i like duralast parts from autozone, lifetime warranty is nice. but i put all new ball joints tie end steering gear all at the same time. 30k miles latter the PS lower ball joint is failing, so now i get to do it again! the DS fills good and tight so i dont know if i just got a bad one or if they are junk.

 

I personally run all Moog suspension parts like that. They seem to stand behind the warranty much better the duralast or the other house brands.. Though you should be good for 1 replacement within a certain amount of time.

 

It's a lifetime warranty, as long as you don't mind the down time and replacing the same parts over and over and over.

If you go Moog, be sure and get the heavy duty ones. I had the regular problem solver tie rods fail pretty fast.

 

i have moog tie rods but duralast ball joints.
and the guy at the shop thinks one of the tie rods is sticking and that is what is making the steering so bad.

 

I went with XRF ball joints after a set of replacement Spicer ball joints went out in less than 30K. The million mile warranty and build quality made choosing the XRF's an easy decision.

 

I completely overhauled the front end on a Chevy S10 a few years back using all Duralast/ Autozone parts.
The first thing i noticed was that none of the rubber was sealed, even after the parts were on, the rubber boots could easily be peeled back.
The lower ball joints were the worst. They could barely fit inside the lower control arms, and still go in only 1/2 way. One side refused to go, and my helper and I fought it for over an hour.
Upon further inspection, the Duralast ball joints were 1/8" larger than the opening in the control arm. I was stuck without any other transportation and had to carefully grind on the DL parts a little to get them to fit.

Within 8 months all the rubber on every component but the tie rod ends had serious cracks (properly greased) and a month later the rubber on the upper Bjs had completely failed.

Despite the lifetime warranty, i wasn't going to replace junk parts with more junk parts, so I paid more and replaced everything again using only Moog.

Needless to say, when the DL ball joints were removed (less than 2 years), they felt worse than the original GM parts (10 + years on the truck) they replaced.

My opinion: don't use Autozone parts, pay a little more for quality, you'll benefit in the long run.

 

I'm going the XRF route as well...I did buy my Timkin unit bearings from AZ though. They have a 3 year warranty, I figure I cant go wrong with that. Not to mention they had the same price as Amazon and 20 % off right now with free 2 day shipping...

 

the rubber looks good no cracks, the more i look at it i wondering if i did not get it torqued good?

 

Doubtful, but you could check. The weight of the vehicle typically helps. If you know how to test the ball joints with a pry bar and 2x4, you can tell if the whole thing is moving from a loose nut or if it's just a failed ball joint.

My money is on a failed ball joint. The tapered shaft of the ball joint and the weight of the vehicle tend to keep them snugged up rather well. That's why it takes a press or hammer to get them out.

 

yea i jacked it up and the ball is loss, not bad but enough that i needs a new one. the other 3 look good but i going replace the top one at the same time.

 

Another vote for XRF. Duralast sucks for suspension components.