Hit a pot hole the other night that was so deep I could smell Chinese food emanating from it. The check tire pressure light came on instantly, limped home and took it to a new tire/mechanical place in my area today. The car is a 08 TLS with a 110 k mi on it. At the time I had four snow tires on it and was due to change over this week. New shop told me the drivers side wheel was bent, the tire was fine. They also said I had movement on the passengers side ball joint. They stated further that this would prevent them from doing a front end alignment.

All told, they wanted $550.00 to fix the bent wheel, replace the one ball joint with a front end alignment and the change over from snows to summer tires. The average price around here for a tire change over is $ 50.00. Some places throw in an alignment for a special price of $89.00 with the snow change over. I had them fix the bent wheel and change over the snows to summer tires. I put a hold on the alignment and ball joint repair.

Picked up the car and told the tech the change over was double in price from what I usually pay my regular guy. He' spoke to the manager and took $20.00 off the change over. He also said after I get my second opinion on the ball joint he would take off 20 % on the job. Drove the car home and had no vibration or wiggle in the wheel or front end, it felt tight and sounded normal. I live north of Boston. The name of the shop is Sullivan Tire, they are all over Massachusetts.
They seem quite expensive. Any idea on regular use how long ball joints last on these cars? Bill C.

 

It's really hard to say how long a ball joint is supposed to last. In ideal climate and pothole free environments, maybe the life of the car. Where you live though, probably not out of the question at your mileage. That pothole may have done it in. I would probably want to get both sides done together though

 

Dismounting and then mounting and balancing four tires for only $50? And then only charging another $39 for an alignment? I find it hard to believe those are "average" prices. Most places these days charge around $20-25 per tire and $70-80 for a four wheel alignment.

 

How did they "fix" a bent wheel?

 

I highly suggest you do that ball joint as soon as you can. You see this in the Facebook chat where the lower ball joint gives out while driving and they always wonder why it happens. In your case, the shop did the right thing and inspected the suspension and caught the wear in the ball joint. If the ball joint was to break while driving, it would certainly be a big "Ohhhh SHIT" moment. Besides, cost you more money.. It rips out the axle, bends the fender , could break the side skirts and depending on how fast you're going, it could cause a serious accident. So, in other words.. don't sleep on it.

The idea of what happens


Also, keep in mind, nothing suspension related lasts forever. These components should be regularly inspected when you get service. Also, for the guy who said "How can they fix bent rims", it can be done and all depends on how much damage happened. A lot of wheel shops can fix a bent wheel, weld and powder coat. Just an idea

 

Town Fair Tire in Saugus, Ma. Also, Bruhm Tire in Saugus $40 for change over

 

They put it on a machine.

 

If I were you find a place that quotes higher take it back and they will give you 20% of their price and hop on that bro. Like 04WDPSeDaN said this is something that you should not sleep on. Had this happen on a CB& of mine fucked everything up and ended up costing more than it would have if I had just replaced the balljoint. Food for thought

 

I believe what Bill meant, was that the Allignment (@ $89) was in addition to the $50 snow tire swap price.

 

Get the ball joint replace asap, I used to look at ball joint as unnecessary item when I live in CT but now I living in Houston TX knowing ball joint took a pretty good beating from rough road could land you a costly repair. So now I just have a special ball joint replacement around 100k miles just to be safe.

 

Update on the damage I did striking the pothole. I took the car to a INDY HONDA/ACURA shop that confirmed there was a little movement in the passenger's side balljoint. They recommended waiting until the end of May until the roads are in fairly decent shape to replace the balljoint and to get an alignment. I asked about replacing both ball joints, they recommended only replacing the damaged one.

On the snow tire removal and front end alignment, I did not mis speak when I said a local shop does change over (snows ) to summer tires for $ 40.

The second shop (Town Fair ) has a special for change over and front end alignment for $89. On that note, the indy who is to replace my ball joint will send the car out to a tire shop that charges $110 for a front end alignment.

Bill C.

 

Since it was a pothole, can't you claim the damage with your city? They pay for it?

 

I might have had a chance to recoup damages if this happen in my town, unfortunately it happen on a state road. Their policy is travel at your own risk.
Welcome to Massachusetts ! Bill C.

 

Even with some cities it's something that can take years to resolve. Want to go years for $500? Sometimes it's just not worth it.

 

Ah so they call "Massholes" for a reason.

 

Just had my B125 service done. One thing my dealer didn't do was drive the car or check the wheel bearings. Turns out I had one going out in the front driverside wheel. Luckily that was covered under the extended warranty.