My wife was given a free alignment certificate for the local American Tire Depot, so I took my 75,000 mile '06 F-250 there to have my new (less than 3,000 miles) BFG KO2's rotated and have the alignment checked. Big mistake! They told me that all 4 ball joints were bad and that the front shocks were shot. They also said that those bad parts caused the two front tires to separate and needed to be replaced, but since the suspension was the cause there would be no warranty. I called BS!
I took the PU to my local shop which I have been using for 30 years. I 100% trust them and have never had an issue with them over-selling me on anything. 3 guys, 2 underneath and one at the tire with a huge lever, checked all the ball joints and said that there was slight movement in the right side upper ball joint and that the others had zero movement. They also said the tires were fine and that the shocks were OK.
I asked them about replacing the one ball joint, but when I told them that the '06 F-250 only has 75,000 miles on it and is only used for towing, they said not to replace it and that it'll last another 75,000 miles without problems.
The shocks do have 75,000 miles on them so I'll replace them with some Rancho RS5000X shocks just because I can.
And BTW, the alignment was spot on.
Moral to the story — a mechanic is like a woman, find one you love and trust, then never let go of them.
I took the PU to my local shop which I have been using for 30 years. I 100% trust them and have never had an issue with them over-selling me on anything. 3 guys, 2 underneath and one at the tire with a huge lever, checked all the ball joints and said that there was slight movement in the right side upper ball joint and that the others had zero movement. They also said the tires were fine and that the shocks were OK.
I asked them about replacing the one ball joint, but when I told them that the '06 F-250 only has 75,000 miles on it and is only used for towing, they said not to replace it and that it'll last another 75,000 miles without problems.
The shocks do have 75,000 miles on them so I'll replace them with some Rancho RS5000X shocks just because I can.
And BTW, the alignment was spot on.
Moral to the story — a mechanic is like a woman, find one you love and trust, then never let go of them.
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