getblown5.9

he had a front end alignment a few weeks ago on his 04. the guy said to have the dealer check out the right front wheel bearing.

so dad took it in, today he got a call saying the truck needs a left side upper ball joint, right side lower ball joint, and both front wheel bearings need replaced to the tune of $1700 because his truck is 4,000miles out of warranty. well he told them to put it back together and he was picking it up. then he threatened saying he was gonna take the POS and trade it in on a new ford...I DONT THINK SO POPS

so anyway we are gonna get the parts and put them in ourselves...but i promise i wont let him trade it for a ferd...ill take it before that happens

MX429

If it needed that many front end parts, the guy doing the alignment should have been able to tell that when he inspected it. Either you need to fire your alignment guy for not seeing all the crap that was wrong or fire your dealer for trying to sell you crap that you don't need.

DieselTrader

Yeah...something sounds a little bit fishy to me.

PourinDiesel

My 2004.5 had a severely bad ball joint at 22k miles.

CSAGrey1

Ah we don't need no stinking ball joints. Steering is over rated anyhow

jdmh7500

Hey what's that loose feelin all over my front end. Oh yeah, all my balljoints and bearings need to be replaced. Couple hundred and some time. $1700 my ____.

Nate-03 D

Front end components can be a very fishy subject.

My pops just had both of his front wheel bearings replaced at 58k miles, I think he shelled out $700-800 or so for the parts and labor at the local dealer.

marksman

sounds like a dealer and they must have known you were a cod customer ( cash out the door ) . I have had the same thing happen and no vazzzoline. Look i would be sure you need what they claim and then do the work yourself. The dealer I used had no clue whats going on and he would not be able to diagnose a problem with multiple components without luck. And to top that off I talked to a service maneger at another dealer ( right nextdoor ) and he told me they only had 1 tech and he was leaving and only piut in few hours in the past mounths. He was trying to recomend a tech for me and kept calling finding they no longer worked there. ou might be mad about them and feel they are wrong, but you may very well be better off doing the work right and knowing it than wondering what they could have done. I like to use a spring and algmnt. shop cause they focus on one thing and they will see your new parts and know your not willing to be ripped off.

marksman

Oh and gm turned down my waranty on there 383 creat motor 1 ( one ) day out of waranty! months away for the 12 month part. Thrust bearing failed and it was with there transmission also under waranty. They had to install a new starter to diagnos it and even though I knew it was not bad I allowed it cause they would be able to replace 4k worth of motor .No dice and I had a $ 390. bill for the starter and a p.o.s. truck out front for pick up.

jrogers

If he thinks hes mad now wait till he gets a Ferd

Peterbilt

My truck began wandering. It was getting where I was nervous with someone in the next lane. Great, I need ball joints. We I thought I would try something that I did on another truck as a last effort. That was to drive slowly in a tight circle with the steering almost pegged a couple of turns to the left, then a couple of tight turns to the right. Drives nice and straight and I saved $1700.

Pete

slaveToHorses

That's a sweet fix! What's the theory behind that one?

Price_Dog

Sounds just like a conversation I had with the local delarship with my last truck. I took it in to the tire shop and had the tires rotated and aligned, then took it to the delarship for a couple things and they said my ball joins were "going" out and needed to be replaced and that my front passenger side wheel bearing needed to be replaced . . . along with the brakes they thought they could get me out the door for $2,700. Needless to say, the second opinion did not reveal the same thing.

PS - It was an '01 with 175,000 and wasn't having any steering or ride related problems.

Thomas

getblown5.9

well when he had it aligned at a private shop the guy told him that passnger wheel bearing was loose and would need replaced soon...everything else he checked out to be ok. this was only 3 weeks before going to the dealer. needless to say dad will be putting in his right front wheel bearing this weekend for $408 and we will double check the ball joints etc. but we also trust the alignment guy who said they were fine 3 weeks ago

100 Proof

This is a little too late to help you, but others might find this usefull. This was originally posted by rbattelle over on the TDR.

The 2003-up front hub/bearing assemblies are made by SKF, a bearing manufacturer. Do a web search on “E.B. Atmus”. They are a SKF dealer. Order part number BR930502. By all accounts, E.B. Atmus, has great customer service. The price per assembly? $168.74 plus shipping.

100 Proof