!!Autozone 2wd Coil Spring lower balljoint ball joint!!

[Armatron]

If you're ever needing to do your ball joints and have coil spring front suspension (IIRC 98+ 2WD, possibly 4WD too I dunno) then the Duralast lifetime lower ball joints (with the grease fitting) DO NOT FIT.


Well, they fit - as in, they press in, and it looks like it would fit, but the rubber seal is too small. Water would very easily get into the 'sealed' area (there is about a 1/8" gap when the truck is level and at rest, so flying down the highway at 70mph in the rain would make short life out of the ball joint). I had to take everything back apart and replace them with moog (moog ball joints cost me a total of $20 extra, well well worth it, it's a MUCH better part)


I figure that there are a lot of guys like me that buy the cheapest lifetime warranty part from autozone, and this is a case where the part sucks. Wasted 3-4 hours of my saturday morning tearing everything back apart, then the autozone employee had the nerve to try to tell me I couldn't return it because it had been installed!! They gave me the wrong part! BTW - he pulled 2 or 3 different balljoints off the shelf and they're all the same way (both the sealed and greasable) so it's some sort of part # mixup in their system.

 

[98blownranger]

thanks for the info I need new ones for 2 of my trucks

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You sure you just didn't push the boot down fully over the lip on the balljoint?

 

[Armatron]

You sure you just didn't push the boot down fully over the lip on the balljoint?

Absolutely. Take a look at the attached pics.

I really think this is how they intended to make the balljoint so it would fit many applications. If you take a look at the pic with the duralast bj installed, you can see (where the arrow points) the gap where grease would come out and water could get in. It's like this with the suspension level and at rest - the spindle inside of the balljoint will let water in if it's even 5 degrees off center.




....I know what you're thinking, that I somehow asked for the wrong part or something and I assure you that is not the case. I went back and looked at every balljoint autozone offered (2, one sealed, one not) and they all have those half-height boots. I'm sure it'd last awhile - 10-12 months, but it's certainly not a quality part.



Edit:

BTW - in the install pic, I tilted it to try to show the opening in the pic. With the suspension together and on the floor the gap isn't nearly as big - I'd say half that size, but definetely big enough to let water in. The lower balljoints are completely exposed to the elements... Imagine going down the highway at 70mph in the rain.. It'd make short work out of the grease

 

[ScottT80]

Interesting... my '98 needs ball joints bad too... what did the Moog ones run?