ball joints, beating the horse

[tlevan03]

So its time for me to do ball joints again, I replaced them last febuary with MOOGs. Anyway, Ive done as much research as I can on the dynatraks and Carli's. Most of the threads/posts are several years old. Both sets of joints have great reputations. I don't see anyone having to rebuild their dynatraks. Theres a $100 difference between the two, not too much of a concern. I never thought that this would be a difficult decision. Which ones have proven to best? How many miles do you have on them? While im in there, I will also be doing a spyn-tech kit, I hate the front end of this truck. Thanks in advance.

 

[GrantP]

My OEM ball joints were done and making an audible clunk at 40k on my 06. I replaced them with Carli's nearly 50k ago and have no complaints. I have no experience with the Dynatrac joints but you probably can't go wrong either way.

 

[tlevan03]

Thank you. I'm beginning to believe that I cant go wrong with either, also.

 

[jgillott]

Thank you. I'm beginning to believe that I cant go wrong with either, also.

They both have a great reputation. I've never been smart enough to invest in either so I keep doing factory replacements over and over again like a fool.

 

[Jim W]

So its time for me to do ball joints again, I replaced them last febuary with MOOGs. Anyway, Ive done as much research as I can on the dynatraks and Carli's. Most of the threads/posts are several years old. Both sets of joints have great reputations. I don't see anyone having to rebuild their dynatraks. Theres a $100 difference between the two, not too much of a concern. I never thought that this would be a difficult decision. Which ones have proven to best? How many miles do you have on them? While im in there, I will also be doing a spyn-tech kit, I hate the front end of this truck. Thanks in advance.

What size tires and rims are you using on this truck? How many miles have you driven since you replaced the stock Ball joints with the Moog? how often do you grease the Moog Joints?

I replaced my stock ball joints in April 2015 and I now have 31K + miles on them with no issues. I grease the ball joints every 5K miles when the tires are rotated out. My winter tires are LT265/70R/17E with stock rims. My summer towing tires are LT285/70R/17 126S with Mickey Thompson rims.

I was just trying to figure out why yours wore out so fast?

 

[GrantP]

They both have a great reputation. I've never been smart enough to invest in either so I keep doing factory replacements over and over again like a fool.

Sometimes cheap isn't...I've been guilty of redoing things because I tried to save a few bucks initially and it's not fun. Please don't take that as bashing, just saying that I can relate because I've done it too.

 

[tlevan03]

I have 37"s. I know, I know. I greased the ball joints probably every 5k, since I installed them last year I have put maybe 20k on them. lots of towing over the summer. Once the tires wear out, I will be going smaller. Also the roads that I travel to work are not the best.

 

[GrantP]

I have 37"s. I know, I know. I greased the ball joints probably every 5k, since I installed them last year I have put maybe 20k on them. lots of towing over the summer. Once the tires wear out, I will be going smaller. Also the roads that I travel to work are not the best.

I also run 37's, I should've added that to my original post. Carli's are holding up fine.

 

[jgillott]

Sometimes cheap isn't...I've been guilty of redoing things because I tried to save a few bucks initially and it's not fun. Please don't take that as bashing, just saying that I can relate because I've done it too.

No offense taken. I'm actually bashing myself in the previous post. I have over 500K combine on our 2 3rd gens. And with all of the plowing and hard work, I'm doing ball joints once a year or more on one of the trucks. You would think that one would wise up after a short while.

 

[AH64ID]

I have dynatrac's and they have 46K miles on them. They appear to be holding up just fine.

I run 125 lb wheel/tire combo for about 7 months of the year and my travels take me down lots of dirt roads.

I'd go with them again.

 

[Michaelsloft]

I have dynatrac's and they have 46K miles on them. They appear to be holding up just fine.

I run 125 lb wheel/tire combo for about 7 months of the year and my travels take me down lots of dirt roads.

I'd go with them again.

I'm still on the original ball joints with no unusual tire wear at 251K miles. Always used stock wheels with Michelin LTX stock size tires and and the Michelins are typically 42-44 pounds in the LT245/75R/16 Load Range.

Do you happen to know the weight of the stock 16" 6.5 steel wheels for the Gen 2 trucks?

Considering getting some Dynatrac ball joints this year and maybe going with some slightly heavier tires too.

 

[EDankievitch]

Having done Moog's, Carli, Dynatrax ball joints I can say that Carli are very nice. Dynatrax are nice as well. However on my 2013 I had stumbled on XRF . The design is similar to the carli upper and they are grease-able and they come with a Million mile warranty. So far I've got 18k miles on them and I'm happy they are holding up well. Time will tell.

