today took 2008 f150 4x4 supercrew in for new tires replaced orig bfg tires with blizzaks for winter.truck has only 56,000 klms on it dealer says need to replace upper control arms due to play. have company vehicle so this truck does not get used once every 2 weeks for an hour and half drive to cottage, its not taken off road or driven hard ,it still looks like new. is this common to happen with such low klms or what could cause these parts to fail , my brothers has over 110,000, 2010 with no failure . any thoughts on this.

 

Likely it is the upper ball joint that us had but you cannot purchase just the ball joint. You must purchase the entire control arm.

It happens.

 

I just replaced them on my truck. I agree with Dirttracker; The control arms themselves are probably good but the ball joints probably have too much play. Annoying the the whole UCA has to be replaced but oh well.

 

www.am-autoparts.com has some awesome prices on the replacements.

 

Mighty low mileage for that to happen. No it is not normal. I would take the truck to another shop for a second opinion. A local repair or tire shop with a good reputation.
Or, you can check it yourself. YouTube has videos of almost any job you want to do:

 

I had to replace mine around 80 000kms. Cheap and easy to do though took maybe an hour and half to do both

 

Yes, the front end components are very weak on these trucks. Look at the dust boots on your ball joints. If they are already cracked and torn you might as well go ahead and replace the ball joint. I'd recommend Moog or Raybestos Professional grade replacements since they use polyurethane boots that are less prone to cracking. The upper ball joints are integral to the upper control arm, but you can replace the lower ball joint by itself (it's a bitch...). It's a good time to evaluate your front shocks as well, since you have to remove the shock to remove the upper control arm anyway. Bilsteins are great upgrades.



-Mike

 

Yeah, it seems common. I had to do mine around 55k miles.

 

We carry Icon and Total Chaos and will give you a 10% discount code if you are interested. www.F150Lifts.com

Thanks

 

What ever you do, make sure you get greaseable ones on the new ones..that's one thing that contributes to the oem ones wearing out faster.