ball joints

[phoenix]

We have a '77 21 footer with a 440.  57,000 orig. miles.  A mechanic doing a pre-sale inspection said the lower ball joints were worn, need replacing and quoted $675 for the job.  Does it seem reasonable to need ball joints at this mileage?  The forum is full of postings about sloppy steering, so might this just be normal play in these rigs?  And is this a reasonable cost quote?
Also, the right-side motor mount rubber looks kind of squashed and is showing some cracking.  How critical is this?  Thanks for input.

[Cookiecruncher]

$675.00 for lwr ball joints? WOW are they gold plated or somthin? If I was you I would try another place to get that done. What you need do is call a parts place and see what they cost then go from there but 675 to replace them is 2 much money.

[handyman]

Good lord yes there ripping you bad your looking at maybe an hour to a hour and a halfs work plus an alingment find a honest mech all these units are is a dodge van there not that hard to work on at least the suspention that is  

[Cookiecruncher]

After post my reply above I went to www.autozone.com and looked up the ball joints and guess what 20 to 30 bucks eack so lets say they (the mechanic) tells you that they cost 60 bucks eack that is 2 for $120.00 plus labor hour to a hour and half at $100.00 hour (that is high) it still does not come to 675.00 for 2 ball joints.

60.00 X 2 =          120.00
Labor 1.5 @ 100.00 = 150.00
total                250.00 plus tax
so if you was to do all 4 it only comes to 500.00 +tax through in an alignment another 50.00 to 75.00 and it still is not 675.00

The above in not real prices but on the very high side.

Yepper I would think another place would be better

just my 2 cents worth and I am a Cert. Auto Mechanic.  

     

[phoenix]

Thanks Paul,  I figured they were way high when they quoted $115 to change the oil & filter, $95 to drain and replace the differential oil, $190 to change the trans oil & filter, and $243 to replace the valve cover gaskets (I checked that and the bolts were all just loose).  The shop is Jack Fox Auto and Truck Repair in Seaside so they sound like a place to avoid.  There has been another Clipper sitting in their parking lot for weeks--license plate SRF HSE--that apparently can't pass smog.  Maybe they should go somewhere else.  By the way, I went to Cartalk.com and got a method to check ball joints so I'll do that myself.  Thanks again.

[Conrad]

Is that Seaside OR? :?: