I own 2001 Ford 150F. I have always taken my truck to the dealership for repairs and service. Truck has 72000 miles on it. After the last visit to the dealer for service I was told that my front end ball joints were worn and will need to be replaced in near future. There are no tell tale signs of trouble with the truck when I drive. I like to know what is the typical life span of the ball joints and approximate cost of the replacement?
Sincerely,
Jas
Ball joints are wear items just like tires and eventually have to be replaced. However, the mileage at which they need replacement varies greatly depending on the type of driving you do. If you do lots of in-town driving the ball joints will wear much more quickly then if you spent most of your time cruising on the highway. 72,000 miles isn’t too soon for them to be showing wear, but without an inspection personally by someone on this board there’s no way to know how bad they are. It’s not hard to inspect them and quickly tell how worn they are-you might see if a local indpendent will take a quick peek as a favor, or for $10.
suspension parts are generally one of the items I never get from a dealer. the aftermarket parts are very good, may come with lifetime parts warranties that dealers don’t necessarily offer, and are cheaper. As DaveG said, see if an independent garage can verify what you need and get an estimate from them at the same time. Compare it to the dealer service price and then decide.