front ball joint time

[dieseldon]

Well I think it's time to replace my front axle knuckle ball joints 😞

 Hopefully someone can shine a light on which ones held up or not.

 Local napa has some in stock, napa premium, lifetime, whatever that means? who makes them?

They're pretty proud of them for

$100 apiece although I'm sure there's more expensive ones but that's about as much as I want to pay.

  I know Spicer is a good brand, been looking for the #708047 upper and lower kit but I'm having trouble finding any in stock or discontinued.

 Thanks for any help!

 

[dripley]

Well just to cloud up the muddy water I put MOOG on mine 10 years ago when everyone said they were junk and they still function well. Maybe I got mine before federal mogul bought them our. They were 50 bucks each back then but turned out well for me. I have no idea of the quality now. I would definitely watch for the Spicer. They have some parts that are not up to the task. Ask @Me78569 if I am not mistaken he went thru some bad ones. The 01's and 02's can be harsh on ball joints. 

 

Me, I would have to go with MOOG with the experience I have with ones on mine. Probably get a lot of flack on this one.

[Silverwolf2691]

Currently have Synergy ball joints but they are discontinued i think. Still going with no play after 5 years now.

 

Next round will be EMF ball joints, rebuildable on the truck, and adjustable. $510-ish from Genos includes all 4 plus all tools (minus the press) to install and adjust them.

 

@dripley, you might have caught the tail end of good moog stuff. Any second gen 2500/3500 that has the slip on style brake rotors are known for munching on ball joints. Seems to come down to the design of that version of the Dana 60. (Unless you are like  Mopar1973Man and build around longevity of parts). 

 

https://www.cumminsforum.com/threads/interesting-info-about-00-02-ball-joints.475650/

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by Silverwolf2691

[dripley]

Yep the late models eat them. I was shocked my oe joints went near 240k before replacement and now the MOOG have almost 300k on them. Me I love longevity of parts as long as they last. I just replaced my track bar with the MOOG one with the large ball joint on it. Its my third since the rebuild of the front end 300k ago. Who knows what I will use next. They got to wear out sometime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dieselfuture]

I put in spicers a few years back but I got them from local Sadler shop that rebuilds axles and heavy transmission/transferase maybe they carry a better stock, so far no movement  maybe it was old stock

[Mopar1973Man]

All I've got is cheap AC Delco ball joints. Still going...

[Doubletrouble]

 Mine are still OE as far as I know with 155k on them. I've noticed one of the lowers the rubber has torn a bit so I try to grease it much more often to make it last. I'm sure it will go eventually. Then I will be in the same boat, which one? So many choices ........

[dieseldon]

Thanks for all the replies!

 Oh, decisions, decisions!

 I just watched that EMF youtube video titled "EMF dodge ram steering issues and how to fix"

A lot of good info and a lot to consider on these front ends, even if you don't use them.

Also it's probably the time to change u-joints, crap, how much is THIS job going to cost?!!😭

 It would be nice to hear from someone who's installed and has experience with them.

 

[dripley]

1 hour ago, dieseldon said:

Thanks for all the replies!

 Oh, decisions, decisions!

 I just watched that EMF youtube video titled "EMF dodge ram steering issues and how to fix"

A lot of good info and a lot to consider on these front ends, even if you don't use them.

Also it's probably the time to change u-joints, crap, how much is THIS job going to cost?!!😭

 It would be nice to hear from someone who's installed and has experience with them.

 

The u joints themselves are no big deal to change. It is just the part of how you have to take apart to get to them. If the front hub bearings have never been out it can be quite the job. They get rusted in pretty tight.

[dieseldon]

1 hour ago, dripley said:

The u joints themselves are no big deal to change. It is just the part of how you have to take apart to get to them. If the front hub bearings have never been out it can be quite the job. They get rusted in pretty tight.

 

 

Good to know, but I was referring to the EMF ball joints and if anyone has any experience with them, between u-joints and ball joints and?? Again I really recommend any Dana axle owners to check out their YouTube video, there's a lot that can go wrong with those knuckles, and knuckle preparation that I never even considered.

Their explainations seems pretty sound.

For a extra $100 or so vs Napa's joints it would seem like a no brainer? Unless you're replacing sleeves every year or??

 My "boat" (break out another thousand!

 

[dripley]

6 hours ago, dieseldon said:

 

 

Good to know, but I was referring to the EMF ball joints and if anyone has any experience with them, between u-joints and ball joints and?? Again I really recommend any Dana axle owners to check out their YouTube video, there's a lot that can go wrong with those knuckles, and knuckle preparation that I never even considered.

