Hurting for money real bad..

[craveman85]

an inspection in NY state costs $21 and they check the following

on all vehicles 25 years and newer;
-All emissions controls systems ( PCV , Catalyst , etc , etc )
-Gas Cap
-All Lights
-Horn
-Tread Depth ( 2/32 min )
-Brakes
-Glass ( Cracks must be 11" long AND in the Path of the wiper to fail )
-All suspension components ( Cannot Fail for Ball Joints )
-Safety Equiptment

If a vehicle is 25 years or older , 2 model years old , Diesel , Over 8,000# GVWR
-Safety Equiptment
-Tire
-Glass
-Lights
-Brakes

if a vehicle is 1996 or newer
- All Items for 25 years and newer , plus must be plugged into a computer system which scans the computer for any codes ( CEL must be off to pass )

and all of this is just upstate NY , in the New York Metropolitan Area they actually put the vehicle on a chassis dyno and put a tailpipe sniffer on it

( I am an NYS certified Inspector )

i have failed 2x for balljoints at 2 different shops. one of them being a dealer

 

[WNY964x4]

i have failed 2x for balljoints at 2 different shops. one of them being a dealer

state inspection law says that you cannot directly fail a vehicle for bad ball joints , but that you have to advise the owner that they are bad , and note on the slip that bad ball joints were found. However , most places will go looking for something else to fail it on once they see bad ball joints.

 

[AllanD]

Balljoints on an Escort are about as easy as such things get.

The nice thing about pulling the steering knuckle and taking it to a machine shop to get the bearing pressed out and replaced is that there is NO adjustment where the knuckle bolts to the strut, if you get the two bolts into the hole you did it right.

The lower balljoint is a grooved pin and pinch bolt like most FWD cars

Other than dealing with typical rusty fasteners the job is relatively painless.

the hardest part is getting the CV nut off.

Doing that without either an impact gun or a 3/4 drive breaker bar
is just plain ugly...

My advice? break those nuts loose before you jack the car up.
You may want to have someone sit in the car with both feet on
the brake pedal.

AD

 

[koda6966]

Don't assume the wheel bearings are bad.
they may just need adjustment.

The bearings are notorious on escorts for being bad. Our 97 went though front and rear bearings at 100k, and another member on here had bad rear bearings on his Zx2. The front drivers side bearing was replaced 2k miles before I bought it according to the owner, and he never got around to replacing the front passengers side because his wife bought a new Crossover.

Splicing a brake line never works very well, if it rusted through, it's gonna just break again. Oh, and the hard line that goes from the front to the back axle should be in two pieces, there should be a joint in front of the gas tank somewhere.

It's all one piece. I got it all fixed up today. Brakes work and no leaks yet. I'll fix it the right way when I have money.

Did I mention that my fathers truck, my truck, and my brothers truck all have patched brake lines? They do work, you just have to do it right.

Koda , Try seeing is SUNY Morrisville does customer work , i know over at Alfred the senior shop does , and all they charge you for is parts , there is no labor fee , see if Morrisvilole does the same , it will save you alot of money.

I go to SUNY Delhi, and classes don't resume until mid January. Although I was going to look into having them work on the oil pan for my truck. Since it seems like something they could learn from, because the engine would have to be pulled and whatnot.

Balljoints on an Escort are about as easy as such things get.
AD

Ball joints are good. I'd do any ball joint work myself, since my brother has a pickle fork. Well.. had.. his garage burnt to the ground.

 

[AllanD]

The bearings are notorious on escorts for being bad. Our 97 went though front and rear bearings at 100k, and another member on here had bad rear bearings on his Zx2. The front drivers side bearing was replaced 2k miles before I bought it according to the owner, and he never got around to replacing the front passengers side because his wife bought a new Crossover.

You are replying to a post I made before you said the problem was your Escort rather than your ranger.

It's all one piece. I got it all fixed up today. Brakes work and no leaks yet. I'll fix it the right way when I have money.

Did I mention that my fathers truck, my truck, and my brothers truck all have patched brake lines? They do work, you just have to do it right.

