balljoints and inner tie rod ends

[Paully's5.0]

How hard are they to change?
How much have you paid for parts?

I just got quoted $600 for parts and labor, and I'm pissed right now.

 

[FrdMustangCpe]

i dont think they are too hard to change. but you'll definately need an alignment. so if you go with those guys, see if that price includes one. Are yours bent, or worn, or ??

 

[raph130]

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[Paully's5.0]

I was quoted $97.84 ea for ball joints from carquest

Inner tie Rods $60.50 ea

labor at $50/hr for approx 4 hrs (he said he esitmated on the high side)

what brand ball joints?

 

[raph130]

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[87'GTstang]

$600!! jesus. noooo a clutch job would cost that much for parts AND labor. your getting ripped off. this is something you can do yourself easily.

rent or buy a tool to pop the balljoints out. you wont need an alignment if you mark on the threads where the tie rod was. both a tie rod end and ball joint cost $30 each. whats wrong with your tie rods? they are solid metal. unless its bent you dont need another one.

still to do all in parts if $120. $480 for labor??? thats insane. what is that $50/hr for over 9 hours of work? that should take no more than 1 hour by a good mechanic. where i live mechanics charge $35/hr. its very simple to change balljoints and tie rods. please have a friend you. you will be proud.

also i dont think inner tie rod ends are replable. they are built into the rack. you would need a new rack.

You WILL need an alignment whenever you change anything on the front suspension. You do not need a new rack when replaceing the inner tie rods. Remove the boots, pop out the rivet, then unscrew the tie rod from the rack and outer tie rod, reverse removal procedure, then GET AN ALIGNMENT! I don't know where you live or who chages $35/hour for labor but if Joe's car shop can make any money off of it and do a good job, then power to them. The average going rate for a shop nationwide is between $60-$80/hour.

Do yourself a favor however though, something shops do is markup value on products. Go ahead and get your parts you want put on then take them to the shop and have them install them. $400 would be a reasonable price when all is done and considered, $600 isn't outrageous but by today's standards it isn't out of the question.

 

[87'GTstang]

$90 for a ball joint? what kind of mechanic did u go to? go to autozone or napa. it take literally a min to pop out a ball joint once you have the tires off and maybe the caliper for more room. me and my friend change his rack out for a manual one and had to use new different kind tie rods because the originals dont work for some reason. never even got it aligned and it goes straight and doesn't pull to any side whatsoever. we used a ruler to measure how far apart the tie rods were.

I'm sorry to slam your backyard mechanic's method of alignment, but you said the word ruler. In the world of computers and precision instruments, angles are measured by as much as a thousandth of a degree/inch (the more common for your everyday alignment being a hundredth). So if your ruler can measure at the least a hundredth of an inch and be dead on......

When all is said and done, down the road "x" number of miles, your friend will begin to see the excessive wear or patterns try to develope on his tires.

 

[90mustangGT]

That is way too much money. The prices are too high and 4hrs, does that include lunch?

The ball joints can be hammered out and in. The inner tie rods requires a specail tool, but not that specail.n Shop around.

 

[87'GTstang]

That is way too much money. The prices are too high and 4hrs, does that include lunch?

The ball joints can be hammered out and in. The inner tie rods requires a specail tool, but not that specail.n Shop around.

The special tool you are referring to is a giant tube with various C-clip looking inserts. It is only used with an impact gun and makes it very easy and a snap, however it isn't necessary but rather a luxury. They only things you really need are a punch/chisel or a hex wrench, depending on what type of tie rod fastener is on the tie rod to hold it in place. The other tool, no other than at least a monkey or crescent wrench. To knock a ball joint out, it can be as easy as taking a small sledge hammer to it and beating downwards on it. But, I suggest you rent a press to pop it back into the lower control arm. It isn't needed, but makes it a lot easier, just watch where you swing the hammer if you don't use it though.

Now, if you do both of these things yourself and try to get the alignment as much back to center as possible, you can drive to an alignment shop with no long-term tire damage. Even when I did mine and tried to get them as close to center as possible (which it sure went straight) so I could go align it, As soon as I got my initial readings I had .63 on the left and .81 on the right when spec is I believe between -.10 to +.15. Now don't quote me on that because I have done too many alignments and it has been a long time since I did a mustang and all cars varry. Anyway, if you do it all yourself and include the parts and renting of the ball joint press tool and an alignment, you can expect to spend around $150.

 

[JesseR]

i did mine in less than 1 hour on a sunday morning before going to church. its childs play.

 

[JesseR]

i did mine in less than 1 hour on a sunday morning before going to church. its childs play. sorry but its true

 

[Paully's5.0]

Well I have been looking at it seems that it's just easier to get a new rack from napa, and be close to the same price as buying two new inner tie rods.

My roomy actually has a balljoint press, so thats cool.

Now just need to look around for a decent ball joint. Mustangsunlimied has them for $25.00, then I have seen some moog ones for $50.00, then of course the ones quoted at $97.84. Would the 25.00 ones be just fine?

 

[Paully's5.0]

i did mine in less than 1 hour on a sunday morning before going to church. its childs play. sorry but its true

Thanks for ****ting on my thread assclown.

 

[Scorcher2005]

we changed tie rods on a lincoln cont. or ford crown vic - w/e it was in auto shop for a teacher for the first thing we ever did. If a bunch of inexperienced kids can change 4 tie rod ends in less than 4 hours, im sure a mechanic can. O yeah, the total cost for the teacher was only like $100. Cost of parts and no labor.

 

[Nagash01WS6]

Fly Wheel, A-Arm Bushings, Outer Tie Rods and Ford Motorsport Ball Joints ran me 350 at my local shop.

~80 for the Ball joints, the ones that are higher like the steeda x2's for lowered cars.

 

[ponycar17]

whats wrong with your tie rods? they are solid metal. unless its bent you dont need another one.

Haha, nope... They are ball and socket fittings. I just replaced one on my 2.3 because it had maybe 1/32ths play. That was causing massive tire roar when I put on brakes because 1/32ths at the tierod is way more at the tread edge of your tire.

To check inner tierods you can simply try to move the tire left and right with the car jacked up. If you hear clicking with no steering column movement, then it's bad...

And for what it's worth, a ruler is useless... I measured presisely the position on my inner tierod end compared to the out tierod, and it was still wrong... At the alignment shop, the toe was way out... It's especially bad if you replace the inner tierod end with an aftermarket unit, that may or may not have the same thread depth into the collar that goes on the steering rack...

 

[raph130]

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[raph130]

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[87'GTstang]

Well I have been looking at it seems that it's just easier to get a new rack from napa, and be close to the same price as buying two new inner tie rods.

My roomy actually has a balljoint press, so thats cool.

Now just need to look around for a decent ball joint. Mustangsunlimied has them for $25.00, then I have seen some moog ones for $50.00, then of course the ones quoted at $97.84. Would the 25.00 ones be just fine?

You don't want to go cheap on a balljoint, these things have a heck of a lot of sideways thrust and endure A LOT of force during a turn. Moog is a good company and not a cheap one so their quality isn't poor. Basically if you can walk in to autozone or advanced or whatever and pick one up with their usual lifetime warranty, then you should be set if obviously, the part should fail.

 

[87'GTstang]

tie rods dont get worn out. ball joints do. im the 3rd owner of my notchback. theres 170,000 miles on the body and suspension. no rust no dents perfect paint. rack and ball joints and tie rods never touched and still no problems.

If it moves, it wears - simple enough of a concept.