Ball joints only last a year?? WTH

[Diesel Dave]

I put the NAPA ball joints on almost three years ago and last year I had to replace them because they wouldnt pass inpection. I get them free (lifetime warranty) but I still have to spend the better part of a day putting them on. I just got my truck inspected yesterday and it passed but they said one of the ball joints already has some play. I dont even drive my truck everyday and they only last a year???

I hate to buy something else only to find they dont last any longer than my free NAPA ones.

I know this post is beating the he11 out of the dead horse but I dont know what to do.

[Big Red]

My xrf's lasted 11k of easy jobsite commutes and a little hauling of masonry supplies. My 99 had 300k on it when I sold it, I bought the truck at 50k and never touched them. The Dana axle in my 99 was far superior to this AAM garbage...my next truck will not be a dodge let alone a fiat!! I was actually wondering if a dana 60 would swap in from a 99?? Doubt it but there is one for sale just down the road for 300 bux. Carli or dynatrac or a new truck are your options. Sorry bud.

[Monte Cristo]

I have the dynatracs. So far so good, but only have a few thousand miles on them. Wanted the Carli's, but they were backordered at the time.

Their stuff is nice, but I'm not waiting 6 months to give them my money.

[007Poke]

Originally Posted by Monte Cristo

I have the dynatracs. So far so good, but only have a few thousand miles on them. Wanted the Carli's, but they were backordered at the time.

Their stuff is nice, but I'm not waiting 6 months to give them my money.

Riding in the same boat here. The insides of the Dynatracs look pretty stout. Hoping that they last as good as they look.

[m440par]

I have the Dynatracs and have about 12k on them. Still riding better than the stockers.

[maxwellxx]

got my 05, 2500 serviced today, oil change.
ask about greasing the frontend,
mech said it was all sealed,
told me, when it worn out he could replace the joints with units that had grease zerks.

my old chevy 3/4 had grease zerks at every wear point,
what is the deal, a big horse diesel truck with no grease points.

Question: did he tell me straight????

[txgypsy]

Originally Posted by maxwellxx

got my 05, 2500 serviced today, oil change.
ask about greasing the frontend,
mech said it was all sealed,
told me, when it worn out he could replace the joints with units that had grease zerks.

my old chevy 3/4 had grease zerks at every wear point,
what is the deal, a big horse diesel truck with no grease points.

Question: did he tell me straight????

Yes, but there are many people (even manufacturers who sell both) that claim greasables don't last any longer than sealed. I have one of each on my front end so it will be interesting to see which one lasts the longest.

[Diesel Dave]

The thing with any bearing or wear point that are greasable is that most people tend to get a little happy with the grease gun and ruin the seals so all the grease runs out anyway. I am a mechanical engineer at an oem and we have been ordering "lube for life" bearings for this reason for years and we have less customers calling for replacement bearings now.

[Shibbyutman]

Originally Posted by Diesel Dave

The thing with any bearing or wear point that are greasable is that most people tend to get a little happy with the grease gun and ruin the seals so all the grease runs out anyway. I am a mechanical engineer at an oem and we have been ordering "lube for life" bearings for this reason for years and we have less customers calling for replacement bearings now.

right, this is all well and good, until cost cutting targets or givebacks to the OEM are requested and they go from their original 35.625 grams of HD moly complex lube to 29.875 grams instead. Easy cost cutting, but in the end it leads to an inferior part.

This happened really bad in the 06-07 model years with a lot of components, U-joints and tierod ends included.

My 03 made it 160K miles on the factory steering linkage, yet I hear every day people with death wobble and 30-40K miles on the clock.

[Diesel Dave]

Originally Posted by Shibbyutman

right, this is all well and good, until cost cutting targets or givebacks to the OEM are requested and they go from their original 35.625 grams of HD moly complex lube to 29.875 grams instead. Easy cost cutting, but in the end it leads to an inferior part.

This happened really bad in the 06-07 model years with a lot of components, U-joints and tierod ends included.

My 03 made it 160K miles on the factory steering linkage, yet I hear every day people with death wobble and 30-40K miles on the clock.

Oh I agree,not saying they are not using a cheaper part. I was just pointing out that most (not all, most gearheads excluded) people over do it with the grease gun. Clearly mopar is using cheaper parts.

From what I can see NAPA is using cheap parts too ,but they give lifetime warranty.

[ChucktownJohn]

XRF's with about 15k on them.
Doing fine so far. There was something about the napa's I didn't like. Can't remember now. I think they were about the same price as the XRF.

[Danderson]

My local Dodge performance shop has installed five sets of the Dynatracs. The owners beat the crap out of their trucks offroad here. No issues so far.