Ball joint replacement

[bko4488]

What should be the ballpark for getting both the upper and lower ball joints replaced on an '06? I got quoted $1500 from the dealership which seems pretty outrageous.

 

[Jeremy556]

Not a bad price. MSRP on the parts is $1635, or you can get them online for $1225. The ball joints come as part of the upper and lower control arms.

 

[HokieRunner]

You can at least press in new lowers (and greasable ones too). Would run you may be $80 in parts and only takes a couple hours if that. You may be able to find a local shop to press in new ones if the arm bushings are in decent shape or diy (you can rent ball joint presses from some auto parts stores and there's a diy writeup somewhere around here.

The uppers may be a one piece assembly though in which case you'll need the whole new arm like Jeremy pointed out.

 

[bko4488]

Thanks guys. That makes me feel better about that price.

 

[Mr.emergency]

Any idea how hard it is to install a new ball joint rubber cover on the LBJ?

 

[HokieRunner]

Any idea how hard it is to install a new ball joint rubber cover on the LBJ?

It's fairly easy. jack up the truck, undo the two bolts on the lbj bracket and the lower control arm will be separated from the spindle. (Suspension will obviously be at full droop). Then remove the cotter pin and the lbj bolt, and use a puller to pop the ball joint/bracket loose. Take off old boot and install new grease and boot after cleaning the joint.

Reassemble in opposite order, torque to proper specs and use red loctite on the 2 bracket bolts. Another trick if you don't have an impact is to break loose those bolts with the breaker bar with the wheels still on the ground. Makes life easier than doing it in the air.

I actually have 2 oem new boot covers for the LBJ if you're interested (stealer ship gets like $30 each for them). PM me if you are and we can work something out. I was going to use them but when I got in there just decided to overhaul the entire arms and pressed in new ball joints.

 

[java]

I had new moog grease able let's pressed in. Way cheaper than buying new arms from the dealer, and are now grease able.