Ball joint question
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 111
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Ford Owner
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,073
Likes: 138
From: Wichita Kansas
most likely you will need an alignment. When you have bad ball joints, it is impossible to get your truck into alignment. So after replacing them, the adjustments they make in the Camber (top of tire pushed in or out toward the motor) or Caster (wheel tilted forward or back) should be adjusted to get it perfect. The final adjustment, toe in, (front of wheel pushed in) is made at the tie rod ends.
Since you are doing the ball joints, I trust that you have checked the tie rod ends to make sure they are OK also. If pushing on these and you see any movement or if you feel a "clicking" you should replace them. They are low cost and easy to change (they cost less than the cost of an alignment). If the tie rod ends, they will cause your toe in to move around thus effecting the handling of your truck and wearing out your tires.
Since you are doing the ball joints, I trust that you have checked the tie rod ends to make sure they are OK also. If pushing on these and you see any movement or if you feel a "clicking" you should replace them. They are low cost and easy to change (they cost less than the cost of an alignment). If the tie rod ends, they will cause your toe in to move around thus effecting the handling of your truck and wearing out your tires.
Last edited by Frank_Ford; Feb 16, 2015 at 09:11 AM.
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 834
Likes: 89
From: Ontario
most likely you will need an alignment. When you have bad ball joints, it is impossible to get your truck into alignment. So after replacing them, the adjustments they make in the Camber (top of tire pushed in or out toward the motor) or Caster (wheel tilted forward or back) should be adjusted to get it perfect. The final adjustment, toe in, (front of wheel pushed in) is made at the ball joints.
Since you are doing the ball joints, I trust that you have checked these to make sure they are OK also. If pushing on these and you see any movement or if you feel a "clicking" you should replace them. They are low cost and easy to change (they cost less than the cost of an alignment). If the ball joints are bad, they will cause your toe in to move around thus effecting the handling of your truck and wearing out your tires.
Since you are doing the ball joints, I trust that you have checked these to make sure they are OK also. If pushing on these and you see any movement or if you feel a "clicking" you should replace them. They are low cost and easy to change (they cost less than the cost of an alignment). If the ball joints are bad, they will cause your toe in to move around thus effecting the handling of your truck and wearing out your tires.
