Some play in the steering, the inside or outside edge of the tire may be worn down more. Jack the wheel off the ground, grab the top and bottom edge and see if it has play in it. This means the ball joints are worn. Grabbing the sides and wiggling means the tie rods or steering linkage is worn. Front wheel drive only have a lower ball joint, the top is attached to the strut. Rear wheel drive have upper and lower ball joints and one or both may need replacing.
The vehicle may be hard to keep going straight down the road, tires will show signs of uneven wear, may hear clunks and snaps while driving and turning,
Wear on the inside of tires, squirrely steering, pulls to one side or the other, creaking and squeaking, metal to metal noises,
Some ball joints are pressed in and others are bolted in, it depends on your style ball joints.
Ball joints only really need to replaced when they are going bad. Usually you can tell if you put one hand on the 12 oclock position and the other on the 6 oclock position and try to wiggle the the tire. If it wiggles this way then ball joints are going bad. (Jack the vehicle up first). If you put one hand on the 3 oclock and the other in the 9 oclock position and wiggle it and it moves then the tie rods are going bad. If the whole tire moves in and out then the bearings are usually going bad. Hope this helps.
Ball joints are in the front suspension, it is basically what the wheel assembly pivots on when you turn. Universal joints are on the ends of the drive shaft in a rear wheel drive vehicle. At the transmission and rear end. They give the drive line some flexibility. The same principal is in front wheel drive but are referred to as constant velocity joints, or CV joints.
A bad ball joint isn't safe any way you look at it. Some major damage can happen if the wheel becomes dislodged from the chassis. The major component holding the wheels on are the ball joints, upper and lower, which hold the spindle that houses the axle. The spindle holds the wheel bearing, tie rod, brakes, wheel etc. You can lift the vehicle up by the front and check the wheel for play, up and down. There shouldn't be much, if any play. If there is alot of play then you shouldn't drive it much till it get's fixed. That's my opinion. Good luck.
call you local parts store. they are also sometimes very labour intensive to change
Yes, it can
Put the car on a rack and have the ball joints inspected by a professional if you suspect they are bad. Your car will dart from side to side and handle poorly if they are bad. This is a very dangerous situation so have this looked at ASAP.
BAD BALL JOINTS instuctions
they can be because your ball joint is the key to your steering and suspension if the ball joint goes that can be very bad
Eratic steering, uneven tyre wear, a distinct knockng sound over bumps. If you jack the front up and move the suspension/ steering by hand, you may see sloppy movement in the ball joints
Dry ball joints/suspension joints. Universal joints going bad. Worn brake pad "squealers".
Vibrating when accelerating.. clunking when hitting gas. Typical front wheel drive bad CV joint signs.
Bad shocks, ball joints bad, tires out of balance. More then likely shocks.
replace when bad
If you have a factory steering knuckle, ford designed them for the ball joints to not be removable. If you are thinking that your ball joints are bad for some reason, you will need to get after market steering knuckles, and ball joints for replacement. Costly, I know but worth it. I suggest MOOG, I've always have had good experience with them.
Low air pressure, hitting curbs, bad ball joints, bad alignment.
the ball joints are not serviceable.