Well half way through my trip up north I have found that my Balls joints are loose again.  

 

The moogs lasted 20K

The Danas lasted about 15k

 

Not really sure what to do.  I would love to just get something that lasted from the factory, but I dunno.  

 

Thoughts on what to try?  Should I do the dana ones again?

4 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Maybe so... But I paid right around $120 bucks for all 4 ball joints and still going after all this time.

Could be. Then again you still shop at NAPA  

1 hour ago, dripley said:

I dont think Dynatrac even makes them for the 00-02. Even so at near $600 that is out of me league. If i knew for a fact they would last 150k+ I would think about.it. 

Thanks for the info Jag. I keep hearing about the more expensive ones but cant seem to find the.  Rip Rook, you gotta love name.

Are the 00-02 D60's different?

 

 

 

No, the dynatrac's aren't cheap, but even if they only last as long as OEMs they are rebuildable on the truck. That is huge! All the BJ changes will wear out the knuckle and then you are looking at a new axle housing. How many of the people that eat BJ like candy are wearing out the joint, and how many have issues from loose knuckles? There is a reason for splined BJ's and what happens when those don't fit tight?

That's what really makes all of this difficult, redesigns. Parts that were great a couple years ago get redesigned and then their quality goes down the wizzer.

@Mopar1973Man

Which NAPA ball joints are you using?

@AH64ID

Having the ability to rebuild ball joints without removing them from the truck would be nice. I've seen a few wore out knuckles and there's only a couple of ways to fix them right, both of which require the axle to be removed. One is to machine out the holes and install a sleeve. The second is to weld beads around the inner circumference of the hole and then machine them to the correct diameter. Either option will  be costly a royal pita. 

The ball joints in te 00-02 fit in the axle yokes and not the knuckle. They also don line up with each other. http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-non-powertrain/475650-interesting-info-about-00-02-ball-joints.html This explains better than I can. I am definitely not a front end expert. I can however take it all apart and put it back together.

I seem to get different opinions of what constitutes worn out joints also. Some say no verical movement and some up to 1/4" vertical is OK. Most of what i have read agrees that any horizontal move is bad. So maybe mine are not as worn as I first thought. 

2 hours ago, dripley said:

The ball joints in te 00-02 fit in the axle yokes and not the knuckle. They also don line up with each other. http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-non-powertrain/475650-interesting-info-about-00-02-ball-joints.html This explains better than I can. I am definitely not a front end expert. I can however take it all apart and put it back together.

I seem to get different opinions of what constitutes worn out joints also. Some say no verical movement and some up to 1/4" vertical is OK. Most of what i have read agrees that any horizontal move is bad. So maybe mine are not as worn as I first thought. 

You don't really want to see any horizontal movement. Dodge has a tolerance for vertical movement and I believe it's .60 or .90"

I've been reading up on this and trying to make a finial decision on what I'm going to buy. I've read a lot of good things about Raybestos Professional but the knurled joints are just killing it for me. Synergy joints are supposed to be as stout as some of the other high-end joints out there but only cost $350 for set of 4. After researching this until I'm blue in the face my final decision is to wait for Michael to post what joints he has been using from NAPA and get the same thing. With a non-knurled joint I'll at least have the option to use something like the Dynatracs later on if I feel they're worth it. 

So far I am unable to find the movement limits for the 00-02 axle, but I am still searching.

 

FYI, on the 03-09 (and presumably 10+) from AAM 9.25" axle the limits are 0.090 vertical on the lower BJ and 0.060 lateral on the upper BJ.

1 hour ago, The_Hammer said:

my final decision is to wait for Michael to post what joints he has been using from NAPA and get the same thing

Like I said the ones I've got now are from Rockauto.com. I would just get something from NAPA and be done. Can't tell me that all these front end shops buy high dollar parts. Heck no they just order NAPA ball joints. If they were so bad of joint places like Les Schwab would be getting complaints from constant warranty work.

2 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Like I said the ones I've got now are from Rockauto.com. I would just get something from NAPA and be done. Can't tell me that all these front end shops buy high dollar parts. Heck no they just order NAPA ball joints. If they were so bad of joint places like Les Schwab would be getting complaints from constant warranty work.

You would be surprised. There is no real warranty on wear and tear which is what nearly all BJ's fail from. 

NAPA is going down the drain. More and more shops quit using them altogether. 

Hmmm... There is no other part supplier up here for all these tires shops. All you have is NAPA. Also I would have to ask the question of how many people are having issues from just oversized tires or lift kit issues?

Heavier tires and taller tires certainly do accelerate wear. Quality parts still last longer. 

 

Smart shops get their parts from other suppliers. The only local source doesn't make it a good source. 

 

NAPA may work for some, but their quality has been steadily slipping for years. 

Edited December 27, 20159 yr by AH64ID

The only non-adjustable, non-knurled ball joints NAPA shows are el cheapo ones, everything is else is knurled. 

NAPA has the rebranded Raybestos Professional joints, Rockauto has them under the AC Delco Professional name. 

 

 

This last one is listed on Amazon as Raybestos Professional. 

NAPA $50.85

Rock Auto $32.89

Amazon $30.00

Edited December 27, 20159 yr by The_Hammer

Kind of like Batteries... There is only a handful of producers so everything is just rebranded or reboxed different names.

There's a 51% price difference between NAPA and Amazon, not including 8.25% tax at my local NAPA. I can get the commercial discount at my local NAPA and it's still cheaper online with free shipping. I ran the AC Delco branded part # on Amazon and it's a buck more than the Raybestos.

Especially for those who will be paying to have them installed, there's got to be a solution that's has more longevity.

6 minutes ago, joecool911 said:

Especially for those who will be paying to have them installed, there's got to be a solution that's has more longevity.

That's a very good point. It gets expensive really quick if your paying someone to do the work for you. I don't even want to know how much I would have paid in labor alone this year doing repairs on my truck.

i know most here are talking about the second gens but here is what i'm gonna use. http://www.drivetrainamerica.com/74100001-dodge-ram-2500-3500-aam-9-25-solid-front-axle-ball-joint-kit-03-12/

my stock ones have 225K on them and just now the pass upper is getting play.

 

2 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Like I said the ones I've got now are from Rockauto.com. I would just get something from NAPA and be done. Can't tell me that all these front end shops buy high dollar parts. Heck no they just order NAPA ball joints. If they were so bad of joint places like Les Schwab would be getting complaints from constant warranty work.

Any way to find out what they use? I would agree that they are using what they know will last at least past any warranty. Not trying to bad mouth them or anyone but I dont believe they are buying big money parts either with out charging more. 

Are you going to let us in on which ones you got at Rock Auto?

2 hours ago, AH64ID said:

You would be surprised. There is no real warranty on wear and tear which is what nearly all BJ's fail from. 

NAPA is going down the drain. More and more shops quit using them altogether. 

That is the case with the Moog lifetime. Normal wear and tear is not covered, only material defects. Did not realize that when I bought them. Probably would have bought them any way with there rep at the time. No experience on NAPA quality for these parts

 

 

All this reminds me of the headache I got when we discussed XRF ball joints a few months back. Heres to mine not being as bad as I thought and they last another 100k..

Anyone have a 98---00 truck with the t steering?

 

I need to do a nitty gritty alighnment and could use the measurement from a good truck.  Can anyone measure the distance between the hubs from the knuckle joint shalf to knuckle joint shaft on the tie rods?

This is how I do mine. For my truck and my utv. 

I put my tires on folded trash bags so they slide easy. 

http://youtu.be/y9tYpHfXkJs