HELP!! Carli lower issues

[Bob4x4]

The lowers that I have seen at the shop have the recess.

 

[AlaskanCummins]

Update

Here ya go guys. The recess DOES NOT exist in this set that Carli sent to me for replacement. It is ONLY a shorter grease zerk. As you can see in the photo's, the zerk is still VERY close to the u-joint yolk, enough to have caught dirt that was on the outside of the cups.



As far as I can tell, they don't touch metal to metal. Is this unacceptable? IMHO, I believe that they can be better. I hope that either they make the ones shown on the web site or change their picture.



I'm trying to get the pics to upload. Hang tight... ... .

 

[AlaskanCummins]

Ok... . got the pics to upload.

 

[AlaskanCummins]

And a few more.....

 

[AlaskanCummins]

And, just cuz she's an awesome apprentice, this is Climber. She was out helping me install the ball joints today - I just neglected to get a pic of her turning a wrench!

 

[seafish]

Wow... thanks for the info AND the pics... clearly no recess... which means a redesign on Carli's part... Probably helped to reduce production cost, BUT at an expense of a superior design... . that zerk, even if it doesn't touch, is WAY too close to the knuckle.



with those kinds of minimal clearances it seems that a recessed zerk, or a needle type grease fitting (like on our front drive shafts) would be the only way to go.



Guess I''l try to wait longer to see what they come up with.



Wonder what they are gonna do now... ???

 

[JCrockett]

I think Carli needs to sell a product that they advertise. It will not take but a small twig or rock or whatever to get wedged in there and break that zerk off. Why they are not recessed like they are shown on the website is beyond me. I have the Carli uppers and they are great but I will hold off until they ge tthe lowers produced CORRECTLY.



Sorry for your headache AK, i'll buy you a beer this weekend.

 

[AWise]

HITH do you even get the end of the grease gun in there to grease it? Will it fit if it is rotated to a certain point?

 

[AlaskanCummins]

A brewski sounds good .



AWise - I put them in exactly as the directions said - zerk pointed 45* inside pointing forward. So, passenger side is at 2 o'clock and drivers side is at 10 o'clock position. I think if you were to turn the wheels all the way, a guy can get the grease gun in there.



It's a good thing I don't offroad.



Dynatrack makes a set of lowers too. In their pictures, it doesn't show the bottom of the lower BJ's, so it's unknown how their zerk, if they have it, is.



Anyone out there put in Dynatrac ball joints?

 

[AlaskanCummins]

Oh, looking at the pic closer, I think the ones on the left show the zerk being in the center, recessed a bit.

 

[Kry226]

Here ya go guys. The recess DOES NOT exist in this set that Carli sent to me for replacement. It is ONLY a shorter grease zerk. As you can see in the photo's, the zerk is still VERY close to the u-joint yolk, enough to have caught dirt that was on the outside of the cups.



As far as I can tell, they don't touch metal to metal. Is this unacceptable? IMHO, I believe that they can be better. I hope that either they make the ones shown on the web site or change their picture.



I'm trying to get the pics to upload. Hang tight... ... .

This would not be acceptable to me. What does Carli say about this? For an almost $500 set of BJs, they should do better. And if what Bob says above is true (I am sure it is), why do you have a set that doesn't match what you thought you were getting? Based on what I know of Carli's reputation, this doesn't make sense. I would be getting a set with the recess, or getting my money back.

 

[ENafziger]

I ordered a set of lower Carli BJ's from KLM recently as well. They came in last week, but I don't remember now what the zerks looked like? I guess I'll find out tomorrow...

The plan tomorrow is to install Carli upper BJs, Carli lower BJs, the Dynatrac manual hub conversion kit with 35 spline outers, and the Dynatrac manual lockout hubs!

If there is an issue with anything, I don't doubt for a second that Carli with take care of it. They have some of the best customer service I've ever seen out of ANY company EVER!!!

--Eric

 

[seafish]

I ordered a set of lower Carli BJ's from KLM recently as well. They came in last week, but I don't remember now what the zerks looked like? I guess I'll find out tomorrow...

--Eric

Well please do post here what you find out about the Carli BJ's during your install. I have no doubt that you are right about Carlis customer service... we all have too much riding on this... literally.



My feeling about it is that they were able to lower production costs substantially by removing the recess, and I do know that I read somewhere that they lowered their expected retail cost for these at some point... BUT, perhaps this was a mistake if indeed the final clearance is now only 1/8". I keep hoping that someone from Carli will take the time to chime in here...





Is it too much to ask for pics of your take apart and install of the DynaTrac on a dedicated thread?? Oo.

 

[KO_RAM]

Same problem

I just put the front end suspension kit (with upper and lower BJ's) a couple of days ago with the same clearance issue. Mine almost just brushed the U-joints (way too close).



I called and spoke to Sage and he is sending me out the new grease fittings. He told me to take the fittings out before they get broke off, and put some tape over the top to keep the dirt and water out of them until I get the new fittings.



He said they went away from the recessed design because it was too hard to get a grease gun on it (not recessed enough I guess). He said his machine shop provider wasn't holding the tolerances on the thread depths for the fitting thread, so the clearance issue came up after they started shipping and found out about it. He said he was up til midnight last night coming up with a solution with a different grease fitting. Sage apoligized for the problems encountered.