 

[AEdelheit]

Having done Moog's, Carli, Dynatrax ball joints I can say that Carli are very nice. Dynatrax are nice as well. However on my 2013 I had stumbled on XRF . The design is similar to the carli upper and they are grease-able and they come with a Million mile warranty. So far I've got 18k miles on them and I'm happy they are holding up well. Time will tell.

I have seen just as many issues with XRF as I have with Moog, neither of which would ever go on any vehicle of mine. XRF also have knurled bodies so they do open up the bore on the axle making it hard to go with another brand then they wear out.

Dynatrack , Carli or EMF are all great options. I personally have alot of hard miles on the Dynatrack with no issues and like that they could be rebuild without pressing out the housing should the need ever occur.

 

[Mark31]

I'm still on the original ball joints with no unusual tire wear at 251K miles. Always used stock wheels with Michelin LTX stock size tires and and the Michelins are typically 42-44 pounds in the LT245/75R/16 Load Range.

Do you happen to know the weight of the stock 16" 6.5 steel wheels for the Gen 2 trucks?

Considering getting some Dynatrac ball joints this year and maybe going with some slightly heavier tires too.

Michael, those are the lowest tire pressures I have ever heard of anyone running. How many miles do you get out of a set? How often do you rotate? You had this truck since new?

 

[Michaelsloft]

Michael, those are the lowest tire pressures I have ever heard of anyone running. How many miles do you get out of a set? How often do you rotate? You had this truck since new?

Mark, 42-44 lbs is the weight of the actual Michelin LTX tires in A/S, M/S & A/T2 series in the 245/75R/16 Load Range E. Looking to find out weight of the bare wheel for total weight of tire/wheel combination. Think positively my friend. & Thanks for your input!

 

[seafish]

Michael, those are the lowest tire pressures I have ever heard of anyone running. How many miles do you get out of a set? How often do you rotate? You had this truck since new?

In my Toyo AT2 285/75/17 E, unloaded I run 48psi all around in order to get even tire wear.

Anything higher I end up with center tire wear.

The 48 psi is within specs of Toyos load inflation charts for the unloaded weight of my truck.

 

[Michaelsloft]

In my Toyo AT2 285/75/17 E, unloaded I run 48psi all around in order to get even tire wear.

Anything higher I end up with center tire wear.

The 48 psi is within specs of Toyos load inflation charts for the unloaded weight of my truck.

I typically run 61 to 65psi in the front depending on load and speeds. Run 50-80 psi in the rear tires depending on load and speeds. The Michelin LTX A/S that are no longer available were the best Michelins I've ever had and got 95,000 miles out of first set and more than 110,000 out of second set. Current set of M/S not holding as well on front or rear of truck with about 46K. Considering the A/T2 as they seem more like the old A/S in construction.
Most interested in learning about weight of bare wheels and tire weight combinations and try to keep weight low with stock Ball Joints or go with heavier duty tires such as Michelin XPS and get some new Dynatrac ball joints.
The Dynatrac ball joints would work with any tire/wheel combination on my truck that I would consider.

 

[AEdelheit]

Man stock tires are light, My 37x13.5x17 Toyo MTs are about 95lbs and wheels are just under 20 so about 115lbs per tire and wheel and running Dyntrack ball joints. The sidewalls are so stiff on the Toyos I run 40-45 front and 20-40 rear depending on use and conditions.

 

[Michaelsloft]

Man stock tires are light, My 37x13.5x17 Toyo MTs are about 95lbs and wheels are just under 20 so about 115lbs per tire and wheel and running Dyntrack ball joints. The sidewalls are so stiff on the Toyos I run 40-45 front and 20-40 rear depending on use and conditions.

Yes, stock 16" 245/75/16 tires are light. Helps keep the front end parts together on 94-99 Gen 2 trucks.

 

[wirehand]

Having had Carli's and Dynatrac's. I would recommend the Dynatrac's because they can be rebuilt in the C-frame.
My Carli's started wearing the tires irregularly like bad ball joints would. I spoke with a Radio guy and the play was not enough for them to warranty. I sure as hell was not going to keep wearing out the next 3 sets of tires to satisfy their opinions of when the ball joints have enough wear. All this was after about 30k miles. So much for "we stand behind our products", but one thing was spot on, those were the last set of ball joints I would buy, (from them).

40k trouble free miles on the Dynatrac's. These trucks are damn heavy on the front end... it will all eventually wear out. Get something that is serviceable. Funny thing, Dynatrac doesn't say their ball joints won't wear out. They just make them easier to rebuild.