Time for balljoints....

What's everyone running for a press now? I tried using the one I have (works well on my 12V) and it was nowhere near big enough with the bore adapters.

I wanted to see if I already had knurled ones before ordering some up. If they're the original set of OEMs, I'll just get another set of OEMs.
 
I’ve been running MOOG for about 3 years and they are holding up nice, just have to make sure you keep them greased.


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One thing I see people overlooking is.... long before you notice you need to replace your BJ's your tires have suffered tremendously and their lifespan is reduced whenever you have sloppy parts. One of the first things I noticed when I put good BJ's in was how much longer the front tires lasted before needing to rotate. Same thing for an axle truss. These axles flex as you drive the camber is constantly changing. Not so much with a truss and knuckle gussets. I put a truss on front, and rear axles... How much do 6 new tires cost!!!!the difference is real.
 
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MOOG is straight junk for ball joints in a dodge!!! Less then a year here on a set. I put Mevotech's in this time. $50 a piece. Moog has a 31mm ball, OEM has a 33mm ball and the Mevotech has 35mm ball. They look way better then the moog out of the box.
 
The part that wears out is the plastic cup that goes over the ball. The BJ's in the video, Carli, DynaTrac, and EMF, are all metal.
 
I had once ran a cheap knurled ball joint and when it came time to switch to a carli ball joint that isn't knurled the ball joint literally basically slid in. Called carli and this is what they recommended. Been fine for a few years now. Knock on wood lol
3b825e2d8be26f4f164481fca924ec80.jpg


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Burningtire said:
I had once ran a cheap knurled ball joint and when it came time to switch to a carli ball joint that isn't knurled the ball joint literally basically slid in. Called carli and this is what they recommended. Been fine for a few years now. Knock on wood lol
3b825e2d8be26f4f164481fca924ec80.jpg
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Just, they recommend 'raising the base material' with a center punch a bunch and people have had really good results.

This is their sudo sponsored video. Also, that guy just slides the hub off. That's bull ****. I've used a chisel on mine to get them off, but just recently found a trick where you put a socket behind the axle shaft and have someone turn the wheel using the power steering and it pops them out. I'm going to try that next time.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3geIH9cCi-c"]Carli Ball Joint Installation Tutorial by CJC Off Road - YouTube[/ame]
 
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I agree on Moogs being junk, though that’s what I’m running in both Dodge trucks. My a-arm bores are so wore out on my 12v, I had to weld the ball joint to the a-arm so it wouldn’t back out. Been working for 3 years.
My 3rd gen won’t see moogs after this set wears out.
 
CorneliusRox said:
Just, they recommend 'raising the base material' with a center punch a bunch and people have had really good results.

This is their sudo sponsored video. Also, that guy just slides the hub off. That's bull ****. I've used a chisel on mine to get them off, but just recently found a trick where you put a socket behind the axle shaft and have someone turn the wheel using the power steering and it pops them out. I'm going to try that next time.
Carli Ball Joint Installation Tutorial by CJC Off Road - YouTube
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I normally loosen the 4 hub bolts, leave a socket on the head of the bolts with a extension against anything solid and have someone turn the wheel. Works awesome. I discovered the trick after spending half a day trying to get one side off. After that I anti seize the **** out of it and it normally comes off with a flat head and a whack of a hammer.

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Burningtire said:
I normally loosen the 4 hub bolts, leave a socket on the head of the bolts with a extension against anything solid and have someone turn the wheel. Works awesome. I discovered the trick after spending half a day trying to get one side off. After that I anti seize the **** out of it and it normally comes off with a flat head and a whack of a hammer.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. I put mine back on with some corrosion after doing u-joints. I cleaned the mating surface and used the four bolts to 'press' it back on. I remember being pretty frustrated and it taking hours to figure out a way to get it off!
 
Snap on makes a special tool that has the 18mm socket end but it's super long and solid, no ratchet hole. It reaches the entire way to the inner knuckle right next to the axle tube hole. Presses the hub out just by turning the wheel few inches
 
I finally tossed some XRF's in my truck. The OEM ones were pretty bad at ~185k and one came apart while I was pressing it out.

The new uppers are non-knurled and went it really smooth. The lowers that are knurled we a PITA to install. I thought I was going to break the press... but I did't. I torqued them and didn't grease as per instructions, but I did put some grease under the boot lip just with my finger.

So far they feel perfect, but I'm pretty sure even terrible ball joints feel perfect at first.

I live on a dirt road and have a really rough drive into work every day, so I will report back if anything bad happens. I still need to do an alignment on them, just ran out of time this weekend. It shifted my wheel slightly, so I'm thinking the tow might be off a hair as well.
 
I got a set of xrf lowers that have outlasted one set of carli uppers and I’m starting to get play in one of the second set of carli , it was like pulling teeth to get them to warrant the first set so I’m not to sure they’ll do the second set . I’m going EMF next .
 
EMF is the go to. I got OEM dana spicers for my dad 01 dually I need to install, but I'm going EMF on mine. Unlike Carli, with EMF you don't have to pull to rebuild and they sell the parts to do it yourself.
 
Marq92 said:
EMF is the go to. I got OEM dana spicers for my dad 01 dually I need to install, but I'm going EMF on mine. Unlike Carli, with EMF you don't have to pull to rebuild and they sell the parts to do it yourself.
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They been making bad azz ball joints for the offroad community for a good while now and there is no equal. Simple rebuilds, too.

Hope they are making them for 2nd gens now like I've been hearing.
 
bateman said:
They been making bad azz ball joints for the offroad community for a good while now and there is no equal. Simple rebuilds, too.

Hope they are making them for 2nd gens now like I've been hearing.
Click to expand...

They are in stock on EMF's website for pretty much all Ball Joint 60's now.
 
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