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bad left upper ball joint?

T

TechBoyJK

Lifer
took my car in for an alignment and tire balance because my car's steering wheel was vibrating whenI would slow down. Ive had this problem before and it was fixed by an alignment and wheel balance..

shop calls back and says they wont do the alignment because I have a bad left upper ball joint. $110 to fix. I asked them if they were for sure that it was bad, and they welcomed me to come look at it compared to the good right side and make the call for myself.

 
yeah, and?


Perfectly common parts to wear out over time. You don't say what the car is, or how old it is, nor hoiw many miles are on it. MOST newer cars have sealed ball joints that don't need lubrication, but many older cars do. Part of a good preventative maintenance program...
 
Is there meant to be a question here? Ball joints are common wear components, they need to be replaced periodically. He's not ripping you off. FYI, shuddering steering wheel during braking generally means out-of-round brake rotors, if the alignment doesn't help get them skimmed. Doesn't cost much, but perferrably get some new brake pads at the same time.
 
It happens. When DC switched manufacturers on thier ball joints they had a few years where they'd fail quickly, so some years got extended warrentees (10/100,000 mile) on the upper ones. I ended up getting all four replaced on mine, two the day before my 4 year/75k mile warrentee was up. (and the last day of work for the guy who handled the service paperwork). You can usually tell because the tires will wear unevenly and get a kind of a saw tooth effect on the tread. I also noticed with my larger than stock sized tires that they rubbed in new places. $110 definately isn't a bad price.
 
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
It happens. When DC switched manufacturers on thier ball joints they had a few years where they'd fail quickly, so some years got extended warrentees (10/100,000 mile) on the upper ones. I ended up getting all four replaced on mine, two the day before my 4 year/75k mile warrentee was up. (and the last day of work for the guy who handled the service paperwork). You can usually tell because the tires will wear unevenly and get a kind of a saw tooth effect on the tread. I also noticed with my larger than stock sized tires that they rubbed in new places. $110 definately isn't a bad price.
Click to expand...

Ya 110 is a steal if you ask me. Of course on the Dakota's we have rivited ball joints, your's may just be bolt in.
 
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