Replacing Front Ball Joints On A 2000 Gs300...need Your Help Please...

[LSUMatt1514]

I took my wife's 2000 GS300 into a local Firestone service center today to have new tires put on it and the front end aligned. I get a call about three hours later from the manager (whom I know and definitely trust) and he tells me that both of the lower ball joints on the front have over 1/4" of play in them and that they need to be replaced ASAP. He contacted all of the local parts stores (Advance, O'Reily, NAPA, etc) and noone had them. We're stuck until Monday. What I need to know is this....

1. Are the ball joints sold separately or do they come as part of the control arm assembly?

2. Just how much fire are we playing with by driving this car with this much play in the joints? I just read a post about a guy who's '98 had a front lower ball joint fail causing the tire to turn 90 degrees, him to wreck, and 7k worth of suspension and body damage.

I've contacted the local dealer and hope to hear back from them on Monday. I'm not going to let my wife drive the car out of town on the interstate on Monday knowing this. I'll drive it on my 25 minute commute to work and pray nothing happens. The Firestone manager told me about $130 in labor if he could just replace the joints themselves, but over $500 if they had to replace the entire control arm assemblie and the joints. Needless to say this hit me completely out of the blue. Thanks for the help guys.

Matt

[SRK]

I know that you trust this guy, or at least hope to trust him. When a ball joint has 1/4 inch of play, it is a serious failure, and not likely to have happened in the other one. A small amount of play will slowly develop over time in both, but not something that serious in both equally. A 1/4 inch is a lot, and normally at that point the ball will pull out of the socket on a "pull type" joint.

I believe the joint is part of the control arm. Not a big deal to replace. The arm comes out easily.

Get your car away from that mechanic, or at the very least have him demonstrate the play and observe it yourself, between the steering upright and the arm. I don't believe him. If he is good he wouldn't have bothered to call Advance or O'Reilly or whatever - he would have known these parts are OEM only. He didn't know that, and that's enough evidence of his skill and experience for me.

[menappi]

Never trust a mechanic, but yeah have him show you that they are messed up. Quick goole search pulled up results for 2000 gs300 ball joints, so I assume you can buy them aftermarket. Is it lower or upper. personally I wouldn't drive it, the ball joint basically holds your suspension together, if it goes then everything crumbles and you crash.

[LSUMatt1514]

Thanks guys. I was able to pick up a couple from Lexus-parts.com. Cost me $123 for the ball joints and $40 to overnight them to me. That still came out cheaper than the local stealership here in Birmingham, which by the way now shows up as a sponsored link on Google (Tom Williams Lexus). Shows you just how much cash they are raking in. They are the biggest bunch of crooks you'll ever meet. Anyway, even wtih the extra shipping it was still $70 less than Tom Williams for the same OEM parts. No I'm not comfortable driving the car...that's why I've driven it to work the last two days and my wife drove my 4Runner down to Montgomery from Birmingham. I'm getting them replaced in the morning and getting the new tires as well. Thanks guys.

Matt