Is my car a lemon?

[1andonlywhitie]

Alright guys... this is kinda a spin-off thread from asking about ball joints...

Basically, I have to drive out to see the girlfriend which is quite a way tonight so I swapped Mustangs with my Mum (she has an '08 GT/CS). Her car is stock as a rock and feels solid, handles good, stays straight and true, steering is smooth etc.

Now compared to my car which has the mods in my sig, it feels great, the Bullitt feels sloppy, ball joints need to be replaced, it wobbles around etc. I thought it was just the joys of a live axle car since I'm used to that but just taking my Mum's car up the road opened my eyes to how bad my car actually is...

This is all after I have had a charging system issue around 6,000 miles and a faulty injector around 10,000 miles. (I bought the car Certified at 4,000 miles.)

The Bullitt's warranty ran out last December so Ford ain't gonna help me at all, right now I have ball joints on order to go in tomorrow at work but after that I dunno what to do... do I trade it and get an '05-'09 GT500 or just keep plodding along and hope nothing else goes wrong? Every time something happens I say "One more issue and I'm selling it..." but I never can...

So what ya think guys? Is my car a bit of a dud or have other people had cars (that are/were basically brand new) that have been basket cases?

 

[Mikes05GTPremium]

only thing i could think of is that maybe the lowering kit wore your ball joints out faster because of the difference in heights and weight transfer but other than that i dont see anything in your mods that might lead to that.

 

[1andonlywhitie]

only thing i could think of is that maybe the lowering kit wore your ball joints out faster because of the difference in heights and weight transfer but other than that i dont see anything in your mods that might lead to that.

That was my argument... especially when it's only a Pro Kit! Imagine Sportlines, my wheels would have just outright fallen off.... Lol.

 

[gil_t2]

Ball joints are good for 80,000 to 100,000 miles normal ware, But lowering and how and were you drive can make a diff. When you lower you sometimes need bump steering kit.

 

[1andonlywhitie]

Ball joints are good for 80,000 to 100,000 miles normal ware, But lowering and how and were you drive can make a diff. When you lower you sometimes need bump steering kit.

I knew lowering it would take a toll on how long they'd live but still, the drop was like .75 inches lower than the Bullitt was from factory so nothing too drastic. Plus the car is a daily driver, never been to the track, and I'm in Dallas so there is no twisty stuff to have fun on...

A lot of thought is going into getting an '08 or '09 GT500...

 

[GOTTORQ]

i think the ball joints on these cars just blow in general. I bet mine are shot, i have 28000 on mine, and its lowered a H&R supersports, my dad as an 07 vert and we replaced it ball joints at 70000 miles or so, maybe less. sounds like you already have them ordered, but my father ordered whole new front control arms from rockauto.com, because the ball joints were already pressed in them, and they were actually cheaper than ordering ball joints from ford.

 

[302]

Your mom probably babies the hell out of her car and drives 10 MPH below the speed limit. I would say your car is the result of a spirited driver.

 

[Mikes05GTPremium]

i didn't think lowering it just that much would cause them to wear so quickly. i mean unless you didn't align it when you installed the springs. a bad alignment could cause some wander. my car is at 20k now, put 15k on it since march and the only issues I've had so far is the front strut mounts are worn, and i need brakes all around. other than those issues I've had no problems with my 05 other two flats (one right in the sidewall yesterday......2.5 inch piece of metal through my sidewall...on a new tire)

and even at 20k ive had no problems with the front end other than the mounts..
so to say that a car with that low of miles is already having problems with the front end because of a "spirited driver" I think is a little bit of a long shot.

My car doesnt see insane levels of abuse but i have my fun with it everyday (sliding, etc)

 

[kylecm85]

I'm going to agree. About a month after the sportlines went in the damn car started making noise. It only had around 32k on it when I put them on.

 

[1andonlywhitie]

Your mom probably babies the hell out of her car and drives 10 MPH below the speed limit. I would say your car is the result of a spirited driver.

Lol. Actually when we swapped cars today and she took the Bullitt home I heard her get on it down the street... Maybe she takes it out and breaks it!?

 

[07TGGT]

Lmao, my dad does that with my Cobra. Hits the throttle when he thinks I wont hear it

 

[skwerl]

Hitting the throttle is good for them. That's what they are made for.

 

[quadking7o7]

I have about 70k miles on my mustang, do you think its time to change mine out? I haven't really noticed much but it pulls to the left. It hasn't been aligned in a while, but when I did get it aligned the SW still had to be turned to the left a bit to go straight. What do y'all suggest? Oh and I'm definitely a spirited driver!

 

[white05gt]

I would put Steeda ball joints in there and see how much that helps and while you have it on a lift or stands, take a good look at everything. Try that first and go from there, it seems pretty silly to trade a car off because of ball joints. Also if you are lowered, I would recommend a good set of aftermarket shock such as Koni or D specs.

 

[VTXFrank]

Ball joints are pretty cheap. I'd go ahead and give those a shot. If you still have issues and it's going to cost you tons of money to get everything right, and you're tired of the car, a trade in might be just the thing to get your fun levels back to where they should be.

 

[1andonlywhitie]

Thanks guys... got replacements cheap through work so they're going on today. Gonna see if that fixes it. If after that it's still a pain in the ass I'll think about trading it...

I love the car but I've had a few issues with it so yeah....

 

[tjm73]

As soon as I pay my car off (2 more years) I am going to do everything in my power to get a GT500. Have loved them since '07 when they came out. I'll take any year.

If I can't find one of them I may have to "settle" for the newest 5.0 I can afford.

 

[Vapour Trails]

Your symptoms are pretty vague. I'm not really sure what the issue is. If you have fatter and more sporty tires than your mom's car, those could be causing some tramlining issues. A quality set of dampers would also make a positive difference in terms of ride quaity and control of the springs.

 

[Renesis07]

I would definatley say lowering is the prime suspect.... had similar issues in my past cars I've lowered.