ball joints, beating the horse

[tlevan03]

Everything will wear out at some point. Both seem like great products, I think im leaning more towards the Dynatracs. Eventually when the miles start going up, ill buy a rebuild kit just to have on hand when the time comes.

 

[Ozymandias]

The main Difference between Carli an d Dyna is that Carlis are 100% Metalic Joints, like a Kingpin solution.
Dynas are built like OEM with a plastic Part inside.


And it is today common knowledge that carli had some hardening problems with an early series of their joints. Bad these times are long gone.

A friend of mine uses the dynas, I checked them, and i dont like how they are built especially the grease zerk on the lower is actually just a grease cone right in the middle of the joint and is really hard to grease below the u-joint. I dont know what the guys a dyna thought when they built it in such a stupid way.

 

[AEdelheit]

I dont have any issues with greasing the lower Dyna BJ, they have a Teflon self lube liner but would not consider them in any way to be built like OEM.

 

[jomobco]

I've got 100,000 miles on my Dynatrac joints and just installed new front end track bar, drag link, control arms and when I had it aligned they said the ball joints were solid still. No need to rebuild yet.

 

[AH64ID]

A friend of mine uses the dynas, I checked them, and i dont like how they are built especially the grease zerk on the lower is actually just a grease cone right in the middle of the joint and is really hard to grease below the u-joint. I dont know what the guys a dyna thought when they built it in such a stupid way.

Yes the grease zerk location sucks, but they aren’t hard to grease when you need to....which isn’t very often.

After installing mine I called and talked to dyna about the zerk and grease interval. They told me they don’t need greased on a regular basis and the main reason for the zerk was because people want greasable balljoints, even if they don’t need to be greased.

It’s similar to u-joints. People want greasable u-joints despite the fact that they have weaker seals and are not as strong. It’s all about public perception, despite engineering. Same reason the completely redesigned powerjoke is a V8...people think 8 is better than 6.

 

[Jim Ross]

I've got 100,000 miles on my Dynatrac joints and just installed new front end track bar, drag link, control arms and when I had it aligned they said the ball joints were solid still. No need to rebuild yet.

I had Dynatrac ball joints and their free-spin hubs installed on my early '04 about 3 years ago. I don't drive a lot of miles in a year, but I probably have 20K on the truck since the change. I run stock size tires/wheels. So far, I have been pleased with my choices. The best thing I got out of the deal was that having free-spin hubs makes backing up a heavy trailer (in 2WD Low) so much nicer! I was expecting a small improvement in mpg with the free-spin hubs, but I can not say I have seen a difference.
Before deciding on the DynaTracs, I did a fair amount of research. For me, it came down to Carli or DynaTrac......IMO, both are good choices. Sadly, it seems some of the old "standby" name brands are now shipping products in plain white boxes and no one could tell me where they came from or who really made them......pretty sad and I stayed away from them.
One thing my installer/shop told me when they installed the DynaTracs was that I should expect some front-end wander initially, but that the wander would go away with a few miles......and that has turned out to be true in my case.
As far as lube service goes, I have tried to be very careful to not over-lube. I usually only lube every 5K miles and when I do, I only put 1 or 2 shots of grease in each zerk fitting.

 

[SRay]

Hello fellas, I have moog ball joints on the passenger side installed not long after I bought the truck, they’re still in there since 2008.

The driver side is still in there when I bought the truck.

I do grease them pretty much every 2,500 kms or 5,000 kms.

I also have been using swepco moly grease from the start so I’m guessing that may have helped as cheap grease seem to push themselves out.

This truck has always had 35” Toyo M/T’s on factory steel rims and run them with 35 psi front and 25 psi rear to get them to wear flat. Loaded with a trailer, the rear is pumped up to 40-65psi depending on how heavy the load is.

I’ve had the truck from 330,000 km up to 550,000 kms that’s on it now.

Same steering parts, ball joints, and only the track bar has been upgraded to 3rd Gen style.