Their explainations seems pretty sound.

For a extra $100 or so vs Napa's joints it would seem like a no brainer? Unless you're replacing sleeves every year or??

 My "boat" (break out another thousand!

 

I looked at them when I had to replace mine. The price was well beyond what I was willing to pay. Think I had about 150 buck in the MOOG.

 

 

[dieseldon]

14 hours ago, dripley said:

I looked at them when I had to replace mine. The price was well beyond what I was willing to pay. Think I had about 150 buck in the MOOG.

 

 

 

Yeah I hear you, I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger on those EMF's at that price, it'd be easier if I drove the truck hard all the time, but it's mainly my camper hauler, then the way things are going here in Idaho with everyone and their aunt moving here there's not going to be anywhere left to camp!! (Is there a thread here to discuss this, lol? !!)

 Then there's that part of me that wants to do the best job possible within reason.

[Doubletrouble]

5 minutes ago, dieseldon said:

Then there's that part of me that wants to do the best job possible within reason

 Key words there are "within reason". I try to upgrade parts when I can or at least use quality parts. No sense in pinching pennies on a 1 ton truck and find that part failed later when trying to work the truck to its potential. 

 That being said, if you.mainly use it to haul a camper I myself would go with a quality replacement. I couldn't justify the extra cost of the emf brands.

   Just my $.02

[Mopar1973Man]

Then you don't wanna hear I only paid 39 bucks for front ball joints and lasted over 250k miles and counting. Just cheap AC Delco joints.

[dripley]

2 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Then you don't wanna hear I only paid 39 bucks for front ball joints and lasted over 250k miles and counting. Just cheap AC Delco joints.

Was that each or all 4? 

[dieseldon]

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Then you don't wanna hear I only paid 39 bucks for front ball joints and lasted over 250k miles and counting. Just cheap AC Delco joints.

I don't mind hearing that at all unless it's just a fluke?

At 250k it would probably be the last ball joints I ever bought.

   After watching that EMF video if your knuckles not prepared right or wore out, or joints put in crooked there's gonna be problems.

 The whole thing makes me queezy! Maybe I shouldn't have watched, ignorance is bliss?

19 minutes ago, dieseldon said:

I don't mind hearing that at all unless it's just a fluke?

At 250k it would probably be the last ball joints I ever bought.

   After watching that EMF video if your knuckles not prepared right or wore out, or joints put in crooked there's gonna be problems.

 The whole thing makes me queezy! Maybe I shouldn't have watched, ignorance is bliss?

 I think I've concluded that the Spicer's for 99-02 have been discontinued 😞

 

 

[dripley]

Just remember that EMF makes a product and has to sell it. What you are seeing is there marketing which they seem to be pretty good at it. I replaced mine around 250k I believe and had never done it before. It is pretty straight forward job but alot of work. But it can get screwed up. I would think one could screw up installing theirs also. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Little secret. If you  have a torch burn the cap off off the ball joint. Then beat the ball stud out. Then use a hacksaw to relief cut the remaining cap and one small tap its out.

 

(Off topic)

I did this trick for the 2006 doing wheel joint I cut the trunion out of the shaft. Then pop the snap rings and beat each cap through the yoke. Easier than trying beat 2 caps back and forth. Took 15 minutes to change the u-joint.

[dieseldon]

15 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Little secret. If you  have a torch burn the cap off off the ball joint. Then beat the ball stud out. Then use a hacksaw to relief cut the remaining cap and one small tap its out.

 

(Off topic)

I did this trick for the 2006 doing wheel joint I cut the trunion out of the shaft. Then pop the snap rings and beat each cap through the yoke. Easier than trying beat 2 caps back and forth. Took 15 minutes to change the u-joint.

 

 

Thanks for the tips!!

 Well I found some ac Delco "pro" ball joints at Rock auto for $54,

#45D0108 and 2288, maybe the same as yours but with inflation??

I think I'll go this route. O'Reilly wanted over$100 for the same ones!

 

 Question, besides the u-joints, anything else I might/probably run into with this job (first time Dana  axle for me) seals, bandages, ,etc.??

   Thanks!

[Mopar1973Man]

Ball joint press from Harbor Frieght. Don't over load the press but with some hammer blows you can shock them out. Still like my previous method which I kind of tried. After using heat I had a ball joint explode spitting the ball stud out. Then burned a hole and relief cut the cap with a hacksaw and tap of a hammer it fell out.