All you hve to do is find "sound" metal removing the rusty parts of the line is all you need to do.


I go to SUNY Delhi, and classes don't resume until mid January. Although I was going to look into having them work on the oil pan for my truck. Since it seems like something they could learn from, because the engine would have to be pulled and whatnot.


Ball joints are good. I'd do any ball joint work myself, since my brother has a pickle fork. Well.. had.. his garage burnt to the ground.

Pickle forks are almost never the right tool to seperate balljoints.

I've shown people who are reduced to tears trying to get them apart with a pickle fork how to get them apart without one.

the balljoint on an escort isn't even tapered, it's cylindrical with a groove
and once you remove the crossbolt it practically falls out.

 

[koda6966]

Pickle forks are almost never the right tool to seperate balljoints.

I've shown people who are reduced to tears trying to get them apart with a pickle fork how to get them apart without one.

the balljoint on an escort isn't even tapered, it's cylindrical with a groove
and once you remove the crossbolt it practically falls out.

That goes to show that I've never done escort ball joints before. And the ones I did help work on, we used a screw driver. I just figured a pickle fork would be easier.

 

[WNY964x4]

I go to SUNY Delhi, and classes don't resume until mid January. Although I was going to look into having them work on the oil pan for my truck. Since it seems like something they could learn from, because the engine would have to be pulled and whatnot.


.

i knew you went to Delhi , i wasnt sure of they had automotive , and i didnt know how far you are from morrisville , since i know you talk abot norwich , and when my moms family lived in north norwich , my grandmother took classes at morrisville , so i wasnt sure where everything is in relationship to each other

 

[koda6966]

i knew you went to Delhi , i wasnt sure of they had automotive , and i didnt know how far you are from morrisville , since i know you talk abot norwich , and when my moms family lived in north norwich , my grandmother took classes at morrisville , so i wasnt sure where everything is in relationship to each other

I want nothing to do with the Norwich Morrisville campus. There's this 22 year old black guy that goes there, that will receive immense amounts of pain if I ever see him.

I also live right down the road from a BOCES campus, so it might be easier to take my car/truck there, except I have no connections.

 

[Shran]

BFH works way better than a pickle fork. I bought one years ago for some specific reason, and have never had another reason to use it again.

 

[OilPatch197]

You sound like a pro-White activists.

 

[koda6966]

He used someone I care about. It has nothing to do with whether he is Black, White, Hispanic, or Asian.

I said black in the same way I say "The creepy little Chinese kid in my lab class is going to kill somebody someday."

 

[Psychopete]

the balljoint on an escort isn't even tapered, it's cylindrical with a groove
and once you remove the crossbolt it practically falls out.

Sounds a lot like my Tempo - best thing I've found is to stomp on a very long "pry bar" with the end of the "pry bar" on a part of the subframe and the middle against the lower control arm pushing it down. Popped it right out of the steering knuckle, and this allowed me to hold it down.

Also have the factory manual which has saved a lot of time as far as what needs to come off. FWD wheel bearings are not fun, but my rear bearings were cake.

Tempo was also 1 piece brake lines from the master back. I just redid both rears, made 3 flared sections per line so each could easily be replaced at a later time. Both were rusty in places and after having one break on me, I really didn't want to not have brakes again in the city. Time consuming..

Pete

 

[Slim]

Pickle forks are almost never the right tool to seperate balljoints.

So what is the "right tool"?

Might want to tell those crying babies to use a BerFH next time.

 

[adsm08]

He used someone I care about. It has nothing to do with whether he is Black, White, Hispanic, or Asian.

I said black in the same way I say "The creepy little Chinese kid in my lab class is going to kill somebody someday."

I used to know one of those, except he was white, and it was get arrested for statutory instead of kill, and its not someday anymore, its like 4 years ago now.

That reminds me, I need to run him down if I ever see him again....

I think I may have said too much...

 

[koda6966]

I can't get this guy arrested, she's 17 and he's 22. In NYS I believe that's legal. Oh well.