dynatrack balljoints

[S.Morris]

Does anyone have any real world experience with these? How are they standing up to heavy diesel abuse.

How much is rebuild kit and what is involved in rebuilding. ?



I am considering either these or carli. Carli is 25% more and I thought lifetime warrantied..... but deep in the literature states that only lowers are guarenteed, not uppers.



Would appreciate comments from folks with real world experience with these joints.

Steve

 

[AEdelheit]

I installed the Dynatracs about 10k ago. I have 37" tires and had 90k on the stock BJ's. The dynatracs are a very nice ball joint that really tightened up the front end, I have had them in some pretty heavy high speed off road, towing and road trips and they have performed great in every situation but havent looked into rebuilding them yet and hope I dont have to for a long time. On that note I am sure the Carli ones are still far nicer then Dynatracs and will last longer knowing personally how Carli works and what went into there Ball joints, where did you read that they only warranty the lowers? Either way they are both great products.

 

[S.Morris]

In literature on klm site for carli joints. I was suprised as I was under impression upper and lower were lifetime. Is this literature wrong?

 

[jjdiesel]

Don't have the Dynatrac's installed yet, but they are sitting in my garage, ready to go. I've done exhaustive research on ball joints and finally decided on the Dynatrac's. I'm sure the Carli's will be nice once they get it all lined out but I don't know that they are head's and shoulder's better... lot's of satisfied customers running the Dynatrac's means something. Have not yet found a negative comment on the Dynatrac's. Once Carli gets through all the R&D I think these will prove to be the two best options for ball joints. FWIW

 

[AEdelheit]

In literature on klm site for carli joints. I was suprised as I was under impression upper and lower were lifetime. Is this literature wrong?

Hmm, I have never heard of that, I will try and contact Shaun or Sage and find out, I would be very surprised if that was the case.

Don't have the Dynatrac's installed yet, but they are sitting in my garage, ready to go. I've done exhaustive research on ball joints and finally decided on the Dynatrac's. I'm sure the Carli's will be nice once they get it all lined out but I don't know that they are head's and shoulder's better... lot's of satisfied customers running the Dynatrac's means something. Have not yet found a negative comment on the Dynatrac's. Once Carli gets through all the R&D I think these will prove to be the two best options for ball joints. FWIW

FYI Carlis are back into full production

 

[S.Morris]

If you could clarify the warranty on carli that would be great. Between my son and I we have 3 3rd gen that are in stages approaching need for bj.

Was thinking of getting a set of each for 2 worst trucks and comparing over time.

Guess I need to find out cost of rebuild kit for dyna's as that seems to be a well kept secret as it is not advertised anywhere I have seen.

Steve

 

[JCockerill]

I just installed dynatrac prosteer joints and also have many carli parts in truck as well. the carli's seem to need a little more time to get bugs worked out. dynatracs seem to be problem free at this ponit that is why i went with them. i wanted to get the carli joints, but don't want to have to do the job over because of a premature worn joint. which a lot of guys ended up with.

 

[carlisuspension]

All Carli ball joints come with a no questions asked lifetime guarantee and satisfaction guarantee. If anything were to ever go wrong, no questions asked replacement guarantee and if you don't like them for any reason, we'll buy them back from you.

RE KLM: They may have dated information. The lifetime guarantee didn't start until the Lower Ball Joints came out, but it includes uppers. If anything happens (to any machined part from Carli) it'll be backed up.

Ball joint packages are in and being shipped.

 

[carlisuspension]

... the carli's seem to need a little more time to get bugs worked out.

Here's the latest news on this: Dodge Ram Suspension News and Latest Company Updates from Carli Suspension, Inc: Breaking Carli Ball Joints

Sage tested various stocks of hi-strength steel, different grades of chromoly and optimized his own heat treat table in a Cal State University laboratory.

Carli ball joints are sorted out and shipping.

 

[AlaskanCummins]

I just installed dynatrac prosteer joints and also have many carli parts in truck as well. the carli's seem to need a little more time to get bugs worked out. dynatracs seem to be problem free at this ponit that is why i went with them.

I've been running Dynatracs now for 5K miles and have NO issues. Dynatrac makes a re-build kit that so far, as I understand from 3 vendors and Dynatrac themselves has been a poor seller.



This whole first run Carli lower fiasco was a disaster and it cost me over 1K dollars in labor (they covered $225) and when I told them that I installed Dynatracs, their attitude totally changed. Said they'd pay to put their product back into my truck - and I'm suppose to have confidence in their product at this point?



Yes, they stood by their warranty and bought back the ball joints for what I paid for them originally ($450).



Lesson I learned is that being the guinea pig was a mistake - no different than not buying the first year vehicle when the manufacturer makes major changes.



Some of you here may think I'm grinding an axe, but I view this as a very valuable forum where opinions are shared and we can all agree to disagree and not take it personally.

 

[JKreiss]

My question here is what kind of abuse have the Dynatracs been put through? I'm in need of ball joints bad and i've been on the fence far too long, it's time to buy. My concern is obviously durability and longevity. I don't mind paying more if i feel i'm getting my money's worth. I've seen Sage put his ball joints to the test and want to know what the Dynatracs can do. AlaskanCummins i will say that i definitely respect your opinion and what you've gone through,(i've followed your posts on the joint issues) but i'm just curios as to the strength of the Dynatacs. I drive my truck on some of the worst roads in the state... the Freeways. I've been on logging roads and washouts that were smoother than I-80. I need a ball joint that's going to hold up, my moogs lasted 4 months and i'm about a day away from ordering Carli's. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

 

[carlisuspension]

Nobody thinks your grinding an axe, Wayne. Like I said in my first reply on this forum, sorry about this, it never should have happened.

