Lower ball joints on Santa Fe

I just had both front lower ball joints replaced on my wife's 2002 Santa Fe at 45,022 miles. One year ago at 37,000 miles both front lower ball joints were replaced. Both jobs were performed at the same dealership. Is it normal for ball joints to wear out after only 8,000 miles? This is my wife's car. She does not drive the car off-road. She loves this car and treats it well. I asked the service person if this is something that other Santa Fe owners are experiencing and was told that she does not know. And that maybe they were bad parts. Any similar experience in this group?

Richard

Reply to
Richard
Loading thread data ...

I have a 2002 SF with 85+k and haven't had that problem at all. I would say you have something else out of whack, or else you are driving in some very odd conditions.

Kevin

Reply to
K. Collier

Two santa fes, 01 w/ 104k and 03.0 with 73k, and one ball joint has failed between the two (on the 01, at about 55k miles).

I suspect the other one is failing on the 01 now, but its not bad enough to call.

Hyundai wants a *LOT* for a ball joint, then they want like $7 more for the dust boot. Grr. Total nonsense. rockauto.com has (complete) replacements for about $18 USD last I checked. The replacement has almost 50k miles on it, and its still good.

JS

Reply to
JS

This has been a problem on the Santa Fes. I've seen it less on newer models, so perhaps you got parts from an old batch on the original replacement.

Reply to
hyundaitech

You mean Hyundai charges 2.5x as much for an inferior part?

:)

JS

Reply to
JS

Ooops, make that 4.66x as much.

Rockauto.com now wants $13.72 for the MOOG-brand replacement.

JS

Reply to
JS

Well, them's the breaks sometimes.

Reply to
hyundaitech

My warranty is good for 6 years or 72000 miles (as per the class action suit) so I have time to see if the current ball joints are any better than the previous ones.

Reply to
Richard

What "class action suit"? Also, is your cited warranty for 2nd owner?

Reply to
KWW

We are the original owners of the 2002 Santa Fe. The class action suit had to do with Hyundai misreporting the actual horsepower of their motors because of the US smog requirements. They offered a large group of owners a cash settlement ($125 I think), increasing the 10/100,000 to

12/120,000 or increasing the 5/60,000 to 6/72,000. We took the 6/72,000 offer.
Reply to
Richard

I think you made a wise choice. It's a pretty good bet that something stupid will break within that year based on the age or mileage on the vehicle. Chances of getting back you $125 or more in warranty work are actually pretty good.

Reply to
hyundaitech

It's nice to know that at least once in 56 years I made a wise choice!

Reply to
Richard

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.