I apologize for posting in this section, but since this pertains to all generations of our trucks, I figured this would be the best place. I'd hate to miss out on the expertise of a 3rd gen owner by posting in the 2nd gen forum. Plus, I'm out of town and need some work done to my truck.

I'm staying at my wife's grandmother's house right now while I'm looking for a rental house in the NE Davis County, W Morgan County area. I thought I'd take my 1997 CTD 4WD down to a local tire shop to get the safety inspection done before I register my truck in Utah. Well, my right lower ball joint is shot, and the left lower ball joint has minor play. They gave me a quote of $69.99 per upper joint, $99.99 per lower joint, $275 for labor, $49.99 for an alignment, and $8.93 for shop supplies, for a grand total of $673.88 plus tax. I don't know if that's a good deal or not, but I can't really shop around in an unfamiliar area where I don't know which shops to trust with my truck and which to run away from. Any suggestions?

FYI - They said they use Moog ball joints, and they will be greaseable.

 

Call Ken at Wild Diesel I dont know if he does this kind of work but if he doesnt he will know who to talk to. (801)866-3688.

Hes a good guy and has an old ****** thats supposed to be upwards of 1500hp (5.9 Cummins of course)

 

Sounds like you are looking for a place to rent in my neck of the woods. I am in SW Weber county.

I have not priced that kind of work, so I don't know if that pricing sounds right or not. I try to do my own repair work when I can and if I have the time to get it done.

Try Six States at about 31st street and Pennsylvania ave. (399-1426) or Wilson Lane Service on 21st street and 1900 W. (731-1616) A lot of guys use and like these shops, If you decide to take it on yourself, they are also a good source for parts.

I also know of a couple of guys that do some mechanic work out of their personal shop/garage that have a good reputation. Let me know and I can PM you with their contact information.

 

Thanks for the recommendations. I guess swapping out ball joints wouldn't be that big of a deal, however, I've never done them before, and certainly don't want to be doing it in my wife's grandmother's driveway.

I did a quick google search for "moog ball joints", and got some prices. Uppers are $46.93 at autopartswarehouse.com, $53.13 at car-stuff.com, and $42.69 at summitracing.com. The lowers are $71.87 at autopartswarehouse.com, $78.07 at car-stuff.com, and $61.99 at summitracing.com. Depending on Big O's buying power, they may or may not be cutting a fat hog on the parts. Although, I don't know if they are on labor. An extra $50 or so spent on parts isn't going to kill me, plus I'd have the the convenience of having it aligned and getting the safety inspection done all at the same time. That is, as long as Big O at 5434 S Harrison isn't one of the shops I should be running away from.

I'll certainly give your recommendations a call and see if they can do an alignment and safety inspection too, and most importantly get a price.

 

I just had a bid on mine and Big O here was $278 a side and that included the alignment. He might have thrown in the alignment since I do business with him and my wifes oldest son dates his daughter.

 

I had an accident on my drivers wheel... and it blew the ball joints...

The insurance covered the upper and lower on the drivers side, the labor and alignment... but I paid for the upper and lower on the passenger side, and the labor (4.5 hours)... My bill for 4.5 hrs and parts for one side was $527.30!!!

So by simple math that would be $1054.60 + alignment + Shop fees + tax....


I'd say that was a reasonable deal!!! I thought I was getting screwed and called the dealer where the parts were ordered and priced out the upper and lower ball joints... and the mechanic actually charged me $48 less for them than I would have paid at the Dealership...

We originally went with the Moogs with greaseable fittings... and they were too tight... steering wouldn't recenter... that's when we went back to dodge parts... steering was fine then.... I sure would have liked the greaseable fitting though!!!

 

I wonder if the Moogs would have loosened slightly after 100 miles.

 

That is what we thought too... but I drove it to and from work 170 miles round trip... and it was squirly... all over the road and since I felt I was a danger to myself and other on the road I didn't want to chance driving it anymore like that... So we changed...

Sucks, because I have heard great things about Moog parts and their high quality... and again, the greaseable joints sure would have been nice... I just couldn't chance it any longer... I very well could have just gotten a bad set...

 

You can get Spicer ball joints for $60 a side, so those prices are very high. I would say Spicer and Moog ball joints are of the same quality.

 

Personally I don't think the price sounds too bad. How are your front axle universals? Good time to change those when you have it down that far....of course removing the axles on an older high miler you always have the possibility of disturbing the axle shaft seal....and creating a leak. The snoball of $$ can get rolling pretty fast on front end work.

 

Do the Spicer's have Greaseable fittings??? I have noticed a little weeping around the axel shafts... I asked the Mechanic... and of course, that didn't happen while they were working on it... "MUST BE NEW" But since it was an insurance job they wouldn't touch it... I just check the levels and will probably get to it on my 75k mile service... Not too far out!!!

 

I'm headed back home tomorrow. I'm going to have my favorite shop, All 4 Wheel Drive, in Corona, CA do the work. He primarily works on Jeeps, so what better person to trust with a Dana front end? He said he doesn't like aftermarket ball joints, and will only use Dana/Spicer. He'll do the job for $400 to $450. He already changed the inner axle seals 31,000 miles ago (surpised he didn't notice a ball joint problem then). Unless there is a significant amount of dirt in the axle tubes, which would allow dirt to get pushed into the seal when reinstalling the axles, there shouldn't be a problem with seal leakage.