Ball Joint Blues

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Sep 7, 2016 | 03:54 PM

spongecop

Thread Starter

Semper Fi

Joined: Feb 2011

Posts: 771

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Ball Joint Blues

So the bad luck fairy hit me today. Had severe tire wear on left front....trusted shop here in Dallas says upper ball joint failed. Replaced them with OEM in 2013 or about 50K miles ago. Is this typical or am I just unlucky? non-lifted truck not driven hard off road....bit disappointed

Feeling a bit like Rich today

Sep 7, 2016 | 04:17 PM

onelionhunter

Laughing Gas

Joined: Aug 2009

Posts: 1,192

Likes: 7

From: Belgrade, MT

Sealed units?

Were they sealed units or the ones with grease zerks? I put OEM with zerks in a year or two after i bought truck, i have 95k on them with no issues to date. So long as they get grease every 5k, i dont see them failing anytime soon, and i run my truck hard off road here.

Sep 7, 2016 | 04:58 PM

brian42

Lead Driver

Joined: Dec 2006

Posts: 7,092

Likes: 145

From: San Diego, CA

About 180K out of the originals, about 60K out of Moog, and now I'm at 55K with XRF and counting.

I've read anywhere from 10K to 200K out of ball joints (OEM, Moog, etc.) so I don't know if there's a correlation or it's just a dice roll on what you'll get.

Sep 8, 2016 | 08:08 AM

spongecop

Thread Starter

Semper Fi

Joined: Feb 2011

Posts: 771

Likes: 1

when they were replaced in 2013 the bottom has a zerk fitting but the top did not..supposed to be OEM BJs. Does Ford make BJs with zerks?

Sep 8, 2016 | 08:22 AM

ExPACamper

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Joined: Mar 2015

Posts: 5,277

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From: Blairsville, Pennsylvania

Quote:

Originally Posted by spongecop

when they were replaced in 2013 the bottom has a zerk fitting but the top did not..supposed to be OEM BJs. Does Ford make BJs with zerks?

I just installed Spicer/OEM ball joints yesterday. No grease zerks, all sealed up

Sep 8, 2016 | 01:03 PM

onelionhunter

Laughing Gas

Joined: Aug 2009

Posts: 1,192

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From: Belgrade, MT

Parts Guy Ed

Back when i did mine, PartsguyED had just gotten in OEM ball joints with zerks, I ordered them from him, think that was Horizon Ford he was at, or something close to that in name, so yes, there are OEM ones available with zerks.

Sep 8, 2016 | 01:09 PM

brian42

Lead Driver

Joined: Dec 2006

Posts: 7,092

Likes: 145

From: San Diego, CA

^^^ What he said. I know that Ford has offered greasable ball joints in the past. I'm not sure if they still do or how expensive they are.

Ball joints are one of the few things I'll get that aren't OEM.

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Sep 8, 2016 | 01:46 PM

ExPACamper

Post Fiend

Joined: Mar 2015

Posts: 5,277

Likes: 32

From: Blairsville, Pennsylvania

Here's what I just installed yesterday.

Link: BALL JOINT SET UPPER and LOWER FORD SUPER DUTY DANA 60 FRONT 4X4 F450 F550 98-04 - Ventures Truck Parts

Sep 9, 2016 | 08:26 AM

#10

spongecop

Thread Starter

Semper Fi

Joined: Feb 2011

Posts: 771

Likes: 1

got truck back. Upper joints have a grease fiting , lowers do not. I will grease them every three months and see what happens...I wonder if I did not grease them enough last ime?

Sep 9, 2016 | 01:32 PM

#11

SGnAZ

Posting Guru

Joined: Oct 2008

Posts: 1,825

Likes: 2

From: Az

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExPACamper

Here's what I just installed yesterday.

Link: BALL JOINT SET UPPER and LOWER FORD SUPER DUTY DANA 60 FRONT 4X4 F450 F550 98-04 - Ventures Truck Parts

You always have great write ups on your projects.Any chance of one for this project?

Sep 9, 2016 | 01:46 PM

#12

brian42

Lead Driver

Joined: Dec 2006

Posts: 7,092

Likes: 145

From: San Diego, CA

Here is a popular one:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...ll-joints.html

Here is another thread that has some good links:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ll-joints.html

Sep 9, 2016 | 01:47 PM

#13

aawlberninf350

It's a Van Gogh

Joined: Feb 2010

Posts: 7,802

Likes: 1,333

From: Elk Grove, CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by spongecop

got truck back. Upper joints have a grease fiting , lowers do not. I will grease them every three months and see what happens...I wonder if I did not grease them enough last ime?

Or too much and puffed the seal open. Greasing is a Goldilocks thing; not too much, not too little, gotta be juuuust right.

I chose the Spicer kit so I didn't have to mess with it, plus it's OE manufacturer.