There's a clear difference between the Dynatrac and Carli Ball Joints. Dynatrac released their ball joint and a rebuild kit at the same time, because something is going to wear out eventually. They accounted for this by packaging up everything you're going to need and putting a price tag on it.

The only guarantee you have with Dynatrac is that you're going to rebuild it someday.

You are relatively correct about your guinea pig statement, you got caught up in pretty wild production start-up incident. It all started when the machine shop recommended changing materials, but didn't update the heat treatment, and it didn't take. It was a mistake that Sage spent about 30K dollars making up for. In the process I know what the 4 stages of heat treat are and what alloys have a higher carbon content... we all learned and the research was done in a lab to ensure quality standards.

Carli's Extreme Duty Ball Joints are stronger than ever and there is lab data to back it up. In two weeks several Carli trucks are blasting 1000+ miles off-road to La Paz down the race course, "field research". These ball joints are taking more abuse than 99. 9% of truck owners would even do to their truck.

I hope everything works out for you, Wayne.

 

[JKreiss]

I'll PM you

 

[carlisuspension]

Are you asking me or Wayne? Your post is a little ambiguous.

 

[NIsaacs]

Having been born and raised in Montana and working as a mechanic there for several years, it would be safe to say that northern trucks are at a disadvantage over trucks in the south when it comes to the life span of front end parts.



The extreme overnight cold of snow and slush buildup will freeze solid on everything that is wet. Then in the morning when you drive off the seals on everything that moves are subject to damage. Once this happens, the water that now infiltrates all moving parts will now dictate a short lifespan of that part. Especially the parts that I consider upside down. Some tie rod ends are mounted this way and lower ball joints. They now become water reservoirs.



Nick

 

[jjdiesel]

"I've been running Dynatracs now for 5K miles and have NO issues. Dynatrac makes a re-build kit that so far, as I understand from 3 vendors and Dynatrac themselves has been a poor seller. "





Could it be that the re-build kit is a poor seller because it's scarcely needed? Or is that what you are already saying? The Dynatrac's seem to have a good track record... so far.

 

[carlisuspension]

Yeah, it will be interesting to see when people start rebuilding their Dynatracs and what happens when they do. I think the most mileage we've seen posted here is around 10K on a California daily driver that has a couple of off road weekends under it's belt. Not much field feedback on them yet.

 

[AlaskanCummins]

I've been running Dynatracs now for 5K miles and have NO issues. Dynatrac makes a re-build kit that so far, as I understand from 3 vendors and Dynatrac themselves has been a poor seller.





Could it be that the rer-build kit is a poor seller because it's scarcely needed? Or is that what you are already saying? The Dynatrac's seem to have a good track record... so far.

What I'm saying is that I've learned the re-build kits are a slow seller because the joints themselves seem to be lasting a long time. It appears as if the Dynatracs are a good seller and are high quality.



So, IMHO, they'd be a good choice for those that want to wait and see how the second generation Carli lowers do in real world conditions.

 

[carlisuspension]

"Slow" seller, or "no" seller, Wayne? I hope they've sold zero at this point. If people were rebuilding their ball joints at 5-10 thousand miles, it wouldn't be an improvement over stock at all.

 

[AlaskanCummins]

The only guarantee you have with Dynatrac is that you're going to rebuild it someday.

Yes, this is true. I'm sure someday I'll have to re-build the Dynatrac lower ball joints and hopefully, it'll be more than 10K miles. I guarantee you that I'll be the first one to report on the mileage that I've gotten out of them and will probably give my opinion on them just as I've done with Carli's.



Sage and his business appear to have gone all out to correct/remedy the issues with their first generation lowers. We, as consumers (especially in this economy) definately appreciate this.



I chose to try a different manufacturer because my personal confidence in Carli lowers doesn't exist AT THIS TIME. Maybe, after a year or two, my opinion will change. I'd like to see several customers out there in all parts of the country/world use their product and not have any drivability issues.



You say that your second generation joint is made from better metals and that the hardening process is improved beyond any doubt because of the California State University lab tables. This is all fine and well, but I'm going to interject some common sense: The cup/ball is metal on metal with a thin film of grease on it that will go to the top/bottom of the ball, reducing the joint to being just metal on metal.



Question 1): Do you know of any other product out there that's metal on metal, being subjected to about 5K lbs of pressure (give/take depending on if it's status or not) daily on an array of different conditions? If so, what is that product and what type of metal is it made of? I can't think of anything offhand. Most parts that have metal/metal contact has some sort of bearing between them, or some sort of sleeve.



Question 2): Are you saying that because the metals are so hard and smooth, have gone through a superior hardening process that there won't be any wear on the mating surfaces?



These are just curiosity questions that others out there may have. Those that have followed these threads are on the fence and will purchase something and are willing to part with alot of hard earned money to attempt to fix a problem that AAM should have never allowed to begin with.



Plus, I almost stayed out of this thread because I didn't want to appear to be bashing anyone or to start a brand war. This is far from my intent as I'm just sharing my experiences/views.