$650...seriously?

[mmrseed]

Does that sound legit? $650 to replace the upper and lower ball joints on the front of a 2wd expy? gross

 

[tonydiv]

It looks like the lowers alone are $85 each.

Can't remember, do you have to change out the whole A-arm on the 2wds? If so, they're about $60 each.

How many hours of labor did they figure?

 

[seeker]

Does that sound legit? $650 to replace the upper and lower ball joints on the front of a 2wd expy? gross

For that kind of money i would be getting several written quotes with detailed info.

 

[KWT2000]

i was quoted $500 parts labor and alignment on a 4wd

 

[mmrseed]

see mine doesn't even include the alignment which they aren't charging me only because they just did the lower control arm 5 days ago and aligned it then and it isn't fair to charge me again for an alignment. I wish I was more mechanically adept and could fix these things myself but I put headers on my expy and that was the biggest pain in the butt and I just don't have the patience for this kind of stuff so....joy...I pay for it. This is the whole reason i want to sell my truck. It is REALLY getting expensive and frustrating lately

 

[KWT2000]

my .02

its all part of owning a vehicle e erything will need work sooner or later... as for doing it your self you would need to get the ball joint service tool $40 but a 2wd would be easy compared to a 4wd think of the money you could save

 

[JUST4FUN]

i'd ask my self this, what kind of shop would do an alignment on a truck that needed balljoints. i have done them before, and t6hats part of the shake down. i would be looking for another shop.

 

[KWT2000]

i'd ask my self this, what kind of shop would do an alignment on a truck that needed balljoints. i have done them before, and t6hats part of the shake down. i would be looking for another shop.

i agree... thats exactly why i dont let shops do work i can do my self

 

[mmrseed]

I wish I could do the work myself. Taking the ball joints out and replacing them seems pretty straight forward, but messing with the brakes to get to them is something I have no experience in. Either way, I think I'm getting hosed because ball joints cost about $45 dollars each so i am paying $500 labor. 8 hours to swap out the ball joints AND supposedly they are not charging for the alignment because they should have caught it the first time?

Anyway, the drama continues because while the uppers are GM parts from the 88-98 1/2 tons (ewwww, there's a chevy part on my ford) NOBODY knows what ball joints fit the lower. Not Ford, not fabtech....I'm waiting on the place that installed the kit 4 years ago and 2000 miles away to try and figure out what they put on there.....hmmmm, I've always liked Land Rover Discovery suvs...I wonder how they are on repairs jk I would only swap this out for a Bronco

 

[KWT2000]

the only way to learn is to do it... i dont know about fabtec but rough country and tuff country use factory ball joints and control arms with aftermarket spindles

 

[nvycrmn]

i know this doesnt really help you but i agree with KWT. if you want a lifted truck, you pay the price. and you will have the same problems on a bronco but probably more, cuz its older. anytime you lift a truck, the front end takes a beating so you will ALWAYS have this problem at some point or another. good luck with gettin a better price. have you checked out 4wheelparts or anything like that?

 

[seeker]

"I've always liked Land Rover Discovery suvs...I wonder how they are on repairs "- QUOTED FROM MMRSEED

Stay away from those things. Buddy of mine works at a dealer and even the new ones are junk. The shop averages 1 tranny a day under warranty. Brakes are stupid expensive. Consumer reports puts them last in most categories.

 

[mmrseed]

yeah, thanks for the heads up. I really really like them (the discos) but have not heard anything good about reliability and repairs are expensive. I also want a four wheel drive so I'm leaning toward a bronco, those I really like. I don't want to jump from one truck I'm mad at to another. Just venting I guess when my truck has spent more days last month in the shop than out of it and I've spent about as much on repairs in that time as the whole truck itself is worth....grrrrr

 

[KWT2000]

did you find a ball joint for you truck

 

[mmrseed]

yes, thank you. Took 5 days but we found it. I even took a picture of it and emailed it back to the installation shop in california and asked them what it was....their response? "Yep, that looks like one we would use." No kidding, I told them that, I wanted to know what brand or type and they never got back to me so we figured it out without them. Weird thing is, my truck seems almost an inch taller now. I've heard that lifted suspensions "settle" after time and I'm wondering if spending all that time working on the suspension put it back at its original lift height. Is that possible or is it in my head?

 

[KWT2000]

good to know your back in business!!! im assuming it was on a lift for 5 days im sure it will settle again