Complete Suspension Needs Replaced

[Scratch]

Three months now as a T-Bird owner. Finally got around to taking the car into Bluebonnet Ford for an oil change and complete look-over.

Technician says the entire suspension is shot. Needs upper/lower control arms, ball joints; basically everything needs to be replaced. Service manager (owns a 2002 and 2003) says approximately $10K to replace.
Ouch..

MODERATOR UPDATE 2020- See this thread for suspension parts.

This page contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.

 

[barbarah]

I just had my entire suspension, etc., replaced. I went to Ford dealership near home. Service manager gave me an estimate of $3K. When done, using almost all Ford parts, it came to just under $3K. Using my Ford extended warrantee, I paid $500 out of pocket. I cannot explain the difference in prices. Maybe try another Ford dealership in your area. Hope you have better luck with second opinion.

 

[Scratch]

I just had my entire suspension, etc., replaced. I went to Ford dealership near home. Service manager gave me an estimate of $3K. When done, using almost all Ford parts, it came to just under $3K. Using my Ford extended warrantee, I paid $500 out of pocket. I cannot explain the difference in prices. Maybe try another Ford dealership in your area. Hope you have better luck with second opinion.

Thank you. I'll get a few more estimates...

 

[Quickdraw]

Take the car to a good mechanic and get an estimate for a fraction of the cost. And don't be surprised if the mechanic says you don't need to do anything. There are rubber boots around all these joints and they are prone to drying out and cracking. Most Ford dealers want to replace everything when the rubber boots crack, many (most?) other mechanics will say there isn't a problem until these joints actually wear or become loose. But $10,000 is TOTALLY out of whack unless maybe you have over 200,000 miles on the car. I know many people who have done this work themselves for under $1,000 in parts or paid more like $2,000-$2,500 at a Ford dealer.

 

[red]

Scratch: What is the mileage & year on your T-bird?

 

[Scratch]

Scratch: What is the mileage & year on your T-bird?

2002; garage kept and lots of TLC, but 130,000 miles...

 

[Scratch]

Take the car to a good mechanic and get an estimate for a fraction of the cost. And don't be surprised if the mechanic says you don't need to do anything. There are rubber boots around all these joints and they are prone to drying out and cracking. Most Ford dealers want to replace everything when the rubber boots crack, many (most?) other mechanics will say there isn't a problem until these joints actually wear or become loose. But $10,000 is TOTALLY out of whack unless maybe you have over 200,000 miles on the car. I know many people who have done this work themselves for under $1,000 in parts or paid more like $2,000-$2,500 at a Ford dealer.

Yep. He said the rubber grommets were all shot. I can understand that after 15 years & 130,000 miles, but to say the entire front and rear suspension needs replacing is questionable in my opinion...

 

[Quickdraw]

Yep. He said the rubber grommets were all shot. I can understand that after 15 years & 130,000 miles, but to say the entire front and rear suspension needs replacing is questionable in my opinion...

one owner had about 60,000 miles on his car and had the ESP warranty. The Ford dealer REFUSED to repair the torn rubber boots saying that there had to be a problem with the joints themselves before they would repair them under the warranty. Other Ford dealers use the torn boots as an excuse to replace everything. The boots themselves are not available separately and are only sold as an assembly. Try another Ford, or better still, a LINCOLN dealer to give you an opinion. Dealers often use the oil changes to manufacture items needing repair. The closest Ford dealer to me is famous for BS diagnoses of non-existent problems. I always have Ford do "the works" oil change special for $39 that includes tire rotation and inspection of a bunch of items (40?). The oil change before my last one I was told I needed brakes and the mechanic recorded 2mm of pad left. Although I intended to get the brakes replaced elsewhere I procrastinated and 5,000 miles later I went back for The Works oil change and NOTHING was said about brakes, the mechanic recorded 6mm of pad left on the same wheel that the other mechanic recoded 2mm. Although they never mentioned the brakes they said I needed tires... I'm used to it ALWAYS being something needing repair according to them.

 

[David S]

Three months now as a T-Bird owner. Finally got around to taking the car into Bluebonnet Ford for an oil change and complete look-over.

Technician says the entire suspension is shot. Needs upper/lower control arms, ball joints; basically everything needs to be replaced. Service manager (owns a 2002 and 2003) says approximately $10K to replace.

Ouch...

