Ok so I think this july I will do the front ball joints and maybe the brakes.
So what do you all think about for ball joints Moog or Ford?

I know that if I do brakes I will go with the heavy duty Ford pads.
If I have to replace a rotor any good brands or any ones that I should
avoid like the plague?

While we are on that any things like calipers and hoses to use or stick with Ford?
What about stainless steel braid hoses?

There will be a new set of H-joints going into the front axle also with grease zerks.

Last I was thinking about a set of shocks. Fox was one that was recommended.

Thanks for the help.

Sean

6.0L Tech Folder

 

Hey Sean, I went with Moog grease able fitting ball joints, both tie rod ends inner and outer and alignment cams , I'm kicking my self for not adding the Idler arm so that's next on the list

 

I just finished the rebuilt on mine and the Moog ball joints were really built well. Fit and Finnish were good. No complaints at all. There are however a lot of parts that have to be replaced along with special tools for the seals that will be needed.

 

I went with all moog problem solvers haven't had any issues yet.

 

I like Moog they make good stuff.
If you decide to go with Ford ask for the ambulance package. More heavy duty built componets should last longer.
Unless you drive like some of the fleets drivers. They thought these Powerstrokes were tanks or APC's.

 

both my parents were EMTs.
they all drove the **** out of them. (for good reason lol)
there was even a place where they could get air over a set of rail road tracks

 

My experiences with Moog ball joints over the years have been nothing but negative. I've owned three SD trucks since 2005 and I've replaced worn ones with Moog joints. Only one of them had the joints last more than two years. The others have had steering problems due to the ball joints being too stiff and not returning to center, resulting in replacement with new ball joints again.

I personally have had the best luck with Raybestos ball joints. They not only look to be better quality, but have a zinc plating. They ones I installed in my last truck 4 years ago still look new.

 

I bought XRF 2 sets of upper and lower ball joints (I am 2WD) from thetireclub.com (american undercar) for $99 with free shipping! Which is cheaper than moog from anywhere I could find. Also lots of unhappy folks with moog in the last few years the quality has suffered. The XRF come with grease fittings (at least all of mine did - 2wd)

I also bought stainless brake hoses (actually got the 5 piece set for 2WD) from Puredieselpower.com (the hoses are made by egrbrakes.com) $265

I also bought new OEM front and rear rotors along with EBC yellowstuff pads, my plan is to replace everything all at once and (hopefully) not have to deal with any of this again for a long time.
My rear rotors are probably fine - but since I can afford to do everything at once I am. I bought my Ex with 99k miles and am now at 140k, and this is the first time I've had to touch brakes.. so I'm real pleased with the stock rotors (not sure they are original but they do NOT have slots/holes of any type on them)

 

I'm actually gonna break up the moog love because it seems like their quality has gone downhill over recent years. When I did my front end service last winter, I was going to use moog components until a bunch of people complained that they had to do the job over again after 15k on the moog parts. In the end, I decided to go with an entire new front end-inner and outer tie rods, upper/lower ball joints, dust seals, axle seals, all o-rings and gaskets and used parts from a company called Raybestos. IIRC, they have to options- a service grade and professional grade: the service grade is what people would use the day before they sell their truck and the pro grade is what people would use if they plan on keeping the truck for a long time. After all the work, my front end has no play in it whatsoever and its almost like autopilot on the straightaways!

As for shocks, Fox seem like they are the very peak quality but their price usually reflects that. I personally went with bilstein 5100 series all around because of the price:quality ratio and so far am very impressed with them.

 

Why not genuine Spicer parts for a Spicer axle?
DANA 60 FRONT - FORD

 

Personally I would go with OEM, just did my brakes not too long back and bought rotors and pads from the dealer. How many miles did your current ball joints last? Mine have 114000 miles on them and are still good so when the time comes I am going with OEM.

 

2X on the XRF ball joints, I'm running them right now.They have a million mile warranty and aren't made in China. I've had some issues with Moog front end parts this year on my truck and had to do the job twice,my time is very limited, so I was a little P.O.'d to say the least. Splicer is the way to go with the rest of the stuff and I am using Hawk brake pads. XRF is priced better too,look on E Bay for some good deals

 

The Moog ball joints on my vehicle were of the 2008 vintage and I've had no issues. However, since Carl Ichan took over Fedear-Mogul after the bankruptcy in the last dozen years there have been many closures of the acquired companies historic tech engineering centers, most of these employees were older, most experienced team members. The guys I knew at the Moog facility are all gone. Same with the other groups that I knew better.

