Posted on 05/20/2010 11:18:45 AM PDT by library user
Hi, I have a question regarding ball joint replacement on a 1999 Bravada.
When I was driving home from work today, the upper ball joint on the front right side gave out and the tire caved inward.
The car is at the mechanic now and he said he would replace the two worn (upper) ball joints on the front wheels for $500.
But isn't it true that you should have BOTH the upper and lower repaired for each wheel that has an issue? In my case, the two front tires. So really it's a total of four ball joints for the two front tires.
For that he wants $900.
Isn't $900 too much considering we're only talking about the front of the car?
Can some auto-savy FReeper please clue me in on what they'd do and if these prices seem like a rip off to you?
Thanks a lot. And yes, I'm logged on. :P
sounds hugh and series, good luck
How many miles are on your ‘99 Olds Bravada?
Have you checked the headlight fluid?
142,000.
He wants advice on houses of ill repute? How odd.
the parts alone are probably $150 for both upper and lower. Then you need to figure out how long the “book” says that job takes to do times the shop’s labor rate.
And yes, I would do both upper and lower at the same time. It will save you a ton of headaches down the road...
There should be sites on the Internet to give you a ball park estimate of the costs.
Any time I replace ball joints on one of my 8 vehicles, I replace all of them, plus any bushings, tie rods, idler arms and pitman links, if applicable.
I do the work myself, though, so it’s just the parts expense and I can usually get them as a kit on Ebay or through an internet supplier for much less than a mechanic would charge for the parts.
It’s not much more work to do them all at once, since usually you have to remove one part to change another. I just don’t see the point of putting old wear parts back into service if I have to remove them anyway.
Plus, this way I only have to have the car aligned once.
I’ve a feeling the wheelbase needs an adjustment.
First replacing uppers and not both uppers and lowers is not unusual and is a lot less expensive than both.
Second $500 for the uppers alone is not bad.
Third a 4X4 is harder on the upper ball joints than the lower ball joints due to the stress of the front drive train and additional weight versus a non 4X4.
If the lowers don’t need to be replaced based on the recommendation of your mechanic then save the additional $400 and drive off happy.
BTW, my brother is a mechanic and a set of uppers runs about $800 to $1200 depending on the make and model of vehicle.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/myzone/profile/membershipBenefits.jsp
Autozone.com has repair guides.
If this is a job you think you can do your self, tell the Grease Monkey to stuff it.
Most likely you’ll save yourself about $500 or so by doing it yourself. It’s the labor, not the parts, that runs up the bill.
OK, thanks. I may not be having this car for much longer, so think I will just get the uppers replaced on both fronts.
This happened on my cousins brand new Saab once.
Lucky it was parked at the time.
He got the message real quick and got rid of the car.
OEM price of upper ball joints is $133.00 each, labor to install them is 1.1 hour each, depending on the labor rate in your area, the price the mechanic gave you is reasonable.
I’m not a mechanic but I would definitely replace the lower on the side that failed as it took some serious abuse when the top failed.
My Accord, which I bought new many moons ago, has 471,000 miles on its original engine and transmission, and is on its 4th set of lower ball joints. I commute everyday with it. I have never replaced the uppers. They just don’t take the same beating as the lower joints.
Even keeping in mind that your car is a GM product (never known for their durability), I doubt sincerely that your upper ball joints need to be replaced at 140k miles. I would replace only the lowers.
With that many miles, I would replace ALL the balljoints, if you plan on keeping it.
I don’t know where you live, but shop around for a price. In addition to replaceing the ball joints you’ll probably need a front-end alignment, and make sure your tires are balanced, and have the shocks checked.
Have you checked the headlight fluid?
Not forgetting the acid intake lines to the water pump.....
I own a repair shop and $900.00 is to much look else where.
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