2011 dodge journey ball joint replacement cost

How Much Does It Cost To Replace Ball Joints?

• Updated: February 12, 2023

Ball joints are a main part of the vehicle’s suspension system. If the ball joints become damaged, the ride quality is quickly affected. For this reason alone, it’s important to have the ball joints replaced at the first sign of trouble.

In this guide, I break down the average replacement cost for ball joints. I also explain what makes this part so critical, and show you signs that the ball joints are failing. 

How Much Does It Cost To Replace A Ball Joint?

On average, a ball joint replacement should cost around $300 for parts and labor. The parts are usually between $100 and $175, while the labor could cost $125 to $200. If you take the vehicle to an independent shop, it will be cheaper than going to a dealership, or you could do it yourself.

Certain factors can alter the price. For example, if you drive a luxury car, you can expect the parts to cost more. Additionally, if other suspension parts need to be replaced at the same time, the bill is going to be higher. There’s always the chance that the upper and lower ball joints need to be replaced at the same time, essentially doubling the cost. 

To get your best price, it’s good to shop around. You can get quotes from multiple repair shops and choose the one you like the best. However, you don’t want to select a shop to work with on price alone. Make sure you also check the customer reviews and reputation. Sometimes, you pay more to go with the cheaper company, especially if more problems arise after the repair. 

What Is A Ball Joint?

The ball joint operates just as it sounds. It works as a ball joint would in your own body, such as with your hip or shoulder. The ball rotates inside its structure, moving in all directions, allowing the control arm and steering knuckle to rotate and move in unison with one another. 

Over the ball joints, there are normally rubber boots that provide protection. Inside this boot, there’s grease that lubricates the joint. It also keeps contaminants, dirt, and dust to a minimum. If dirt gets into the joint, damage can occur, keeping the ball joint from providing the suspension support it needs to. 

When you drive your vehicle down the road, the wheels encounter bumps. Because of the ball joints, the wheels can move but still remain planted on the road. If the ball joints weren’t working, the wheels could come off of the street surface when the car hit a bump. 

Additionally, the ball joints rotate the wheel assembly whenever the steering wheel is turned. Because of the ball joints, the wheel assembly can rotate as well as move vertically. In some vehicles, there are upper and lower ball joints, but a few vehicles only have lower joints. 

Bad Ball Joint Symptoms

1. unusual suspension noises.

When everything is running as it should, there won’t be any strange sounds occurring when you hit a bump. However, when the ball joints fail, you will start to hear a clunking sound, especially on uneven terrain. 

This sound indicates that the cushioned material in the joint is wearing or worn out. What’s left is a metal ball that rolls around inside the compartment without any cushioning. It creates a metal-to-metal sound that most describe as a clunk. This sign indicates that complete failure is imminent. Don’t wait any longer to have the ball joints inspected. 

RELATED: 5 Symptoms of a Bad CV Joint (& Replacement Cost)

2. Steering Wheel Vibrates

As the ball joints begin to fail, there will be some noticeable vibration occurring in the steering wheel . When operating normally, the ball joints fit snug, so there isn’t any play in the joint. As the ball joints wear, there’s much more play.

Since these joints are connected to the car’s steering knuckle, you will notice a vibration that gradually gets worse. Your best bet is to have it replaced before it causes any more trouble. 

3. Uneven Tire Tread Wear

If you’ve had the wheels aligned and tires rotated but are noticing one is wearing faster than the others, the ball joints could be the problem. As the ball joint wears, the tire it’s working with can fail to move up and down appropriately over bumps.

With excessive play, the tires can wobble or bounce more than normal. If you don’t have the problem repaired right away, you could be looking at replacing a tire on top of having the ball joints replaced. 

RELATED: Inner Tire Wear – Causes & How to Fix it

4. Pulling to Either Side

You know the ball joint is wearing down when the vehicle starts to drift from one side to the other . Because the ball joints are meant to keep control over the vehicle, one going bad can lead to increased activity in a negative way. However, you might only notice it at first when you are traveling down the highway.

The drifting shouldn’t be as noticeable when you are on a city street. Because you will be traveling down the highway at faster speeds, this is a dangerous situation. You don’t want to lose control over the vehicle. 

How Often Do Ball Joints Need To Be Replaced?

You won’t find ball joint replacement listed as part of the regularly scheduled maintenance. That’s because they only get replaced if there’s a problem. In general, you can expect the ball joints to last around 100,000 miles. However, if you drive on smooth roads, they could easily last longer.

