Ball Joints SHOT.

[SlowSonoma]

Should i spend the money to get em repair and how much should i look at paying for it to get new Ball Joints installed on the truck?

I dont know whether to take it to a car dealer and get the cash for clunkers money. I really dont want to but the girl is getting expensive. I have a nice list of everything that needs to get fixed.

I need to:

Replace the bed
Paint the new bed
Replace the Front bumper
and
Replace the wheels.


Dont buy Coys Wheels i learned the hard way. they bend on every little bump in the road. On top of that the finnish fades quickly.

[spideyjected]

What year?

[T Man]

A little info would be nice......we dont all inherently know what you drive

[CowardlyDawg]

Cash for clunkers haha, Thats just me tho, If you can find everything cheap then go that way

[SlowSonoma]

its a 1999 GMC Sonoma.
4.3L

I had one shop quote me 1209.00 to fix.



http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/123/l_7915a39605f48aec4b7e2174eba05fc0

[trusconi]

i thought cash for clunkers was out of funding.

[T Man]

2wd or 4wd?

[SlowSonoma]

2wd

[T Man]

Do you own a floor jack? If so jack under the lower control arm, and holding the top of the tire and the bottom of the tire. Have someone watch and see which balljoints are moving. They are actually pretty easy to replace if youve got access to a grinder or even better air and a die grinder or cutoff tool

[SlowSonoma]

its all 4 and im in co with no tools so no i cant do it

[T Man]

1200 sounds a little high, but I dont know what labor rates are around there. My shop is 60/hr. To do all 4 its about a 8-10hr job (book time) if memory serves me right. What is the shops labor rate?

[SlowSonoma]

it was a brakes plus shop so not a REAL mechanic ya kno? I was just in for an alignment. and the minute it lifted hte front end of the vehicle of the ground you could see the tires tilt inwards with give.

[SlowSonoma]

shops around here are probably about 80 dollars an hour. it needs a tie rod too. and an alignment.

[T Man]

Depending on where he lifted it (frame vs under the suspension) the tires should tilt inward when its lifted. If he lifted under the frame then he had no business checking the balljoints. Be wary about alignment guys selling you suspension parts. While most are honest, many see that as an easy sell. Suspenison and alignment is the easiest money to be made while working in a shop. The work books well (pays a lot for book time) and is easy to do. Example. Typical alignment pays 1.2 hours. Most take 45 minutes to do. Add on to that maybe an outer tie rod. Pays another .9 of an hour, takes 10 minutes. Its not a dishonest way to make money by any means. Its just the nature of the beast. For a mechanic, its hard to stay ahead of the ball. Its the only job that doesnt pay you to be at work, just pay you to work. Imagine telling an apple picker that they will get paid per apple, not per hour.

[SlowSonoma]

ya it was lifted by the frame and i know the suspension will drop wen its lifted but if you grabbed the top and bottom of the tire you could wiggle it in and out an inch top to bottom.

[T Man]

could be wheel bearings. Take it to another couple of shops, be up front, tell them you want a quote on the suspension. No one says you have to stay with the first shop. No one says you cant take to to every shop in town.

[SlowSonoma]

the truck has 113k miles on it shouldnt i get em replaced anyways?

Im going to take it to a shop tomorrow i once brought the guy my jeep to get the wheel cylinders repalced and i had the parts with me and he did it and i helped for no charge first time i met the guy so i feel hes pretty honest.

[T Man]

Why replace it if you dont need it?

[SlowSonoma]

i guess. very tru.