[houstonquestion]

Had the ball joints and control arms replaced in my '97 explorer; now the front end feels loose when I run over 55-60...

The guys that did the work say there's nothing messed up and a guy at a tire store this morning said that it's not an unusual complaint for a Ford owner to find the steering feels odd after this work...

Is this all a bunch of poo, or is it reasonable?

Thanks.

[TxGreaseMonkey]

Don't believe the "line"--everything should be tight.

The problem is likely the nuts were not torqued to specs. Most outfits don't use a torque wrench these days; instead, they use air. The result is that fasteners are usually under-torqued or over-torqued. My bet is that the sway bar link, going from the sway bar to the strut, is not tight enough. Therefore, it beats away on the strut on every bump in the road.

Get a torque wrench or 15-inch breaker bar and tighten everything yourself.

Ball joint nut: 60 lb.-ft.
Tie-rod end: 35 lb.-ft.
Sway bar link-to-strut: 62 lb.-ft.
Control arm to frame (front): 98 lb.-ft.
Control arm to frame (rear): 85 lb.-ft.