Time for ball Joints. Do i go OE, Carli or Dynatrac

[08TwinStickPW]

Time for ball joints at 35K.

Do I go cheap and let them do OE under my service contract for $100
or
Spend the $800+ for Carli and the $100 deductible for bullet proof ones and never worry again
or
Spend the $600+ for Dyntrac and the $100 deductable for good ones and most likly never worry again.

No hard offroading however I have been thinking I might go 35's when its time for tires. I am not hard on my truck however I really like the idea of bulletproof for piece of mind which is my I am contemplating doing the aftermarket and being done.

Also, do I have them do the universals when its apart, if so which ones?

Thanks

[nts007]

Spicer joints work well. I'm running dynatrac and it's been 100k since and still tight.

[chromedragon]

Faced with the same question I went with the dynatrac's and the dynatrac free spin kit with warn hubs as at the time the unit bearing were going as well. have not had a hint of an issue and I have not exactly been gentle with it. Also yes I added spicer ujionts while I was at it just to make sure I had a solid update.

[coder]

I did Dynatrac's on mine about 80k miles ago and they are still going strong they are the best bang for the buck IMO

[Will]

What would be wrong with the greasable Moogs? That's probably what I'm going to try when the time comes.

http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/_pdf_e ... 460_En.pdf

http://www.summitracing.com/search/bran ... =Ascending

[RustyPW]

I got the Carli's when no one else had ball joints. So far, no problems. Still tight.

[08TwinStickPW]

Thanks everyone for the responses, looks like can't go wrong with Either Carli or Dynatracs.

What would be wrong with the greasable Moogs? That's probably what I'm going to try when the time comes.

http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/_pdf_e ... 460_En.pdf

http://www.summitracing.com/search/bran ... =Ascending

Our trucks eat ball joint and the 2 only brands that seem to stand up are the Dynatracs (1 year warranty) or Carli (lifetime).

All other joints seem to fail in time, some hold up slightly longer than others. Moog are talked about, however they don't hold up compared to Dyna's or Carli (Carli seems to be more known to be one and done, both are rebuild-able if ever needed).

If your doing the job yourself and have all the tools and time needed, moog should be be fine. If your paying for labor to do the job, most spend the extra $$ and never have to worry paying to have it done again (at least that what I keep reading when searching the web).

[leo72987]

I currently have Napa units on as that is what the Dealer installed... Been on 30,000 miles without any issues and I do offroad quite a bit.. With that being said when they wear out the truck will probably have 200,000 miles on it LOL. I will most likely put Napa on again HAHHAHAHA... I'm a cheap bastard and do the work myself... But like the other members have said the consensus is either Dynatrac and Carli and avoiding xrf... from what I heard about xrf is they have done damage in past with our 2500 based trucks since sometimes they are to big and people force them to fit... this can enlarge the balljoint hole.. Since the ball joints are not pressed into the knuckle but the actual outer ears of the axle you are screwed if you mess them up...

[Will]

It appears that there is a slim chance of getting axles that have the upper and lower ball joints perfectly aligned and the OEM ball joint is literally designed to deform itself for this reason and "line" up. That must be why some of yall eat ball joints. I must have gotten a perfect axle because I'm at 135K miles on the originals and get them checked every time I rotate the tires thinking, this is the time....gets me to wondering if you can check to see how your upper and lower line up, just like shaft alignment, if ones fighting the other, they will destroy each other. They're supposed to be working in unison on the same axis.

[TwinStick]

The upper & lower ball joints are NOT on the same axis. The axle is designed that way. Years ago they were & because they were, they would equally share the load. Not so anymore. Has nothing to do with a "perfect axle". Please read the entire article below. Good stuff.

http://www.quad4x4.com/aamBallJoints.html

I used Carli's. No issues yet.

[Will]

Well hell, I would of thought they would have at least been parallel...

[TwinStick]

Yup, me too. But that makes too much sense. We would design things to be stronger & last longer. They design future revenue into the new vehicles. Most 3/4 & 1 ton trucks of today are sporting the same sized drive train as 1/2 tons from the 70's.

[nts007]

Keep in Mind the stock setup is a lower balljoint and upper king pin. The upper joint holds no weight at all. The dynatrac corrects this by placing a more ball styler upper to help share the load. The stock setup is just brutal with one joint taking half of everything.