Of the Moog sway bar links I purchased just a few years ago one last week got sent in for warranty, a part I thought was going to be in the truck for the rest of its life. Maybe a fluke, maybe not.

I know with the Moog ball joints one of the issues that the ex-employees used to warn about was if they were not torqued up by their instructions which could cause early issues. I followed what they told me.

My company's (division) business was split 50/50 OE to aftermarket. While I know there is a common belief that OE quality is determined by bean counters and aftermarket is better made, in most situations I would disagree with that. You do pay an added fee for the name branding of OE supplied parts, including the aftermarket versions typically labeled as
Motorcraft. But in my experience Ford does require there Motorcraft suppliers to or close to OE specs in their parts, tighter then what that company would sell as their aftermarket name. If I have to replace my ball joints I probably will give Moog another chance.

The issues with rotors are how well are they cast and machined. The casting process has to be controlled to keep the rotors rubbing disc thickness consistent in width and the graphite content well disbursed. In machining the rubbing surfaces need to be as parallel as possible, and the rubbing discs in parallel to the hub mounting surface. In other words the lowest runout as possible (the service manual service specs for mounted slip on rotors is 0.0015", way under what had been typical of a decade or two ago).

Runout is important as off braking wear from the pads just touching the rotor at the highest runout points when running down the road causes the rubbing discs to develop disc thickness variation, the true cause of on-brake pulsation. The description of "warped rotors" is a very inaccurate description and leads away from the true cause. If you have 0.003-0.005" of rotor runout when braking the caliper will just slide along the sliding pins with no reaction in steering or hydraulics. However if you have disc thickness vacation during the rotation of the wheel you are increasing and decreasing the clamping pressure as the rotor transitions through the thick to thin areas. That alters braking force occuring a reaction in the steering wheel, and pressure/volume changes in the hydraulics which alters the brake pedal reaction.

And the surface finish of the rubbing discs need to be about 50 micro inch. Above that and you do not get good stopping ability until the surfaces smooth out and the friction material starts to develop a very thin, consistent transfer layer. Too rough and instead of developing cohesive friction you are working off abrasive friction and the wearing away of friction material.

So for rotors cheaper rotors are often the lack of investment in the proper controls for the casting and machining process. I've got a stack of OE front and rear rotors in my garage that will last well through the life of my truck, and they are no longer available as OE blue box parts at the dealer for '99-04 years. I know for a fact that Ford holds Federal-Mogul to a tight spec on what they sell through the Motorcraft name.

I'll get back to this thread later but I need to back out into the fields to continue trimming Christmas trees.

 

I got the truck with 140K on it and at that time my go to guy when it comes to
front end and brake work I don't want to do myself said that the ball joints were
on the way out along with a steering box that was showing it's wear. I now have
almost 200K on it and you can jack up the front end and lift a tire and really see
the movement in the ball joint. You can also hole the pitman arm and rock the wheel
and get about 2" or play before you have any pitman arm movement. The rear shocks
bunny hop and then you get a lot of little hops as it settles down.

On suppliers for parts there are some parts I won't use any thing other than a Ford part
on. Brake pads are high on that list along with the rotors. The ball joints I am on the fence
about. If I do go Ford I will get the higher end ones that is for sure. I have heard about
the fact that you can kill the Moog's by not torquing then correctly. I would prefer to
have a set with a grease zerk on them so they can get a shot. Rod ends I won't be doing
anything with right now. From looking at the left side it looks like the U-joint has been
changed to a greasable joint. I can see a zerk. I have not looked at the right side yet.
The unit bearings are nice and tight, So they stay for now.

So After I do a little inspection tonight I'll know more on the brakes and what parts I
need there. But the least that I have to do is ball joints. If only Ford had a greasable one.
I have all the odd ball tools I need to do the job. I even have the right rings for the
ball joint press. Along with a nice sized press to do them. Not the wimpy one that Autozone
loans out for the job.

Funny thing is I have used the EBC Yellow Stuff pads in the Ranger and talk about a fast stop.
I am just not convinced they are the best for a heavy truck and that is why the Ford HD ones
are on my list for that job. So if I do have to get rotors to top that part of the job off I would like
to ask about slotted,drilled or not. I know that is an aftermarket at that point just tossing the
question out there.

Keep the info coming I won't be doing this for a few weeks from today.
Thanks for all the good info. It will all be used in helping me make the decision.

Sean

6.0L Tech Folder

 

I don't know but 200k on a set of OEM ball joints seems pretty darn good to me.