4 ball joints?

[goodie85]

My Moog joints became loose (both of the lowers) after barely one year (hardly even 5000 miles).

Spicer on the other hand (now sold as Raybestos), they are still going strong after 8 years (I always buy the ones labeled "Professional Grade", which are hardly any more $$$ than the Moog).
Doubt I'll ever be buying another Moog balljoint again (plus, their grease boots split apart after 6 months). It seems whatever racers buy is not the same stuff sold to the public.

thats weird because on my race cars if i dont hit the wall or get tangled up into another mess i can make a good 2 seasons on em and if you know dirt track racing we are very hard on equipment...........never once had a problem with moog's ball joint unless ive been in a wrecked that involved the front end

 

[AllanD]

im now buying a 1997 ranger 4x4 extended cab. it just inspected and needs a bit of work but the price is right. front bumper signal lights CEL/airbag light on.
steering wheel loose read brake drums/shoes front brake pads front wheel bearing and 4 ball joints.

now here is where im confused the sheet just says 4 ball joints how many ball joints are on this ranger? and from what i understand the upper ball joints cant be replaced the whole upper control arm needs to be replaced? is that correct for 4wd models also? 97 ranger 4x4 extended cab 3.0L v6 5 speed.

What you say would be true of a 1998 Ranger but a 1997 ranger still has a Traction Beam front end...

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[Stxrangerbumper]

«---1983 to 1997 use I-beam front end and 98+ use upper and lower control arm

and

 

[4x4junkie]

thats weird because on my race cars if i dont hit the wall or get tangled up into another mess i can make a good 2 seasons on em and if you know dirt track racing we are very hard on equipment...........never once had a problem with moog's ball joint unless ive been in a wrecked that involved the front end

Perhaps it must vary by application then.

Something I still couldn't help but notice though was the vast difference in their appearance

Dull gray Moog w/rubber boot:

Shiny machined Raybestos (made by Spicer) w/urethane boot:

I know looks can't tell everything, but when the difference between them is this great, I think it may offer at least some indication about quality of the materials used.

 

[goodie85]

Perhaps it must vary by application then.

Something I still couldn't help but notice though was the vast difference in their appearance

Dull gray Moog w/rubber boot:

Shiny machined Raybestos (made by Spicer) w/urethane boot:

I know looks can't tell everything, but when the difference between them is this great, I think it may offer at least some indication about quality of the materials used.

our race cars also have chevelle front clips but still it all depends on how you put em in and how hard you are on em but who knows......to me a ball joint is a ball joint i just run moog bc they seem to last longer and have less noise......also before every show we grease em....so maybe thats why they work so well for us? to many variables

 

[xr75er]

have it checked out again. All 4 ? sounds like Pep boys when they looked at my sons 94 Explorer. Plus they said his tie rods needed replaced also. I had it looked at by another shop and we changed out the 1 that they said was bad and a tie rod.

 

[97ranger19]

I actually did this not more then 2 months ago it is fairly easy i just rented the ball joint press from the auto part store and got it done in around 4ish hours on both sides