I have a 98 explorer, 130k, SOHC, 4WD

The car shop told me my lower ball joints needed to be replaced.

$450.



Does Jiffy Lube check for this stuff? I dont have a spare $450 right now. I just bought a friggin house 3 days ago!

Help if you can.

thanks.

11/14/2006 3:59:13 PM

also, if Jiffy Lube told you that you need ball joints, and all there were supposed to be doing was checking oil and what-not, i'd be sorta suspect...i'd want a second opinion.

i would just call around to different auto places, my personal fall-back is always Firestone. ask them "how much do such and such cost for a 98 explorer yada yada" and the guy will shoot a price to you. get it into Firestone and usually they'll check it out and tell you if it's bad or not without charging you.

[Edited on November 14, 2006 at 4:06 PM. Reason : .]

11/14/2006 4:05:19 PM

no way it should cost 450 for ball joints unless they are made from titanium or something

or some special design for your car

my 90 accord i got them replaced for like 50 bucks a piece

[Edited on November 14, 2006 at 4:06 PM. Reason : ]

11/14/2006 4:06:17 PM

If you have balls you can replace them yourself for about $100.

11/14/2006 4:06:27 PM

I didnt take it to Jiffy Lube, I was just wondering if they check that stuff, because methinks you would have to take off the tire, and I've never seen Jiffy Lube do that in an inspection.

11/14/2006 4:08:01 PM

durr i just read the thread title, and you didn't pass inspection for this...

now i know why Jiffy Lube was checking your balls

tell them that you'll get it fixed on your own (i.e. somewhere else) and don't let them do it for that price. that's ridiculous.

11/14/2006 4:08:30 PM

what place gave you this analysis and cost?

11/14/2006 4:09:06 PM

search the web for the cost of just the parts, shouldnt be more than 25-50 bucks for a ball joint

labor is going to kill you no matter where you go but not 400 dollars for something that takes like 30 minutes to do

no you dont have to take the tire off to see the lower ball joints, usually they go bad whent he rubber seasl split and all the grease runs out... thats when they need to be replaced usually, and this can be seen visually from under the car

11/14/2006 4:09:21 PM

i just had this done on my ranger....it was right around $400. its so expensive b/c on Fords the lower and upper joints are conjoined...to replace the lowers you have to also replace the uppers, even if nothing is wrong with them. I would have been skeptical too, but my uncle did it for me @ his shop.

11/14/2006 4:10:20 PM

^figures ford making it complicated, had this done on my 90 accord and it was like 50 bucks a piece and that included labor

11/14/2006 4:13:26 PM

I've never heard of failing an inspection b/c of that, though

11/14/2006 4:18:08 PM

Panthro do you hear a poping noise from your front wheels when turning sharply?

11/14/2006 4:19:41 PM

no.

Would it be shady as hell to call Jiffy Lube and be like...

"Do you guys check for ball joints during inspections?"

11/14/2006 4:20:54 PM

If you don't hear any popping or otherwise wierd noises I would take it somewhere else for an inspection, then ask about the joints afterward......I recommend the texaco on six forks near north hills.

11/14/2006 4:33:44 PM

Quote :

"its so expensive b/c on Fords the lower and upper joints are conjoined...to replace the lowers you have to also replace the uppers, even if nothing is wrong with them"

wtf u mean conjoined? they don't come anywhere close to touching. They are the pivot points between the control arms and the steering knuckle. Normally they are pressed in to either the knuckle or the control arm.

Quote :

"Panthro do you hear a poping noise from your front wheels when turning sharply? "

that would be a CV joint not a ball joint

11/14/2006 4:40:56 PM

Quote :

"that would be a CV joint not a ball joint"

Mine made a terrible poping racket until I got my lower ball joint replaced.....then it stopped.

11/14/2006 4:50:24 PM

you cant replace the joint, you have to replace the entire control arm, so yes, its pretty damn easy to do, but the parts are fucking expensive

11/14/2006 4:57:56 PM

Quote :

"no way it should cost 450 for ball joints unless they are made from titanium or something or some special design for your car my 90 accord i got them replaced for like 50 bucks a piece "

man you dont know anything. a ford explorer is way different than a fucking accord. thats about the right quote. hell most of it is fucking labor.

11/14/2006 5:03:25 PM

just from a quick look . . . lower control arm w/ball joint is $100-$150 each. The also sell ball joints that they say are for the lowers for about $40. But you would have to currently have something that is pressed in and not one piece.