On the other hand, if you live down a dirt road or you are regularly traveling on imperfect streets, the ball joints could fail prematurely. Of course, the other suspension parts will need to be replaced more frequently, as well. 

How to Check for Bad Ball Joints

If you want to diagnose the ball joints yourself, there is a simple test you can perform. The main reason you would run this test is that you have noticed the symptoms we listed above. 

• Park the vehicle on a flat surface.
• Engage the parking brake. You could also put wheel chocks behind the back tires, just to keep it from rolling.
• Jack up the front of your vehicle. Secure it on a durable set of jack stands.
• Grab hold of the bottom and top of your tire. 
• Rock the tire in and out, moving along the axis of the wheel. You should notice a minimal amount of play or none at all if the ball joint is in good condition.
• If noises occur or you notice play, it’s likely you have a ball joint that is going or is bad. If you notice the noise from the top of the tire, it’s the upper ball joint that’s giving you trouble. Otherwise, noise from the bottom shows that the lower ball joint is your issue. 
• Take off the wheel that’s causing the trouble and visually inspect the area. If you notice rust, leaking grease or damage to the ball joint boot, you want to dive deeper. You may need to replace the ball joint and repair any other issues that are causing trouble.
• You can pry apart the ball joint to inspect it further. Listen for clicking noises and watch for play. There shouldn’t be any play in a good ball joint.
• When you are finished with the inspection, put the wheel back on and continue looking at the other wheels.

It’s best to have the bad ball joints replaced as soon as possible, even if there is only minimal play. Otherwise, you could lose control of your vehicle as the conditions get worse. There’s no reason to put your safety and that of others on the road in jeopardy over a part that’s not expensive to replace.

Categories: Estimator , Suspension

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Dodge Journey Front Upper Ball Joint Replacement Costs

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Symptoms of a failing Front Upper Ball Joint

Steering is slightly off.

As your ball joints begin to die, they can become loose in the socket. That will mess up the alignment, and you may notice that your car isn’t steering quite the way that you’ve been asking it to. The result will usually be your car pulling to the left or the right. This is a bit of a disconcerting feeling, when your car is trying to go in one direction when you’re not asking it to. So, listen to your intuition when it tells you that something is wrong.

Tires wearing unevenly

If your car is pulling to one direction or another, do you think the tires might wear a little unevenly? The answer is yes, obviously. If your failing front upper ball joints are causing your car to pull to the left or the right, the tires will wear unevenly. So even if you don’t notice the pulling (because it can be subtle, or, more likely, you can be inattentive), you might notice uneven wear and tear on your tires. It’s a good idea to give your tires a visual inspection every now and again. Excessive or uneven wear and tear should be taken seriously, at least if you value having tires on your car. Which you should.

Hopefully you know by now that foreign noises from your car are not a good thing. And they should be addressed. Always. If your front upper ball joint is beginning to wear out, they can make two different noises. The first is a knocking, clanking, or rattling noise, which happens when a failing ball joint is rattling around in the socket. The second is a squeaking noise, similar to an old door in a horror movie, which happens when a busted ball joint is lacking in lubrication.

Vibrating car or steering wheel

If your front upper ball joint is calling out sick, the suspension of your car will be compromised. You’ll feel it in the form of a vibration. You might feel the vibration from the steering wheel, which is a weird sensation. Or your entire car might vibrate like you’re driving on a dirt road. I’m guessing having a sore butt isn’t your idea of a good time, so this should be a sign that something isn’t right.

How urgent is a Front Upper Ball Joint replacement?

All the aforementioned symptoms occur when a ball joint is first beginning to fail. Once the front upper ball joint fails in earnest, you may be left with a much more severe symptom, such as the inability to steer at all.

I think you know what to do here. Get your front upper ball joint replaced ASAP.

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• Brake, Chassis & Suspension

Replacing Ball Joint

By seanton August 15, 2017 in Brake, Chassis & Suspension

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Has anybody here had luck changing lower ball joints ? I had tried to change one a few months back but the press I borrowed didn't seem to fit so I gave up. I'm heading on a road trip soon so I want to get this done asap.

The only videos I've seen that could help are for Avengers and they all seem to either smack it out with a sledge hammer.

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Pretty standard. If it "didn't seem to fit", then you need to find the correct press that does fit.

14 hours ago, seanton said:      

Out of curiosity, were you changing it just because...our are you having issues? My auto parts store around here let's you rent or borrow specialty tools like a press. Ever try that? They can help you make sure you have the right size for what you are doing.

