'03 Ranger-4X4 Ball Joints- also tire choice

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 18:37:21 +0000, Xmttrman rearranged some electrons to form:

After replacing the sh*tty factory-installed Badyears with Michelin LTXs, and seeing the difference, I would not recommend Badyears to anyone.

but the tires cup on the

replace the Goodyears

Who told you that youi need ball joints? The tire dealer? Does he install them? Do the original tires have 60K on them? Ask them to show you how they checked the ball jonts. Take a look at

A lot of shops use the wrong procedure for checking Ford ball joints. In some cases I think this is just a lack of knowledge, and in other caes they do it wrong on purpose in order to convince you to pay for ball joints you don't need. Almost all Fords are the same - don't check for axial movement, radial movement must be less than 0.031". It is very possible your ball joints are worn, but if was my truck, I would be tempted to take it to an alignment job and have the toe in checked before paying for ball joints. Are the tires properly balanced? If they aren't properly blanced and/or you have worn shocks, cupping is likely. Over the years we have owned 5 Rangers and yet to have a ball joint replaced (and these are farm truck that spend a lot of time on dirt).

Ed