Ball joints

[Boghopper]

I have been looking at the price for wishbone ball joints and the genuine Ford ones are around £85.00 - £90.00. The pattern ones can be had for, at max, £15.00. I thought that is some discrepancy. Are the Ford ones that much better and the pattern ones such poor quality, or are Ford just taking people to the cleaners?
I do think that on the whole the genuine parts are usually of better quality than pattern, but I thought the price difference here was pretty extreme. Has anyone experience with the longevity of pattern ball joints?

Cheers.

[liteace]

How old is the van, how many miles has it done, a lot of people say main dealer parts prices are a rip off BUT fit after market cheap crap and see how long they last, when they need changing again and compare that to how long the original parts lasted

[connect4kev]

as above fit genuine parts ,pattern parts at a very cheap price are cheap for a reason

[Boghopper]

Two little ball joints for £180.00 quid, that's hectic! There must be some serious difference in the manufacturing process to warrant that sort of price. I do agree that the genuine parts are better, but I was quite shocked at the price of these ball joints.

[lightning]

Some Transit Connect parts prices are a bit of a joke, for instance £44 for a pair of pedal rubbers (pattern ones £2 each!)

However, l fitted a pattern ball joint as the rubber had split and it had split again within 10,000 miles. I tried to replace it myself and could not get the old one off despite buying the correct tools, so booked it into Ford dealer and they said the other one was faulty as well. The bill came to £450.....one of the reasons l sold it and bought a Land Rover Defender to use for my business instead.
They are not for everybody but l've done 8,000 miles in my 2005 110 Station Wagon since October and love it. Parts are really cheap and it's actually increasing in value.

[Boghopper]

I tried to replace it myself and could not get the old one off despite buying the correct tools

Out of curiosity, why couldn't you do it with the correct tool? I take it by that you mean a Ball Joint Removal Tool with the different cups for pressing it in and out?
Were they still too tight?

[kenny66]

I've just changed mine used pattern ones from euro got them out with a chisel and brute force

[Boghopper]

It will be interesting to see how long they last. How tight were they? Like a crank-pin, or not too bad. How the hell did you get the new one back in with a chisel?