What would an estimated cost of replacing lower ball joints on my 1998 Ford F150? I called a fairly reliable repair shop this morning and they gave me an estimate of approximately $365. This would include labor and the alignment.

I looked at NAPA online and found the lower ball joints at a cost of $40.
Is there that much time involved in doing this to explain all the labor or does this estimate have overpriced parts on it?

Thank you in advance.

CroCivic91

I can tell you prices for changing lower ball joints on a '90 Civic here in Croatia.

Original ball joints cost 42$ a piece. You can get a non-original for about 20$. Changing them costs 18$ per ball joint (that's in a Honda-only service shop here, which exists since 1972). Getting an alignment done is 20$-30$.

So, either that '98 Ford F150 is using some space technology with it's lower ball joints, or something is really fishy.

Oh, perhaps you should take into account that an average Croatian salary is about 8200$ a year, so perhaps use that to calculate the factor by which you should multiply my prices to get your prices.

Tommyp!972

they will remove tires from truck

unbolt the lower mounting bolts from shocks

unbolt the brake calipers

remove the rotors(not necessary but makes job much easier)

pull the spring out

undo any sway bar thats mounted

lower arm will hang

unbolt the spindle mounting bolts

secure the spindle from dropping along with the brake caliper

they will undo the tie rod end and pop it off the ball joint

then they will unbolt the lower arm from the frame

and then goto the press and press in/out the joints and then do all above in reverse to remount

takes around 1 1/2hr per side at whatever labor rate they charge
if you take to Ford their rate last time i checked here was $80/hr

so you are looking at around $240 or more for labor at the dealership

the joints are around $40-45 apiece x2=$90
so far total looking around $330 or alittle more

then they HAVE TO align the front...so thats somewhere arounf $50-$70

so far $380-$400 without tax at dealership

call your local dealership to ask what they would charge to do the job...SOMETIMES they might be lower but the price the guy estimated you sounds fair

...i do believe my brothers F-250 4x4 V10 at the dealer cost around $500 to do