Well,, I have ran into a snag with my free spin hub, and ball joint replacement. After putting the pass side together I decided I was`nt satisfied with the "loose" press fit  of the new Dynatrac ball joints. I called dynatrac and they were more than happy to send me a set of knurled joints and swap me strait out plus shipping.  I`m going on two weeks with my truck on jack stands, and it looks like its going to be early next week at best before the new joints get here..

 evidently they have had to machine a set out and assemble them before they could ship?? 

 

The gal on the phone was very nice, so I have minded my manners.. I had no clue this was going to be such a cluster!!

What ball joints did you remove? MOOG?

What ball joints did you remove? MOOG?

Well.. They appeared to be OEM?? The truck had 120K on it when I bought it , and I`m not sure whether the previous owner replaced them or not. I have 160K on the clock now, and the ones I removed really were not in bad shape.

Well.. They appeared to be OEM?? The truck had 120K on it when I bought it , and I`m not sure whether the previous owner replaced them or not. I have 160K on the clock now, and the ones I removed really were not in bad shape.

 

While not unheard of that is certainly past average miles. A lot depends on road conditions. Between myself, my dad, and my brother none of our 3rd gens made it to 100K miles and my brothers where the worst. His truck is also a Hemi, so the weight wasn't a factor.

 

The only BJ's I have heard of that enlarge the knuckle are MOOG's, thou I am not sure how to visually identify them vs OEM.

 

When I installed my dynatrac's around 85K miles they certainly were not a loose fit.

While not unheard of that is certainly past average miles. A lot depends on road conditions. Between myself, my dad, and my brother none of our 3rd gens made it to 100K miles and my brothers where the worst. His truck is also a Hemi, so the weight wasn't a factor.

 

The only BJ's I have heard of that enlarge the knuckle are MOOG's, thou I am not sure how to visually identify them vs OEM.

 

When I installed my dynatrac's around 85K miles they certainly were not a loose fit.

When I reassembled the pass side I ran a wire brush wheel through the bores  .. It took very little effort from the press tool to seat the new BJs.

 

after talking to a Dynatrac tech I decided to break it back down and get a knurled set. Meanwhile I broke the drivers side down, and the lower joint pressed in tight.. when I did the upper I literally pushed the joint in and back out by hand.

 

The previous owner had a pretty impressive service record at the dealership where I bought the truck, so I would bet these are going to be the third set now.

Dynatrac claims these will be the last ball joints I will need to buy?? At least thats what my motivation is for spending so much $$$$ on this project.

That is why I bought Dynatrac's. If they do wear out the can be rebuilt without having to remove them from the knuckle, which saves on knuckle wear.

So you guys that have bought dynatrac ball joints like them? I have been saving my pennies for carli ball joints. But if these are good in comparison then I may have to re think this.

Edited May 14, 201510 yr by ADawg

I only have a few years on them, but all is good so far. The Carlis where on a large back order at the time, so dynatrac was the best option. My local shop also uses dynatrac almost exclusively.

Could someone post some pix on the differences here......................or explain it in small words. Thanks in advance.

Carli supposedly uses harder materiel which "cannot wear" so they claim lifetime service.

I have Carlis in my 05, I got the first run of them and they had issues, they sent me a second set I actually have been running for 5 years now that should be replaced as they still had hardening issues and mine are galled up internally but they did wear in and quit squeaking after about 3 years and regular greasing. I notice my uppers have developed a bit of movement like the stockers had too. One of these days I will get hold of them and warranty out the set and hope they got all the issues worked out over the last 5 years. Their customer service is second to none from my initial experience. For the money it had better be though.

Looks like a few folks went to dyna tracs and had good luck with them too.

 

My pics and story start on page 2 of the thread from TDR. I go by BILLVO there.

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/222406-New-Carli-lower-issue-check-this-out!