Lower ball joint replacement vs Control arms ? Is it worth it ?

Yotaman · November 12, 2021

I brought my 2014 GMC Sierra SLE in for a tire rotation today and they summoned me to the shop area. The lower ball joint on the passenger side has about 1/16" or so slack in it. The guy says it is not that bad yet and truck has 77K on odometer. They quoted me about 700 bucks to replace both lower ball joints. I called another shop I usually use for mechanic work when it is more than I want to handle and they was 900 something. So after some googling and youtubing etc I found that I can get from Rockauto both the upper and lower control arms with ball joints installed for about 220.00 these are the Mevotech brand. Is it worth it to just have the ball joints replaced or wise and easier to just replace both control arms ? Any danger or quality issue getting away from the OEM control arms ? I am just collecting data to make a decision on which way to go and if I want to do the work myself or buy the parts and pay a mechanic to do it.

And the truck still drives fine so I wonder if they are really bad are maybe they just pushing a upsell ??

Thanks,

Yotaman

CamGTP · November 13, 2021

I wouldn't even bother with that minimal amount of play. Check it again in 5-10k miles and see if it's the same or worse.

I'd go with MOOG or Delphi/AC delco before going with Mevotech. The Mevotech line of parts aren't bad but the better or OEM parts on rockauto aren't that much more money. You do need to know what controls arms you have now though. They make aluminum and steel and the material the knuckle is made out of matters too.

Yotaman · November 13, 2021

Thank you for the advice and I will check them again after the first of the year. I have read a thread where Moog is not what it used to be as it is what I always used in the past. The OEM to me has only lasted 77K miles so I am not sure any are better than the others. My arms are steel as I did check. Thanks again for the advice.

Yotaman