Way to much. Even if you bought expensive parts 2k for parts would be high. It's roughly 1 day labor - if you're a mechanic with a lift.

 

[red]

Similar experience with my 2005 under 50k and the Ford dealer said I needed to replace most of my suspension. My family mechanic said to ignore them.

 

[Scratch]

I have an appointment with a local, well-reputed shop next week. They'll go back over the car and give me their opinion concerning issues that should, or need not be immediately addressed. It may need a little (or a lot of) work, but of all the sporty vehicles I've owned, and there have been many through the years; I enjoy this roadster more than any of its predecessors. The body and interior are in awesome shape and I'll eventually get the oil leaks, suspension, radio etc. back to ship shape. Thanks much for all the comments and advice.

 

[captrick]

Try taking it to a good front end shop they are specialists in front ends. If it needs to be replaced they will tell you so and you don’t have to pay extra for a front end alignment. They also align the rear ends. Good Luck Rick

 

[airflyer]

Here is the main issue. The rubber boots once cracked allow road dirt and moisture into the joints with the result being almost immediate damage to the joints. This can become a safety issue. I have an 04 with 32k on it and yup age alone reduced the balljoint, trailing arm and even some of the rubber bushings on the control arms to dust. When I took them apart you could easily see the damage caused by dirt and moisture and I live in sunny so.CA. One other note is that almost all suspension parts are labeled as Jaguar as the cars share many of the same parts. Look for parts from a discount OEM source like Tasca and you will find updated OEM parts for less than aftermarket. The new parts have better quality seals etc... The other point is that this is really easy suspension to work on. Parts for the job should run 1700 total so 10k is WAAAAAY out of line. Once you have picked a mechanic or if you decide to diy make sure you have a service manual. The job is easy but there are very specific tricks before disassembling and final torquing to assure proper ride height and suspension travel. Easy but have to be done to get it right.

 

[Scratch]

Update: Yesterday morning, I took the T-Bird to Hillside Auto Repair, a highly reputed auto repair shop near my home. I asked the owner to look the car over top to bottom; then advise the major issues that should be addressed. He called today to say that the oil leak should be addressed first by replacing the valve cover gaskets (I knew this). He said the A/C compressor is also leaking and needs to be replaced (I knew this also). He stopped there. I then asked him about the suspension. He said he looked the entire suspension over, test drove the car, and concluded that there is no problem at all with the suspension, including the rubber gaskets/grommets. Total parts and labor: $1500 + tax, including veteran's discount,to remove & replace the valve cover gaskets ($350) and the A/C compressor ($1200). He's repairing the oil leak now. I'll take 'Rudy' back in the spring to resolve the A/C problem. Lesson learned.

 

[steelers12]

I have owned my 2002 T-Bird since new and it only has 5,000 miles. Always garaged and never driven in rain or snow. In the process of replacing the fuel pumps and was advised and shown that all my suspension rubber boots around all the different joints are drying out and cracking and should be replaced. Of course with only 5000 miles all the various hardware parts(control arms, ball joints, etc.) are all okay and I just need the rubber boots or seals. Is there someplace where I can just get just the rubber items without purchasing the rest of the hardware? Any help you can give would be much appreciated.

 

[fdf3280]

I just had all new brakes put on my 2004 Merlot Bird and noticed that the control arm boots are dried out and cracked. My mechanic told me I should replace them to prevent any dirt and grime from getting into those joints. I've searched high and low but all the Ford sites don't show the boots only its the complete suspension.
Does anyone know any aftermarket dealer that sells the boots only. Please respond and Thanks.

 

[tj1]

Take a look at suspension.com. Universal dust boots.
I replaced the front toe link boots, upper ball joint boots all around with these polyurethane boots.

 

[Threebird]

Yep. He said the rubber grommets were all shot. I can understand that after 15 years & 130,000 miles, but to say the entire front and rear suspension needs replacing is questionable in my opinion...

I purchased a 2002 bird it has 77,000 miles it was used as a daily driver and the suspension is shot,. Front end cost me $800 in parts (I could have gotten cheaper parts but you get what you pay for) it cost $300 to have my local mechanic install then $72 to have it aligned . I have yet to do the rear.

 

[tj1]

 

[tj1]

Picture of new upper ball joint dust boot installed.
Possibly a better option than replacing entire components that are fresh except for the dust boots.