This is one of those risks we accept with ordering a brand new product and a first time production run (not just prototypes). The production process can easily introduce some variables that all the prototype testing may not reveal. Sage was more than willing to resolve the issue and I could tell he takes a quality problem like this very personally. I have no doubt the problems with this first production run will be resolved and I would buy products from someone like Sage any day. I want to deal with a business that puts quality number one and when something slips through they stand behind it and make it right.

 

[JCrockett]

Perhaps a $2 fitting can fix the problem??? It would seem Carli would have thought of this though???

ZERK NEEDLE GREASE FITTING YUKON SUPER U-JOINT (COMSJ-07)

 

[ENafziger]

Is it too much to ask for pics of your take apart and install of the DynaTrac on a dedicated thread?? Oo. <!-- google_ad_section_end --> <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Sure thing! I'll try to take enough pictures along the way to get a story together...

--Eric

 

[seafish]

Perhaps a $2 fitting can fix the problem??? It would seem Carli would have thought of this though???

ZERK NEEDLE GREASE FITTING YUKON SUPER U-JOINT (COMSJ-07)

That's the one that I was thinking of also... like on the cardan joint on our front driveshafts. Don't see why a needle fitting, or even a rubber tip fitting on a grease gun wouldn't work on that zerk from an angle.



Thanks for posting the link!!

 

[seafish]

Here is a copy of the email which I just sent to Carli...

Hey guys, some of us at the TDR forum (some of your biggest fans) have been watching/writing about the unfortunate problem you have had with your zerk supplier on the new production run of your awesome ball joints. One member posted this link to a very short and stubby zerk that takes a needle fitting, similar to the one on the cardan joints on our front driveshafts. Hope this might be a cheap and easy solution to your problem; It would be great if one of you had time and/or energy to post your thoughts on this thread... no one is bashing Carli, just concerened with the issue.

Here is a link to the zerk fitting--

ZERK NEEDLE GREASE FITTING YUKON SUPER U-JOINT (COMSJ-07)

And here is a link to the thread on TDR--

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...70-help-carli-lower-issues-2.html#post2136060

Regards,

Clark Fish
(TDR member: seafish)

 

[carlisuspension]

How's it going guys? Alright, I'll try and throw some information at this and then let the opinions fly, good or bad, they are welcome.



Design updates since the website product photo

That original design with the scallop recess for the zirc was a great idea and yes, it looks very convenient. What we found is that you needed a very small diameter grease gun to get that zirc and we figured that most conventional grease guns have a larger tip, we had one of each at the shop and only one got on it and the other didn't fit. We figured that most of our customers would have a conventional grease gun with a standard size tip.



Current lower ball joint zirc fittings

We are completely aware of the zirc length issue and we're on it. Sage is at the machine shop tonight with a machinist and they will be machining custom zircs. I just talked to him on the phone and he said he would text me photos and I told him that I'll share them with you all here.



We know exactly how many went out that we have to send zircs to, and anyone that purchased our lower ball joint will have it perfect - and that's our commitment. All of the ball joints that are on order and going out in the next day or so from our 2nd run will arrive with our own machined zircs and those that went out from the 1st run, will receive new zircs as soon as we machine the batch.



Here's some of the proofs of our production lower ball joint set that we received this week and I'll be updating the website after we choose the photos that we're going to use.



#ad




As far as quality and function goes...

These ball joints were right from the beginning. I'm running the 3rd set to ever come off the CNC machine... which seems like a hundred of improvements ago and my truck lives a charmed life in Mexico now. It spent the first 2 months covered in mud or grinding it's way through a flooded river bed just to go check my email. My 5th transmission is arriving next week. I've busted 2 pitman arm tie rods and destroyed half of my stock wheels on rocks in the last year and my tire tally is about 20 BFG Projects in less than 2 years. I have production uppers and prototype lowers, and my life is like dog years on a truck. If anyone has a ball joint issue, it'll probably be me before any of you.



The tweaks that have been made are insane... the length someone goes to to deliver a precision machined component is ridiculous. You go pick up any Dodge Ram replacement ball joint and you can probably jiggle that pin around and feel a dead spot in it when you rotate it in your hands... and best of all, no matter what else you buy, you know it's going to wear out and when it does, there's nobody there to back it up. We're standing behind our product 100% and thanks to some very expensive equipment and Sage's paranoia, we're able to run a ball joint that is guaranteed to stay within spec, for as long as you own your truck - That isn't your everyday auto parts offer.



Fire it up guys, let me know if there's something specific you'd like to know, I'll be more than happy to offer some more detail.

 

[carlisuspension]

Here is a copy of the email which I just sent to Carli...



Hey guys, some of us at the TDR forum (some of your biggest fans) have been watching/writing about the unfortunate problem you have had with your zerk supplier on the new production run of your awesome ball joints. One member posted this link to a very short and stubby zerk that takes a needle fitting, similar to the one on the cardan joints on our front driveshafts. Hope this might be a cheap and easy solution to your problem; It would be great if one of you had time and/or energy to post your thoughts on this thread... no one is bashing Carli, just concerened with the issue.



Here is a link to the zerk fitting--



ZERK NEEDLE GREASE FITTING YUKON SUPER U-JOINT (COMSJ-07)



And here is a link to the thread on TDR--



https://www.turbodieselregister.com...70-help-carli-lower-issues-2.html#post2136060



Regards,



Clark Fish

(TDR member: seafish)

Thanks for keeping me in the loop Clark. I appreciate it.