I can't find my reference but somewhere online I read the dynatrac is actually 4 balljoint setup where Carli still uses a ball/ king setup. But I am not sure how accurate that is. I do know though that the dyna uppers are much different.
Also you can rebuild the dynatrac in the cups and not have to press them out of the knuckle. Where all the rest of the designs make you press them out

[RustyPW]

When you get new ball joints. DO NOT get the ones with the splined fit area. That's the area that presses into the the hole. The splines will ruin the hole for the next time you have to replace the ball joint. You might have to replace the axle housing because the ball joints will no longer hold tight in the hole.

Been there, done that.

[Will]

I think I'm going to change mine soon anyway. Might as well get it over with.

[Will]

I have a couple of questions, I noticed there's adjustable ones for camber on lesser value, but not for the Dynatracs or Carli's. I called my local shop to get a price and they questioned getting straight ones and not being able to adjust camber. This is the same shop that has done all of my alignments and tires and such, awhile back they said I had a slight negative camber, I can't really even see it with the 37's. I dont personally think it's enough to worry about and my tires aren't wearing terrible. I think the little they found was wear in the joints themselves. Now the next questions is, do you think $340 is a good price for installing what I bring to them, including alignment and rotate and balance of the tires? I am plenty capable of doing it myself but dont have the time right now. thx

[nts007]

Ya dude. $350 for install is decent. It's 6-800 up here depending what shop for the install. Don't bother with adjustable joints either. Your 37's will fuck em up faster anyway. Rotate tires religiously. The camber is set for steering angles and is not adjustable for a reason. I also don't notice bad camber wear issues on my tires. If you have really really bad camber the your problems are bent tube and knuckles lol. As 2wag says then get a truss

[Will]

10-4, I've put it off long enough, i went out a few minutes ago and jacked up the driver side, stuck a 5' bar under it was able to move it almost 3/16" up and down and can wiggle it a little top and bottom. I've been getting some weird change of directions in curves lately, I bet this is the reason. O well, 135K miles later, I just ordered the Dynatracs from 8Lug...

I do rotate tires a lot and they've been doing good. I have 42K miles on the Yokos so far and I wish they would wear out so I can try those Hankooks.

[nts007]

Haha yea you will either love the hankooks or hate them. They are very heavy. I'd bet though you haven't had the weird almost DW experience that a bad joint gives with a vertical oscillation because you have the bigger tires.135k is a stupid long time to get stock bjs to last. 3/16" is a done joint lol. Such an easy test too. I've been happy with dynatracs. I would get them again in a heartbeat. And my truck gets beat on hard just leaving home on our wagon trail of a grid road. Also weird changes of direction could also become a wheel bearing issue or bad tie rod.

[Will]

I recently changed both from wheel bearing assemblies and the tie rods are solid. I'm thinking the ball joints are trying to seize up and fighting the steering just a little and then gives, I dont have changes in direction on straights, only in turns. I think they lasted this long because I put 54K mile on them with 35's and stock control arms so I could turn all the way

I agree with the bigger tires "holding" things in place, seems like the majority that has DW have stock size or similar. I didn't realize my ball joints were that bad until I forced them up, I've checked them a could of times lately by grabbing at 12:00 and 6:00 and trying to move them but it took a 5' bar to really jack it enough to see how bad they really and they were popping when I moved it up and down. I got the goody of em, thats for sure.

[08TwinStickPW]

Might be going OE, I need to talk to the dealer a bit more but if anything fails on the OE's labor and parts are covered.

Aftermarket, SOL on labor.
And if it takes longer to install or more time they may not do it.

If I go OE I can put the money towards a track bar, control arms, shocks, etc...

[2wagons1driveway]

I did Dynatrac's on mine about 80k miles ago and they are still going strong they are the best bang for the buck IMO

x2 like mine they've seen some shit and still tight


Sent from Canada

[RamGentry]

Might be going OE, I need to talk to the dealer a bit more but if anything fails on the OE's labor and parts are covered.

Aftermarket, SOL on labor.
And if it takes longer to install or more time they may not do it.

If I go OE I can put the money towards a track bar, control arms, shocks, etc...

For the driving you seem to do I would agree and go OE.

[2wagons1driveway]

Install is the same to do. Just usually requires one or two extra spacers which are supplied. You usually add value to truck by adding Carli ball joints and keeping receipt


Sent from Canada

[nts007]

If the dealership u go to is decent then I would take them carlies or dynatrac joints that you purchase and they should install them no charge on labor. Last time you will pay for those that's for sure