Upper/Lower Ball Joint Experience?

[3KDAD]

The '00 I just received as a gift is already costing me. After cruising on cloud nine the last two weeks adding to the 178K on it, the fuel pump died. Spent way too much money replacing pump and fuel relay today. (Don't ask!) To further strain my tax refund they tell me the upper/lower ball joints will need replacing. They said it wasn't a safety issue yet but would just wear my tires out for now. How much longer before it becomes a serious problem? What should I pay for the repair? They said the job plus an alignment afterwards would run $900-$1000. Hope I didn't take on another money pit!!

 

[toomanytoys]

I did my uppers and lowers myself and spent $250

 

[Bart Man]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ball...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Here is an Idea on what the parts will cost you , you didn't say if it was 4 wd or 2wd , the job is alittle involed but you can do it yourself if your handy, don't forget you will still need an an alignment! another 85 bucks! Moog makes the best after market parts but I dont know the cost, If the truck was a gift I'm sure a couple of bucks spent is still well worth it! it's a great truck! Good luck and I hope this helps

 

[walnuts4x4]

uppers not too bad they require the entire control arm but the lowers can be pressed in.... I did mine just last month and it wasn't too bad but good mechanic friends helps... I got mine at autozone and they all had grease fittings so hope they last longer... but leaving them will wear out your tires i waited 2 months on mine (when truck started to creak bad) and had bad wear on my front tires.... so had to rotate them and drive till the chop was out of them but at 350 a tire i dont wanna replace them soon... as for price I paid 75 bucks for alignment but price seems a little high but then again it is very labor intensive since your basically taking front end apart...

 

[aircargoo]

1st thing i did was entire front end and rear bushings with springs,tires,rims. felt great! that was 2 yrs ago....

now i take feeling for granted...its solid thou....no rattles or shakes.97 expy.

 

[AaronLG]

Had my lowers done for $200 including parts. Ordered the parts for my uppers. Trying to decide if I want to tackle it myself. A guy at the dealership will do it on the side for $60. Originally got quoted at a "friend's" shop to have it all done for $1600. Told him thanks but I'll pass.

 

[AaronLG]

Had my lowers done for $200 including parts. Ordered the parts for my uppers. Trying to decide if I want to tackle it myself. A guy at the dealership will do it on the side for $60. Originally got quoted at a "friend's" shop to have it all done for $1600. Told him thanks but I'll pass.

Did the uppers. Was a piece of cake. Just make sure to get the alignment kit to replace the original bolts if it has never had an alignment. Did them lastnight only to find out that it had to have the kit to be aligned and they wanted $250 to do it. Found them for $60 and did it myself tonight. Now I can take it back tomorrow to have aligned. So I essentially did it twice.