11/14/2006 5:10:00 PM

how do your tires look? that could have tipped them off to check the suspension.

11/14/2006 6:00:38 PM

Jack it up and see if the wheel has any play in it. If it's bad enough to fail you I'd think you should be able to feel some movement. Should also be shaking when you brake at speed.

11/14/2006 6:19:27 PM

they tried the same shit with my roomates car at jiffy lube and told him his transmission housing was cracked and leaking and needed $$$ to fix it. we both looked an didnt see anything but he took it to a shop anyways and they didnt see anything wrong with it as well. they should stick to oil changes and inspections.

11/14/2006 6:53:51 PM

anyone know a "slippy" inspection station that will pass tinted windows?

11/14/2006 6:58:59 PM

roll them down, you dont have to have windows to pass.

11/14/2006 8:34:25 PM

tried at one place, first thing they did was rolled them up, any kinda slack places up here

11/14/2006 9:46:09 PM

if you take it somewhere to get inspected and you have no maintenance record with them then they will check things like ball joints because it can be considered dangerous if they go bad and ur car wrecks. When i worked for toyota if people came in just to get in inspection we still had to put it in the air and make sure nothing is wrong with it before it could be inspected by the machine. Your either gonna have to pay to have it fixed or know someone who will risk losing their inspecting license if something happens that can be linked to them.

11/14/2006 10:08:53 PM

Quote :

"they tried the same shit with my roomates car at jiffy lube and told him his transmission housing was cracked and leaking and needed $$$ to fix it. we both looked an didnt see anything but he took it to a shop anyways and they didnt see anything wrong with it as well. they should stick to oil changes and inspections."

did you even read the post? the guy never said jiffy lube told him they needed to be replaced. He asked if jiffy lube checked ball joints when they did an inspection.

11/14/2006 10:13:29 PM

Quote :

"you cant replace the joint, you have to replace the entire control arm"

how can this be, they are one solid piece?

Quote :

"a ford explorer is way different than a fucking accord."

no kidding but a ball joint is a ball joint, but if ford is making it that damn complicated and expensive to replace i can see why Ford and many domestics fucking blow ass!

11/15/2006 8:32:03 AM

^ yes they are formed into the control arm, there isnt a separate joint, i've probably replaced 10-12 of them and it takes no time to do, its just expensive for parts

11/15/2006 8:38:07 AM

that is kind of retarded and a waste, if the ball joint goes bad you replace the whole control arm... gg ford

I could potentially see why they would want to do it that way, but on an explorer, what is the sense?

11/15/2006 8:47:20 AM

this is about as brilliant as Mazda making driveshafts with unreplaceable u-joints

11/15/2006 9:00:18 AM

count yourself lucky - I had to get a new control arm for my 951 - that's a $600 part...plus a couple of CV joints that came in over $300...and labor even at private shops runs around $100 an hour

walked out over $2k lighter

11/15/2006 9:11:56 AM

^^^ lighter and stronger

^ and ass raped

[Edited on November 15, 2006 at 9:13 AM. Reason : ]

11/15/2006 9:12:11 AM

yeah i mainly figured the design for being a lot stronger

but this is a ford explorer used for travel on the road here, not a hummer that we are going off roading with in the mountains, though i am sure some people would think they could do anything or go anywhere with an explorer

doesnt really matter, it is what it is, but it baffles me at times. maybe there is a solid reason why other then lighter, which that whole, what maybe couple pounds savings isnt doing anything, we arent designing a drag car or sports car here

[Edited on November 15, 2006 at 9:41 AM. Reason : ]

11/15/2006 9:40:29 AM

i'm still fucked.

I'm breakin down and calling Jify Lube.

those bastards dont check crap.

11/15/2006 10:38:07 AM

just because it passes doesnt mean its safe, i broke a balljoint a few months ago, and this isnt cool

11/15/2006 11:13:28 AM

^no kidding i just had one of mine do the same exact thing, luckily i was only going 20 when it happened and didnt cause any real damage to the suspension or wheel.

11/15/2006 11:14:35 AM

oh yeah - my butthole was a little sore...those prices I quoted are what I could have bought them for online - so it was a little higher at the shop

the worst part was they doubled charged my debit card when I paid, so for the next 4 days I had -$1k in my account...luckily wachovia didn't charge me overdraft on the auto-pays I had set up

[Edited on November 15, 2006 at 11:24 AM. Reason : .]

11/15/2006 11:24:14 AM