schw8901

Hey guys i did a search and was able to get a little more info but not much on my specific question. 2008 FX4 ~70,000 miles with leveling kit and 305/65/18 BFG A/T's. I had it in the shop this AM and wanted to see if i could get an alignment done but they said they need to replace the ball joints and upper control arms first as there is some play in them. They said between the UCA's, ball joints, and tierod having some play my tires are starting/will start to wear on the inside (something about when the suspension is maxed out the UCA's contacting the tire, but rarely do i max out my suspension so this seems interesting to me) . Dont know how long the kit has been on the truck since i bought it with ~50,000 but this seems somewhat reasonable to me as far as wear on the parts with the kit, or no? Kinda a pain to deal with but not totally unexpected.

Anyway, my real question is since i have to replace this stuff anyway are there any aftermarket UCA's that will give me better clearance or be of any better quality, style, or function for me or should i just have the dealer replace the stock parts? I dont know much about this stuff at all as you can tell so just looking for a little advice/ suggstions. I figure between dealer costs and labor i could prob make my money go a little further by buying a better part directly and then just have them do the install. Quoted me ~$700 for the ball joints and UCA's

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

allinon72

Changing out the UCA is easy. I would suggest MOOG upper control arms as they have a greasable ball joint.