Curious.... Did Ford jack the prices on all parts?

[KillerPenz]

13 months ago I replaced my front passenger lower control arm... yes, the ball joints are pressed in, and that's the easiest way to do it unless you have a heavy duty ball joint press. Anyways, I believe I paid around $400 for it (inside dealer cost). Well fast forward 13 months and that same LCA is now $871.20 (dealer discount), +/-$1300 list. Like WTF Ford? You make a piece of shit part that can't even last 30k miles, and then double the price on the same garbage? Needless to say, Aftermarket it is. Rant over.

Edit: Just thought of something.... is this increase due to COVID or Tarrifs? Or is Ford still trying to pay for the 100+ recalls they had last year?

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[HotdogThud]

More than likely it's tariffs, either on the part directly, or via the raw material going up. Beyond that, it's just standard issue corporate greed

 

[RagnarKon]

I've noticed that prices change all the time based on part availability and whatnot. I don't have any insider info, but from what I've gotten from the guy at my dealer's parts counter as well as forum members like @Ducati1098 looking stuff up for me... it seems to be a very supply/demand market, especially for the more uncommon parts. And yeah, tariffs have had an impact.

I was looking at a trim piece that was $1100. One tariffs were announced, jumped to $1700. Dropped to $1500, down to $1300, back up to $1550.

Edit: Just looked for fun, and it's $1460. Out of stock though.

 

[Lifeliberty]

They go up and down all the time. A lot of parts i bought early on are much cheaper now. Best to wait for a good price if you can

 

[Ducati1098]

13 months ago I replaced my front passenger lower control arm... yes, the ball joints are pressed in, and that's the easiest way to do it unless you have a heavy duty ball joint press. Anyways, I believe I paid around $400 for it (inside dealer cost). Well fast forward 13 months and that same LCA is now $871.20 (dealer discount), +/-$1300 list. Like WTF Ford? You make a piece of shit part that can't even last 30k miles, and then double the price on the same garbage? Needless to say, Aftermarket it is. Rant over.

Edit: Just thought of something.... is this increase due to COVID or Tarrifs? Or is Ford still trying to pay for the 100+ recalls they had last year?

Only way to replace the lower ball joint is to replace the whole arm. They cannot be pressed out.

I've noticed that prices change all the time based on part availability and whatnot. I don't have any insider info, but from what I've gotten from the guy at my dealer's parts counter as well as forum members like @Ducati1098 looking stuff up for me... it seems to be a very supply/demand market, especially for the more uncommon parts. And yeah, tariffs have had an impact.

I was looking at a trim piece that was $1100. One tariffs were announced, jumped to $1700. Dropped to $1500, down to $1300, back up to $1550.

Edit: Just looked for fun, and it's $1460. Out of stock though.

This^
Sometimes some part prices just fluctuate a lot Not always for one specific reason.

 

[23OBX2.7]

They are basically bankrupt with net cash -124bn, net 2025 income -8 bn, -20% return on equity, and earnings yield -16%. Still paying divs with debt though.

A typical zombie company in desperate survival mode so serious warranty obligations are meaningless and ripping off on parts all the whole protected from all foreign competition ....and still can't make a dime.

 

[BlueWaffle]

Only way to replace the lower ball joint is to replace the whole arm. They cannot be pressed out.

Aww WTF. Double WTF at that price.. naturally it's been the same deal with a most upper arms for quite a long time but.. upper arms are generally cheap as chips compared to a lower..

Considering I'm in the bronco for the long haul.. seems like it'll save me money in the long run to just go with aftermarket lowers that have replaceable joints once my factory ones take a dump.

 

[23OBX2.7]

Aww WTF. Double WTF at that price.. naturally it's been the same deal with a most upper arms for quite a long time but.. upper arms are generally cheap as chips compared to a lower..

Considering I'm in the bronco for the long haul.. seems like it'll save me money in the long run to just go with aftermarket lowers that have replaceable joints once my factory ones take a dump.

Yup....Ford will just lose sales to aftermarket and recyclers but sont care th new game since covid is produce les for more profit and it works as long as there are extreme anticompetitive measures in place. Plus the insurance business is huge and they pay full price.

Such a huge aftermarket.,.

 

[Cordycord]

They go up and down all the time. A lot of parts i bought early on are much cheaper now. Best to wait for a good price if you can

They seem to have variable pricing based on inventory, etc.

For example, I bought two almost identical plastic clips for the interior. One was .90 and the other was $4.00. I misplaced a rear D-ring for the rear floor; $54 to replace just the bolt! Ridiculous. They have an anti-customer, profit-only algorithm for their pricing.

 

[BlueWaffle]

Yup....Ford will just lose sales to aftermarket and recyclers but sont care th new game since covid is produce les for more profit and it works as long as there are extreme anticompetitive measures in place. Plus the insurance business is huge and they pay full price.

Such a huge aftermarket.,.

Yeap, we do definitely have one of the strongest aftermarkets.. thankfully.

Unfortunately.. and I'm probably gonna jynx myself with this but.. I'm getting close to the mileage where my ball joints are gonna start making noise lol. Oughta see how much pain a set of aftermarket lowers is gonna cause me sooner than later and get prepared.

 

[Owl]

I was amazed at the price of those little tabs that hold the interior plastic on are priced at.

$10/each. I went to Amazon and got 24 for $10.

Really... $10 per ittle screw/tab from Ford!

 

[23OBX2.7]

Yeap, we do definitely have one of the strongest aftermarkets.. thankfully.

Unfortunately.. and I'm probably gonna jynx myself with this but.. I'm getting close to the mileage where my ball joints are gonna start making noise lol. Oughta see how much pain a set of aftermarket lowers is gonna cause me sooner than later and get prepared.

Had to replace my S550 HPP LCA at 30K miles....dampers at same time.

 

[KillerPenz]

Only way to replace the lower ball joint is to replace the whole arm. They cannot be pressed out.



This^
Sometimes some part prices just fluctuate a lot Not always for one specific reason.

Yeah I wasn't happy when I replaced this exact same LCA 14 months ago. Even more annoyed that the new (Ford) one only lasted 30k miles. Need to see why it's going bad so quick. For now, took a needle and squirted some grease in the ball joint. Noise has stopped. But I will be replacing the entire LCA once again. Just annoyed that Ford doubled the price on it and now I'm looking at aftermarket, preferably one that has a fitting so I can grease the ball joint myself.

 

[BlueWaffle]

So.. who offers the most affordable set of aftermarket lowers that have ball joints?

I did a quick Google last night and everything I saw was at least 2400 bucks for the pair .. and IIRC they all had heim joints.. I don't need nor do I wanna deal with heims..

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