What I’ve noticed and liked, is the low tire pressure cushioning the blows of the roads or pot holed gravel roads.

My truck is smoother over frost heaved paved roads than my car is or my mom’s 2016 Jeep Compass.

I will not buy small tires like 245 or 265 sizes and use high air pressures to keep the tires up.

I’m also a farm helper, so my truck does see off road at times.

I’ve done many farm field drag racing at speeds over 100 kph.

My truck is not a road princess.

My farm tractor is supposed to have 20 psi in the rear tires and 40 psi in the front (2wd) according to tire shops.

But my loader banging up and down over rough spots in the fields is not acceptable so I dropped the front down to 20 psi then raise them when I have a lot of loader work.

The rear shock loads my back even with suspension seat so those have been brought down to 10 psi.

The tractor rides really nice and has been since those new tires were installed in 1999 with no issues.

This saves my loader bushings and steering bushings and my back. This is a 1974 John Deere 2130. Nothing fancy about this tractor

Now both tire shops for my tractor and truck don’t like these low tire pressures but I chose to do that on my own. I do my own maintenance, watching for any issues that may arise.

So far both my truck and tractor are doing well.

The truck is on it’s third set of M/T’s. All using same low pressures.

 

[WalterJ]

New "Carli" bj's installed 1-25-2012 @ 191, 445 miles (101, 308 miles ago); $800 parts + $300 labor; been using "Red Line" synth grease ever since. Their internal fit is very tight, so unload suspension to grease; corresponds to tire rotation schedule.

 

[Killer223]

i'd go with the dyantrac just for the fact you do't have to press them in and out of the axle enlarging the hole anymore than need me.
that's what i did to my 04 anyhow.

 

[ro23j]

I replaced the ball joints on my 2006 at 58,000 miles with Carli's. 100K on the truck now and no problems. If you go with Carli, make sure the lowers get installed per the instructions with the grease fitting oriented correctly.

 

[BILTIT]

EMF balljoints for the win.

https://emfballjoints.com/collections/dodge-ball-joints

Quality as good or better than carli/dynatrac, rebuildable in truck, wear adjustable and cheaper!

 

[tlevan03]

Thank you everyone for your input. I went and did the work over the weekend. I used dynatrac ball joints and the Spyntec free spin kit. Install went pretty well, until I went to put my calipers on and realized the backing plates were on the wrong sides, little set back but it happens. The truck felt very different, the steering felt lighter. I drove around a bit on sunday and made sure the hubs were not getting hot, the felt fine. I needed to do the ball joints before my state inspection this year, so I took it Monday and had no issues. the first shop I went to was going to fail me for not having a Cat, so I went to a place I knew wouldn't hit me on it. As of now, I have about 200 miles on the set up and everything seems to be in line. Thanks again for all the help and input. - tad

 

[verk]

Quality as good or better than carli/dynatrac, rebuildable in truck, wear adjustable and cheaper!

I'm in the market for ball joints. I replaced originals at 105k with Moog which have lasted only about 50k. I don't want to do this job more than once more so I'm trying to make an educated purchase. I get the argument about wear adjustable and cheaper, but can you speak to how quality differs ? Anybody know of a long-term comparison.

 

[verk]

I'm in the market for ball joints. I replaced originals at 105k with Moog which have lasted only about 50k. I don't want to do this job more than once more so I'm trying to make an educated purchase. I get the argument about wear adjustable and cheaper, but can you speak to how quality differs ? Anybody know of a long-term comparison.

Correction, I installed Raybestos 505-1311 Professional Grade Suspension Ball Joints. I believe these are the same as Napa Precision ball joints. In the end, lasted about 50k which is sad given how slowly and carefully I drive.

I'm considering installing Dynatrac on one side and EMF on the other. Any reason not to ?

 

[BILTIT]

Go for it, be a good comparison.

EMF has some videos with their test BJ's at 100k kms and show minimal wear. Find them on youtube.