Hey may name is Stacie. I have a 1995 Ford Explorer 2WD 6 cylinder. My truck has been making a roaring sound and having a vibration. I am going out of town next weekend and thought I should have the front end aligned and the tires rotated and balanced before I go and that would fix the problems. When I took my car to the tire shop they told my that my front tires where damaged and that my ball joints needed to be replaced. They want $321 to do it. Well, as you can probably guess I don't have that kind of money right now. SO my question is how hard would it be to change out the lower ball joints myself?

(This post was edited by dixiechic on Oct 9, 2009, 6:07 PM)

It would be very hard. They are pressed in and it requires a special portable press to get them in and out. They aren't going to make your noise go away anyway. If the noise is being caused by irregular wear in the tires, then have them balanced and rotated and do the alignment after the ball joints are replaced which you can put off a little while. That should help with the noise and vibration. The damaged tires that are on the front will make a lot less noise on the rear and it will begin to correct the irregular wear.




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Thanks for the reply. I went ahead and let them rotate and balance the tires but the guy said they wouldn't do the alignment until I fix the lower ball joints. He said I shouldn't drive it until I get those fixed. I can rent a ball joint press at the parts store, but is a complicated job?


(This post was edited by dixiechic on Oct 9, 2009, 6:07 PM)

It's not real complicated but it does take some brute force and the coil spring can be a little dangerous. It's a pretty dirty job too.




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(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Oct 9, 2009, 6:53 PM)

Thanks I think I am going to give it a shot this afternoon.