William Rodgers Posted November 20, 2018 Report Share Posted November 20, 2018 (edited) I am hoping someone can help me out, I brought my car in for its yearly oil change/inspection and I am also finally getting the airbag recalls complete. While doing the inspection they said they noticed the Front Ball Joints were a little loose and they said it would be $1150 to change them because you have to change the ball joints and control arms at the same time. I told them not to do anything and to skip the inspection. Here is my question, does this make sense for a car with 23K miles? Maybe the age of the car has something to do with it? One more question if I am going to replace them is this an opportunity to upgrade? I am not an expert by any means as far as this is concerned. I am debating taking the car to Tasca so I can get this done, I also have a Watts Link that needs to be installed so they could do that as well, Tasca has done everything to my car besides yearly oil changes, I trust them more then my local dealer. Any advice or information you could provide would be appreciated. Thank you!!! Edited November 20, 2018 by carnut12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jer Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 $1150? Definitely go elsewhere. Jer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobradad Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Shop rate ($120/hr) is what kills you. We got a quote of $2100 and change to replace both lower control arms and outer tie rod ends on our '03 Cobra at our local Ford dealership . Bought the inner and outer tie rods and lower control arms and did it in the driveway. Then got a $100 alignment. Handles fine again. Clarence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSGT Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 The original 18mm ball joints are 1mm too small and wear fast. New ball joints/control arms from Ford are updated to the correct 19mm size, but only sold as a set. What you need is bumpsteer kit (tie rod ends) to correct the "lowered" geometry; to level the the compression angle to the proper position. And extended ball joints. https://www.americanmuscle.com/mustang-bumpsteer-kits-0510.html I also suggest doing a search here with "bumpsteer" for loads of info. This "upgrade" makes a huge difference in the handling. As for shops; I'd suggest someone who is more familiar with correcting the front geometry of your lowered car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Rodgers Posted November 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 11 hours ago, BlackSGT said: The original 18mm ball joints are 1mm too small and wear fast. New ball joints/control arms from Ford are updated to the correct 19mm size, but only sold as a set. What you need is bumpsteer kit (tie rod ends) to correct the "lowered" geometry; to level the the compression angle to the proper position. And extended ball joints. https://www.americanmuscle.com/mustang-bumpsteer-kits-0510.html I also suggest doing a search here with "bumpsteer" for loads of info. This "upgrade" makes a huge difference in the handling. As for shops; I'd suggest someone who is more familiar with correcting the front geometry of your lowered car. That is exactly the information I was looking for!!! I am so thankful I told them not to do the repair, I knew this forum would be able to steer me in a better direction. I got the car back today, at least I finally got the Airbags completed. It will be stored for the winter and I will deal with this in the spring so I have plenty of time to research above. Thank you BlackSGT for the information!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAI-Steven Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 3 hours ago, carnut12 said: That is exactly the information I was looking for!!! I am so thankful I told them not to do the repair, I knew this forum would be able to steer me in a better direction. I got the car back today, at least I finally got the Airbags completed. It will be stored for the winter and I will deal with this in the spring so I have plenty of time to research above. Thank you BlackSGT for the information!!!! I would also get a second opinion as what is the service techs definition of a "little loose". Keep in mind these "inspections" are a sales tool to increase shop work and I've seen some service techs get chastised for not finding enough "needed repairs" . Remember dealerships no longer make money selling cars, they make money in their service/parts department. So if they can take an airbag recall visit that pays hardly anything and turn it into a repair ticket that puts money in their pocket, they will. I don't like being so cynical but it is what it is when it comes to dealerships, they are there to make money. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Rodgers Posted November 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 46 minutes ago, SAI-Steven said: I would also get a second opinion as what is the service techs definition of a "little loose". Keep in mind these "inspections" are a sales tool to increase shop work and I've seen some service techs get chastised for not finding enough "needed repairs" . Remember dealerships no longer make money selling cars, they make money in their service/parts department. So if they can take an airbag recall visit that pays hardly anything and turn it into a repair ticket that puts money in their pocket. I don't like being so cynical but it is what it is when it comes to dealerships, they are there to make money. Steve Thank you Steve!!! It is odd that this claim is coming at 23K miles. They also did my inspection last year, which was only 500 miles ago, and found nothing. But that inspection did not include the timely airbag recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIKEBOY Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 This is NOT uncommon. And not even at 23K miles. The BJ’s (as was posted above) were “underdesigned” for our cars. There are much better replacements on the market.....shop around before you buy just anything. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAI-Steven Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 If the ball joints are wearing out at 23k that is a serious design flaw but there are enough owners saying so. Ford TSB at the bottom of this post was only good while your car was under warranty. $1,150 quote seems high especially when Ford claims it is a 90 minute repair including diagnostic time. Yes I understand factory repair times are notoriously low but this quote seems high. Perhaps the Ford Racing arms would be something too look at, good chance they are just repackaged assembly line parts but the price has to be better than the dealer parts price. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms-m-3075-e tsb09-24-16.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSGT Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 Additionally: the rear geometry of our cars are also off from the "lowering". You might look into getting the lower control arms relocated (weld kind) to flatten the tilted geometry. Launches will be more planted, and wheel hop greatly diminished. This will require a rear alignment as well, so something to consider while getting the front done. To finish correcting the geometry; the rear axle tends to shift to one side or another when lowered. My back end was 3/4 inch out. Just do a quick measure of your rear tire to wheel well lip on both sides to get an idea how far your rear end is out. This is corrected with an adjustable panhard bar, or if you really want the best; a Watts link. Do a search here for "Watts link" and "rear control arm relocation" for more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARALD KELLEY Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 I did new FR control arms and moog tie rod ends with Shelby Camber/ Caster plates some time back due to wear. Huge difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIKEBOY Posted November 28, 2018 Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 On 11/24/2018 at 3:24 PM, H0050 said: I did new FR control arms and moog tie rod ends with Shelby Camber/ Caster plates some time back due to wear. Huge difference. This^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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