Good luck and post pictures if you do get it done.

Another question for my curiosity, Dodge not having the ball joint nipples to add grease to them. Has anyone used that small needle on their grease gun end to penetrate the rubber jacket and force grease into it ?  I know you may have some leaking ( a little afterwards) but at least you are keeping them well greased now. 

17 hours ago, probak118 said: Another question for my curiosity, Dodge not having the ball joint nipples to add grease to them. Has anyone used that small needle on their grease gun end to penetrate the rubber jacket and force grease into it ?  I know you may have some leaking ( a little afterwards) but at least you are keeping them well greased now. 

Have not done it on my Journey but did try it on another previous truck. Was even advised to put a touch of sealant when done. Result...ended up replacing it shortly there-after.

• 2 weeks later...

I changed it because the wheel was rattling and there was a bit of shaking while driving.

I successfully did the job a few weeks ago, here are some tips if anybody else ever comes across this, I attached the service manual  to this post, just follow it and look at my notes.

-I rented the ball joint removal press, an adapter set and the pickle fork from Canadian Tire . The ball joint press doesn't fit perfectly because of how the knuckle is shaped but using the adapters you can get it off/on

-You don't need to remove the speed sensor  like the manual says, it won't really get in the way. Mine was kinda stuck so I left it in.

-Release of the lower ball joint from the lower control arm  was done with a pickle fork (and not the special Dodge  remover tool).

-I was able to use the press to put the joint back in about halfway, then I had to smack the bottom of one of those cylinders from the kit with a hammer to get it in the rest of the way.

ball-joint.pdf

Great notes, thanks. Now for the big question...did it solve your issue? Did you also have the squeaking when going over bumps before you did the job? Did this help?

Yes. No more loud banging noise when I drive over potholes and the ball joint was very worn out so it was it's time to go.

• Armando G and jkeaton
• 2 years later...

On 01/09/2017 at 10:16 AM, seanton said: I changed it because the wheel was rattling and there was a bit of shaking while driving.   I successfully did the job a few weeks ago, here are some tips if anybody else ever comes across this, I attached the service manual  to this post, just follow it and look at my notes.   -I rented the ball joint removal press, an adapter set and the pickle fork from Canadian Tire . The ball joint press doesn't fit perfectly because of how the knuckle is shaped but using the adapters you can get it off/on -You don't need to remove the speed sensor  like the manual says, it won't really get in the way. Mine was kinda stuck so I left it in. -Release of the lower ball joint from the lower control arm  was done with a pickle fork (and not the special Dodge  remover tool). -I was able to use the press to put the joint back in about halfway, then I had to smack the bottom of one of those cylinders from the kit with a hammer to get it in the rest of the way.     ball-joint.pdf

• 1 month later...

No I didn't have remove the whole knuckle

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2011 Dodge Journey Suspension Ball Joints

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09 Journey SXT AWD Ball Joint Replacement

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My front lower ball joints are worn and need to be replaced to pass my vehicle inspection. Does anyone know how to do this or ever done it them selves? I've done ball joint replacements before but on a much larger scale. I just want to know what Im getting my self into on this job because damaging a part CANNOT happen. I am a US Soldier stationed overseas and parts are not readily available. Ordering parts online is the most affordable for those of us overseas. :gr_patrio  

If you haven't managed to change them yet, Dodge is notorious for riveting ball joints in place. You'll have to drill them out, replace with bolts and of course the new joint. I've never done ball joints myself but have assisted and they can be troublesome. I doubt you'll break anything, as I didn't when a friend helped me out with one of my old cars.  

I got them replaced finally! They were pressed in but I was able to remove them using a large c clamp a 3inch deep well impact socket and a cheater pipe. I used the same tools to repress the joints back into place! You do have to remove the rotor and heat shield to gain access and you can just hang the caliper from the over springs thanks to 3-4in flex tubes at the end of the brake lines. The suspension system on the Journey is very similar to the Jeep Wrangler!!! Be sure to put lock tight on the caliper mounting bolts before reinstalling. This can be fairly simple to do especially if you have a friend lending you hand. My friend and I completed this job in just under 2hrs. Could have gotten it done in half the time if we had figured out the c clamp and socket trick before hand. After the job is completed, pump the brake pedal until pressure returns before moving the vehicle...thanks to self bleeding system. If you are as lucky as I was, an alignment was not needed after doing a road test at city speeds...not to exceed 50mph. Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Without them I would not have had the courage to attempt this on my own.  

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