My 2010 XF (82,000 miles) has spent the first 3 years of it's life apparently on the surface of the sun (or maybe Texas) and the remaining 3 in CA - and it seems that the heat has taken it's toll. Everyone's favorite plastic pipes in the engine have cracked at various points during my ownership, and now the car just doesn't ride as well as it did. I've replaced the droplinks which has reduced the clunking, but it still feels tired, and I'm thinking the bushes need to be replaced.

However, do people think the balljoints should also be replaced, unless they're obviously (visually) damaged?

I only ask because the balljoints appear to not be replaceable outside of swapping the arm it's attached to, and coming from previous cars where the ball joints cost $20 each and could be swapped out of the arm with a special socket, this has come as a considerable annoyance (and cost!). The arms are made out of aluminum, so short of a significant crash/pothole/etc the only parts that actually need to ever be replaced are the bushes and the balljoints.

It seems the only options I have are

1) Change the bushes but leave the ball joints, even though I'll have the arms out to change the bushes, and the car has 82k on the clock and they'll need changing at some point
2) Accept that this is just another price-gouging tactic from the manufacturers that we can do nothing about, purchase any required arms
3) Investigate whether the balljoints can actually be removed and (pressed/welded?) in. Has anyone done this?

 

As a consummate DIYer, as well as someone who appreciates precise handling, I've always considered ball joints and control arm bushings as "wear out" items, with a life of about 50,000 miles. Consequently, I've replaced MANY a bushing and ball joint, over the last 40 years.


Having said that, I would most certainly recommend replacing those items on your car. I would, however, add one serious caution. The Jag a-arms are aluminum, so ACCURATELY pressing the parts in and out, can get tricky. Steel parts have much more "memory", and will be more able to accommodate parts that aren't quite centered when installation, and will allow you to jockey things around, while aluminum is more likely to just deform, and you stuck with a part that's "cockeyed".


I had a Lincoln LS, prior to an XF, and as I approached 70,000 miles, I felt that the car heeded suspension maintenance. I seem to recall that Ford did not offer separate ball joints and bushings, rather they sold the complete a-arm as a "loaded" assembly. As it turned out, as I was contemplating this work, I took a good look at the car, and saw it was developing rust issues in the rear quarters, so I opted to sell it off....

 

I would bet your biggest culprit are the struts/dampeners.

Plan to change those for sure, and while you have the old ones out, you will easily be able to ascertain if any of the bushings or ball joints are shot.

 

Agreed, Bushings and ball joints usually cause a HANDLING issue, shocks and struts are usually your RIDE issue culprits.