lower ball joint failure on 2013 SHO with less than 50K miles? need some advice

[Yipeekayea]

I used the search button, lets get that out of the way. Long story short, recently I noticed the car making clicking sounds going over bumps...........that evolved into the car making weird unsettling squeaking noises while turning the steering wheel. I can't 100% nail this problem down to the lower ball join, but when I got under the car, I noticed a bunch of residue on the inside of the front passenger wheel, and the lower ball joint had a torn boot. I stuck my finger in there and it appears to be dry. I'm guessing that means the lower ball joint is messed up and that's where these weird noises are coming from? Is this common on a car with this low miles? So the only replacement I could find was a motorcraft part from RockAuto, anybody aware of an upgrade from the factory junk? Is it safe to assume this problem is from the lower ball joint being dry? I was so paranoid the wheel was just gonna fall off I took side streets home from work and didn't go over 20 mph.

 

[krewat]

If the boot is torn, that's the issue - it's not premature failure of the ball-joint, it's that the boot got torn somehow, grease got out, water got in, and it's screwed.

The boot usually doesn't tear when a ball joint fails. Did you buy the car new?

 

[SHOdded]

Moog might be the only real option to Motorcraft for this part.

Former: 1995 ATX, 1992 MTX

 

[Yipeekayea]

So after pumping so spray dry lubricant into the boot, I drove it around the block and no squeaks or weird noises at all. I guess I'll be ordering the new lower control arm. Warranty is good for a whopping 2 years on the new motorcraft part. The aftermarket needs to get going on some aftermarket suspension pieces for the gen4 SHO because I bet in another 5 or 6 years these control arm problems are become a big deal when people start racking up the miles.