Time to change my ball joint fellas. Who knows of any good aftermarket sets?? OR, Should I just go back with the OEM ?? I've looked at them on ebay (all 4 for around $100) anybody know anything I appreciate the info ??? thanks bros

 

Go with Moog. Spend the extra money. Ball joints wear out pretty quick on these trucks. Get something thats goin to withstand some abuse for a while. Plus..Moogs have a Limited Lifetime Replacement for all there parts. Dont go cheap on these.

 

I run moog, and have to change them about every 50,000 miles. Grease them everytime I change the oil, jack up the front, take the weight off the front tires when you grease them.

Moogs last the longest. Got a friend trying out TRW, will see how long they last. Would not recommend anything else. These trucks are too heavy to run cheapo parts in the front end.

 

Another vote for the greasable Moog's. I also hear Motorcraft now has the greasable's also, might want to give partsguyed a PM, heres his link http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=214072 he's a supporter here and he a fantastic fellow, hear that Ed?? lol.

 

I run the MOOG'S and grease them 3-4 times a year. So far so good.

 

I went with Napa premium ball joints. They have a Kevlar insert that carries the vehicle. They have a breakdown of one at the store where I bought mine. It has grooves machined into the Kevlar to distribute the grease and once greased becomes extremely durable. Also comes with a lifetime warranty.

They guys that work at the store said they haven't seen any of the premiums come back under warranty, but have seen the standard ones come back.

 

I installed Moog greasable ball joints on my truck last weekend. If you run Spicer axle joints, good luck with your upper ball joint's 90* zerk fittings.

The parts guy at the dealership said not to buy ball joints from him and that the Moogs would be better.

 

I took a flat file to the bottom of the 90* fitting so it would clear the axle U-joint. Been using 4 wheel drive quite a bit lately and they haven't hit the fitting.

 

I bought new 90* zerks from a parts store in town. Even though they were a little shorter with a perfectly round head, they still needed to be filed down a bit. I haven't had any issues, but the zerks that came with the Moogs were way too big after I assembled everything.

 

What is the typical life of ball joints and what are the symptoms of them going out?

 

For OEM ball joints it is about 50K. The tires generally will start to wear on the inside edge and sometimes they will make noise when you turn the steering wheel.

 

Sorry, but I'm going to be a Moog dissenter.

I've run both Moog and XRF, and am much happier with the XRF units. Firmer, slightly less expensive than the Moogs, serviceable, and they come with a MILLION-MILE WARRANTY.

Here's a link to the XRF site. Just call them and they will set you up. Customer service is wonderful, shipping is fast, and the price/quality/warranty triad is a good as it comes in my book.

XRF Chassis - Ball joints, etc.

Just for the record... I have nothing to gain by anyone purchasing from XRF except for the personal satisfaction of having helped someone else get outstanding quality parts at very reasonable prices.

 

If you want a set you never have to mess with again... but they are spendy!! Check out the Dynatrac Ball joints...

 

I think that the Ford joints are made by moog and the Napa premium joints are made by TRW. This is kinda like the batteries, there are only a few plants that make many products and lots of other names go on the box.

Just got off the phone with XRF chassis They are about an hour from me. All their stuff is made in Taiwan. I asked why they parts were not made here and the reply was ' because we control the quality in our plant in Taiwan ' Not very impressed with the help there. Not very knowledgeable, not a good sales person either.. Anyway, the parts can be ordered at any AutoZone or Advance Auto parts stores. Million Mile wty on personal stuff, 100k on commercial stuff. They only cover their parts, no labor, seals, etc. So, even when these go bad, you are still out $100 in seals.

 

Jeff... the Tiawan connection is news to me. I don't know where I got the idea from, but I thought that the parts were US manufactured. I appreciate your having tracked down that point of clarification... now I know. Regardless, I have certainly seen evidence of the difference in joint fittability and precision mating of the joint surfaces when installing and removing both XRF and Moog joints, and the XRF's come out of that comparison with a "win" in my book. Not saying the Moog's are bad at all, because I know they are good units... just that I believe the XRF's have an upper hand over them.

As for the cost of the seals, that only applies to the 4WD vehicles, which I know most of you have, but I do not. Therefore, for us 2WD owners, the seals are not an issue at all. Even if your Moog joint fails prematurely, is Federal-Mogul going to cover your seals? (I onmly ask because I don't know and can't find any warranty info on their web site).

As for the labor, I think most of us here are inclined to do the work ourselves anyway, so the absence of warranty coverage for labor is only an academic point that is doesn't translate into anything meaningful for us DIY'ers.

Once you've got the seals and labor addressed, what else is there to the "etc." you referred to? I personally haven't run into any other "etc." issues which would ever be addressed by any ball joint manufacturer's warranty. Your wheel bearings and races certainly would not be covered, would they?

Don't get me wrong... I'm not trying to argue with you... just asking thoughtful questions to keep the issues balanced around the practical reality that we are focused on in here.