Hey guys quick question... I went to the dealer yesterday for a recall... they said my lower ball joints are dangerously bad. Can I get an opinion of someone who isn't trying to make $400.00 off of the deal.. Here is a photo... I can get new ones for around $50.00 and pretty sure I can do it myself.. but it is cold here and I don't want to try if it isn't absolutely necessary...

THANK YOU in advance!


DONT MIND THE SALT... I know its not good!

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They look a little old, but that's about it.

 

Do they clunk or grind when you drive? If so then they need to be replaced, if not, they're ripping you off. They don't call it a stealership for nothing.

 

Why would you take your 17 year old car to a dealer for anything??

 

Because some people tend to like to have "professional grade" maintenance done on their vehicles rather than sending them to Smith Bro's down the road. Everyone here isn't a super-enthusiast.

 

Grab your hub assembly at 6 o'clock see if you have any play .

 

if it's a recall at a dealership, it should be free.

 

Perhaps it was a recall for a different issue and they discovered the "bad" balljoints while repairing the recalled issue.

 

touché.

 

Raise the car off the ground. Put your hands at 12 and 6 o'clock and see if there's any movement in the up/down direction. If you have any movement at all, the joint is bad. You should have zero movement. Don't take risks with this. I had a ball joint break while driving and its not a pretty sight.

 

with that much salt everywhere, I suspect you should learn how to do this, as you are going to be replacing dozens of other things soon that some Texans and Arizonans have never even heard of going bad.

 

lift the wheel and put a pry bar in between the steering knuckle and lower control arm where the ball joint is and pry up. if there is play, its bad.

 

Yes... I was at the dealer for a Airbag recall... so there was no charge... Otherwise I would not have gone... as far as the car being old... to be honest the body still looks like it is less then 5 years old....

The Ball Joints were BAD... I had quite a bit of play with a pry bar, it took me about 3 hours to switch them out... the hardest part was fitting the new ones in... But I still and getting a clunk around corners tho...

Thanks for your help guys!

 

axles.

 

I like recalls at the dealer where they do a thorough inspection for free.

 

Did you inspect the upper ball joints, the ball joints on the outer control arms (between steering knuckle and inner control arm) and the inner control arm? I replaced the grease boots on the outer control arm ball joints. I discovered movement of the knuckle with the steering rack locked. The outer ball joint ends were fine, however, the inner ball joints were worn excessively. The boots on the steering rack were both in bad shape and needed to be replaced. I replaced both inner control arms (they screw into the ends of the rack and the outer control arms screw onto them) at the the rack boots at the same time. My steering is amazingly tight and feels like it did the day I drove it off the showroom floor. The popping an clicking noise I noticed when I was turning the steering wheel is gone.

It is very possible the outer constant velocity joints are also worn. Are the CV joint boots broken, leaking or missing?

I hope this helps.

 

I know those feels. Ball joints going bad? Nah, not here.

Op, since you've replaced your ball joints already, I would lean towards sway bar end links. Is the clunk on quick bumps?