Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Ball Joint Question

I brought my car in for an alighnemnt and they said the lower ball joints were bad, and there is no sense in alighning it right now. They disoverd after they got my new tires on.

They quoted me 140 for parts and 75 for labor is that fair?

Also when when I had the brakes done, rotors,pads everything. Could they have messed up the ball joints?

Thanks.

take it to a different shop. why the alignment? any problems with handling or tire wear? any noises or strange front end movements? why fix whats not broke. do not tell the new shop someother shop told you that you have some sort of problem because i bet that they will some how discover the same problem and now you have two shops conferming a problem you may not even have and then you are an easy mark for an unneeded repair. :rolleyes:

Steering Felt off but thats all I have felt. I may just decide to take it another shop.

I am going to do down right now. Think its to much to ask to see the joints?

Yes. Just ask them to do the alignment and check for potential problems. Most places chekc for problems first anyway, but it won't hurt too much to ask.

With new tires it seems to be worse. You can defintly feel something in the steering. The thing that I wonder is this only started doing right after I had those brakes fixed.

I don't see HOW but is it possible they could have messed them up? Over tighten something?

Thanks Again Appreciate the help

Getting a second opinion is a good idea. The lower ball joint is riveted to the arm, so you either have to replace the arm or drill out the rivets on the old ball joint and re-attach the new joint with proper hardware. $75 seems reasonable for the labor. The $140 part seems kind of expensive though. Might want to check with autozone or advance and see how much one costs if you can get it without the arm. If they are replacing the whole arm, both prices sound OK.

We have balljoints aval.......prices soon..TH

Thanks Terry.

Thanks for your help guys. I am going to bite the bullet and let the Ford dealer do it. I drove it 60 miles and is goes right to the left if you let go of the wheel.

140 for parts seems high but this may include arms. Local small garage would want to replace the whole arm.