Replacing ball joints.

[Mike1919]

Quick question. I'm gonna be replacing my ball joints and while skimming through the forum, found some negative reviews on moog. People say go with spicer. My question is, are these the good ones people seem to like?http://m.napaonline.com/parts/PartsDetail.aspx?k=NCP2601327_0161940062

 

[4x4junkie]

Raybestos "Professional Grade" were the ones to get (these were formerly the Spicer joints everyone mentions). Unfortunately Affinia Group (Raybestos' parent company) was recently bought out by Federal Mogul (parent of Moog) so it remains to be seen if quality goes down the crapper.

Napa's joints (at least their higher grade stuff) were made by Raybestos, so the same unknown would apply to them too.

What you will want to look for in a joint (at least with the lower joints) is a very bright shiny stainless-steel appearance of the ball joint stud (not plain dull-looking steel). A Raybestos (Affinia)-made joint will also have a gold-zinc colored body (the ones made under Federal Mogul I think will have a black body w/similar bright stud).

 

[The_Epsicle]

I bought all new Moog ball joints and put them on my truck just after I bought it in November, this was before I joined TRS though. I've seen the bad rep they've gotten but personally they've been on for a year and I've had no clunking, no squeaks, and no issues of any kind with them. From everything I've heard Spicer is definitely the premium brand, but for basic truck stuff the Moog joints work just fine for me.

 

[Mike1919]

I bought all new Moog ball joints and put them on my truck just after I bought it in November, this was before I joined TRS though. I've seen the bad rep they've gotten but personally they've been on for a year and I've had no clunking, no squeaks, and no issues of any kind with them. From everything I've heard Spicer is definitely the premium brand, but for basic truck stuff the Moog joints work just fine for me.

Are the boots still intact and good on them. If so maybe I'll go with those? They kind of seem easier to get.

 

[Mike1919]

Raybestos "Professional Grade" were the ones to get (these were formerly the Spicer joints everyone mentions). Unfortunately Affinia Group (Raybestos' parent company) was recently bought out by Federal Mogul (parent of Moog) so it remains to be seen if quality goes down the crapper.

Napa's joints (at least their higher grade stuff) were made by Raybestos, so the same unknown would apply to them too.

What you will want to look for in a joint (at least with the lower joints) is a very bright shiny stainless-steel appearance of the ball joint stud (not plain dull-looking steel). A Raybestos (Affinia)-made joint will also have a gold-zinc colored body (the ones made under Federal Mogul I think will have a black body w/similar bright stud).

So it looks like the ones in the link are right. I heard moog wasn't bad, its just the grease boot? Is that correct?

 

[gw33gp]

The important thing is to not get the lowest grade of any brand. Moog, Raybestos and others have various levels of quality(grades). Professional grade in Raybestos is good. I don't know the top quality of Moog. It seems the grease boots that are blue are the better quality ones.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have been stockpiling the better Raybestos for my D35.

 

[The_Epsicle]

The important thing is to not get the lowest grade of any brand. Moog, Raybestos and others have various levels of quality(grades). Professional grade in Raybestos is good. I don't know the top quality of Moog. It seems the grease boots that are blue are the better quality ones.

What he said. My grease boots are fine.

 

[4x4junkie]

So it looks like the ones in the link are right. I heard moog wasn't bad, its just the grease boot? Is that correct?

No, I've had several Moog joints (the joint itself) fail too.

I had put all Moog joints in mine when I did the original build on my BII. One developed play after just 5K miles, the other one was sloppy after maybe 8K. Thinking it was a fluke because I did have a grease boot also fail, I bought another Moog joint to replace the one that failed at 5K (this before I found the other one loose at 8K). That additional joint also started getting sloppy around 10K (removing doubt maybe my first two simply came from a bad batch).
Meanwhile the Spicers I've had in my Ranger since around '03 are still good & solid at ~80K, and the Raybestos joints I replaced the Moogs with on my BII are also all still tight at roughly 25K.

Another observation:
When greasing the Moog joints, the grease always came out from around the joint a very opaque dark gray-metallic color...
With the Spicer/Raybestos joints, the grease always comes out the same color it went in, maybe just having a slight brownish tinge to it.
Obviously the grease coming out of the Moog joints was full of metal shavings from the joints wearing themselves away internally.

I won't touch a Moog joint for a Dana axle again.

FWIW, the Moog joints I had were labeled "The Problem Solver", they came in a yellow & blue box and were "supposedly" the best ones Carquest sold at the time. They were not cheap (within a few $$$ of what Spicer Pro-Grade ones would've sold for).

 

[Mike1919]

No, I've had several Moog joints (the joint itself) fail too.

I had put all Moog joints in mine when I did the original build on my BII. One developed play after just 5K miles, the other one was sloppy after maybe 8K. Thinking it was a fluke because I did have a grease boot also fail, I bought another Moog joint to replace the one that failed at 5K (this before I found the other one loose at 8K). That additional joint also started getting sloppy around 10K (removing doubt maybe my first two simply came from a bad batch).
Meanwhile the Spicers I've had in my Ranger since around '03 are still good & solid at ~80K, and the Raybestos joints I replaced the Moogs with on my BII are also all still tight at roughly 25K.

Another observation:
When greasing the Moog joints, the grease always came out from around the joint a very opaque dark gray-metallic color...
With the Spicer/Raybestos joints, the grease always comes out the same color it went in, maybe just having a slight brownish tinge to it.
Obviously the grease coming out of the Moog joints was full of metal shavings from the joints wearing themselves away internally.

I won't touch a Moog joint for a Dana axle again.

FWIW, the Moog joints I had were labeled "The Problem Solver", they came in a yellow & blue box and were "supposedly" the best ones Carquest sold at the time. They were not cheap (within a few $$$ of what Spicer Pro-Grade ones would've sold for).

So now where would i purchase these better quality ones? Napa?

 

[ghunt81]

One thing I've found with a lot of the chassis parts I've bought lately, be they Moog, Raybestos or AC Delco, they're all made in China. I don't know if Spicer is or not, haven't bought anything of theirs lately that I can remember.