My mom is currently in North Carolina (I'm in VA) and she took her 2005 Mustang in to have the tires rotated. Her car has 80,000 miles on it, she isn't hard on the car and doesn't live in a place with bad roads. The place that she took it to said that she needed to replace the front lower control arms (and they were willing to do it for over $600..how generous).

My question is, does this sound right to those familiar with 2005-09 Mustangs? It seems odd to me that something like that would go bad with so few miles and the age of the vehicle.

Either way, I'm going to take a look at the car next weekend when she comes up and replace them for her if they need to be done.

 

When in doubt get a second opinion. It's not unheard of that they might need replacing, but it could also be a tire shop taking advantage of your mom, as that's not unheard of either..

 

I agree on the second opinion thought. The 05+ are known for wearing on the inside of the tires with the factory alignment

 

One side went bad on my 05 at around 80k , so I replaced them with the GT500 ones for $215 from Latemodel Restoration Supply. I don't remember what my shop charged for installation , probably a couple of hours labor. Also I don't remember for sure , but it may have needed to be realigned.

 

Was looking at a service manual to see how hard it would be for a DIY job, not to hard as it turns out.

On a side note (and a bit of trivia) Multimatic developed the S-197 control arms

 

Mine are bad at 85k, I'm replacing them with the gt500 pieces for $220 from American muscle this weekend. i was gonna write up the installation process with pictures and post it here so keep an eye out for that if u want

 

If you change them yourself, make sure:
1) You get a pickle fork (looks like a giant tuning fork to pry the ball joint stem off the wheel hub--after 80k, it's going to be stuck there pretty good)
2) You ABSOLUTELY need keep the steering wheel from moving if you have to disconnect the steering rack (I had to to gain access to the front bolts). If you don't, the wheel could turn and then you don't know where neutral center is anymore (although the service manual has a re-center procedure). If it happens, the next time you turn your wheel towards lock, you could break your clockspring (it's a ribbon cable assembly in the steering column and connects all the electronics on your wheel--control and lights).

The nice part about the GT500 arms is that they come with new ball joints, already pressed in. So you're taking care of another maintenance item at the same time.

 

I work at a tire place and have seen the ball joints on mustangs under 50k mileage with bad ball joints. Usually the driver's side is the worst. Most auto parts suppliers only list the whole control arm. I haven't found a press in replacement ball joint yet. I was going to go with the Shelby Arms from Ford Racing from either Late Model Resto or American Muscle. Dealer list each arm at $200+ I have 68k and only my driver's side has play. I have felt it and seen it myself. I have also noticed on six S197 in the last month alone in for state inspection and they failed according to VA State guidelines. Equal mix of V6 and Gt BTW.

 

Ford replaced my front control arms on my 08 at about 40K miles. They said that would fix the dreaded "clunk." It did for a while. So they can go bad at low miles too.

 

Already replaced one and need to replace the other on an '07 w/ only 45k, but I am a "spirited" driver. One at 80K sounds right, though I paid $450 at my dealer.

 

Found MOOG Ball Joint part number should be AMGK500033 for the Mustangs.