What balljoints are you Dana solid/Jap.IFS guys running?

[lax2wlg]

Reason I ask is a lot of people are reporting the quality of Moog stuff has declined significantly in the last few years.

I'm running Moog uppers which are genuine and holding up really well. The lowers are showing endplay after only 25,000km with plenty of off road use..not good enough. Genuine Spicer/Nissan OEM balljoints stand up to many years of offroad (ab)use with sensible tyre/rim combo.

It seems like Repco and other retailers etc just say 'a balljoint is a balljoint' but theres massive quality variation and life expectancy, which I guess is why OEM balljoints are 4x the price. Cheap Service-grade replacement parts are just not good enough.

After watching this sales pitch, I am thinking of trying Raybestos Professional Grade, if not OEM. The competitor they are talking about in this video is Moog:



What brand ball joints are people running?

[DieselBoy]

Have you considered that at quarter the price of genuine, and if they each do half the distance of genuine, then for what you pay for them and the minor amount of hassle to replace them, they might still come out on top??

All aftermarket parts are certainly not created equally in my experience, but some times aftermarket are actually better than OEM

[lax2wlg]

Have you considered that at quarter the price of genuine, and if they each do half the distance of genuine, then for what you pay for them and the minor amount of hassle to replace them, they might still come out on top??

This is true & if I could find a premium aftermarket balljoint that lasted even half as long as genuine OEM (90,000kms last vehicle on 33s), I would do it.I just get scared when all they have is a green box with Taiwan written on it. Xtreme Automotive want $32 for one, so they must be buying them for $7 or so

I can't help but think what corners are being cut beside lifespan to make them sooo much cheaper than genuine OEM or a premium aftermarket grade. I've talked to Jeep guys who have even broken balljoint studs on cheap service grade parts, imagine the sheer terror in that.

[Mattman]

I have had good experience with TRW - they are OEM on some manufacturers.

I find often on cheaper parts the boots fail very quickly which if not caught leads to joint failure very fast.

Matt.

[lax2wlg]

Good tip on the boots.
I hear TRW is one of Federal Mogul (Moog's) brands.

How much life are you getting out of the TRW joints and where do you get them?

[Mattman]

I got TRW joints for my Pig horn thru ripco. When doing my Mercedes a few weeks ago I found that they are OEM for Mercedes but ended up with Lemforder.

After every trip i do I give the truck a quick check over and look for thinks like boots etc. Joints on my truck have done 10k and boots still look like new.

Matt.

[lax2wlg]

So I threw some TRW lowers in it.

The research I have done indicates TRW is a standard replacement grade item - not junk but not premium grade either.

I have some Raybestos Pro Grade lowers on order too. The LSD front that thinks its locked is quite demanding so I dont expect the TRWs to last terribly long.

[Crash bandicoot]

A green box with taiwan written on it is better then a grey box with china written on it.

I usually buy the 35 dollar ones from super cheap transteering i think is the brand.