really surprising, considering how blown the rest of my suspension is.

 

It does sound as if you have slipped a tierod adjuster. But true, most shops will not align the front end with worn parts for safety reasons.

 

Well I have an update. The truck is going in Thursday to have the toe looked at.

 

what i ment was, if the ball joints are a little worn and the alignment was "decent", and you ht a bump and bent a tie rod, then i would do a quick alignment to get back in the ball part. ----- now if you did not hit a bump, and the ball joints are shot and the tires are wearing bad, you can not do an alignment to "fix" the bad parts.--- lastly, you don not need cam adjusters to do the upper a-frame and ball joints. it might make it easier, but it is not necessary. i have done two F150 4 x 4 upper a-frames at home and done my own alignment, and no cams.-- uppers are very easy, lowers take a couple hours and are sometimes quite a bit of work, you just do the ***** on the bottom not the arm.

 

Careful...
Your opening a can of worms here...

Granted you truck ran fine until you hit the curb..
But Consider this. 100K miles ago you could have taken that curb with no
steering wheel movement at all!!!!!
So don't be lulled into thinking everything was cool...


Let me give you a STRONG cautionary tale on high mileage front suspensions...
And Yes. at 207K yours is a high mileage front end!

That alignment shop is saying what they are saying to cover their A$$
and for the most part..rightfully so...

Why?

Because at that mileage (never mind what the truck has done up to this point)
They can put 2 new tires on the front, align it..
and send you down the road, and 500 miles later, you start chewing tires and
go back to them screaming ... because something else gave out.. (tie rods, ball joints, bushing, idler arm, pitman arm etc...

This isnt what you want to hear I know... but...
At 207K your entire front end needs to be completely rebuilt...

I know , I know "THE ENTIRE THING?"

At that mileage...you will want to rebuild the entire front end...
not just a piece or two...

WHY?

If you don't... you run a very large risk of playing ring around your front end...
at the expense of tires,alignments + the part to be replaced
each time the next "old" part gives out...

A front end is only as strong as its weakest part..

If You put new ball joints on... the bushings go..
You put new bushing in.. the pitmarn or idler arm goes...
new tie=rods?..oops you need a new gearbox..
The sad story can go on and on...

and get this...

Each time it does your in it for an alignment and tires..plus the new part...

(NOTE: the shop won't align a car with worn front tires...
if the treads aren't perfect they;ll tell you to get new ones...
trust me on this...

Why? because there is no way to cover their A$$ if they align
the car with tire tread issues....

Cars are ALWAYS and ONLY aligned with new front tires
/ or in rare cases, tires with treads which have no wear patterns...
Alot of shops won't even align with used tires with good treads ...

My two cents here... good luck

 

A shop won't do an alignment without cam adjusters. That is the way an upper A-arm is adjusted.

 

Why not, I used to work at a shop, and we did alignments with out them, we did alignements on trucks with bad u joints, but warned the customer, it won't hold unless they replaced the ball joint(some replaced them, and others just didn't care and wanted the alignement done). We did a lot of alignements on vehicals with used tires also. Didn't matter to my boss. Money was money.