ball joint check
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Junior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
From: St.Louis area
ball joint check
Sorry my wife had a garage sale that got rained out and my chilton is hopelessly buried somewhere under all that crap.
I have a 99 Expy auto 4wd with 80,xxx miles. The drivers side tire is wearing on the inside. I suspect the a ball joint may be bad. I've never even rubbed a tire hard, so until I can rule out the ball joints I'm ruling out the alignment.
How do I check the joints for excessive play ?
I have a 99 Expy auto 4wd with 80,xxx miles. The drivers side tire is wearing on the inside. I suspect the a ball joint may be bad. I've never even rubbed a tire hard, so until I can rule out the ball joints I'm ruling out the alignment.
How do I check the joints for excessive play ?
Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,931
Likes: 180
jack up under the A frame so the tire hangs in the normal position. dont jack under the truck frame where the tire hangs real low and will bottom out the spring and put a load on the ball joint. i use a 4 ft 2 x 4 to stick under the tire and lift up and down 2-3 inches. look at the ball joint while doing that.
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
From: St.Louis area
Thats what I thought. Thats howe I was taught years ago. I had tried that before I posted, but detected no play. That's a good thing, I think. At only 80,xxx miles, I would have been more than a little disappointed in Ford if I had to replace ball joints already. I guess it's time to have the alignment checked. The kid did use the truck a few times, hard to say what she may have done.
All other tires are wearing well, no shake in the wheel, tracks well if I let go of the wheel. I do sometimes feel a slight shift when I make a hard turn coming out of a parking lot. That could be the hubs trying to lock in due to the difference in axle speeds I guess.
Any other suggestion that I can check myself, before heading to the shop ?
All other tires are wearing well, no shake in the wheel, tracks well if I let go of the wheel. I do sometimes feel a slight shift when I make a hard turn coming out of a parking lot. That could be the hubs trying to lock in due to the difference in axle speeds I guess.
Any other suggestion that I can check myself, before heading to the shop ?
