Cost to replace lower ball joint 98 Grand Marquis

Just curious - why do you think you need to replace the ball joint? Ford says to replace the joint only if there is preceiveable axial movement you do not need to chack for radial movement. I've seen a lot of shop encorage people to change perfectly good ball joints by demonstrating "play" in the joints that is actually acceptable. You might look at

F> Anyone hazzard a guess as to what it will cost me to have the right

I think this is a bit excessive.

I believe the last ball joints I bought were about $12-15 each. A dealership might charge you a lot more.

And it really doesn't take so long to install them.

Finally I am not at all sure that I would feel the need to realign the car, unless it needed it anyway. If I changed tie rod ends, struts, or pulled the A-arm to replace the bushings, then an alignment would be advisable.

After being charged $137.00 to change a bypass hose on my wife's Lesabre, I'm guessing that these guys will want about $300-$400 to replace a ball joint. They are good, but they are not cheap.

Also, I'm thinking that the ball joints are not bad, I think the noise is coming from the front sway bar connecting link.

Robert

I agree, while on a trip to the west coast many years ago I found myself in a Montgomery Ward auto service bay in Ventura CA for an oil change, and was promised 45 minute service. 3 hours later, the mechanic tells me that my Plymouth Horizon, with 33,000 miles on the clock needed tie rod ends (but they hadn't done the oil change yet). I told the guy that "I will have my dad look at it when I get back East". Unfortunately, the guy next to me in the waiting room was shelling out for ball joints on his 4 year old LTD with only 40,000 miles on the clock. I never did replace that tie rod end, though I did have to replace a ball joint -- at 125,000 miles.

Part List for $62.49 at Napa. Figure whoever replaces will charge around $100 plus 1.5 to 2 hours labor and probably a front end alignment.

Steve B.