Carli Upper Ball Joints w/ Moog
You don't have to look too hard to find Dodge Ram Ball Joint problems posted on truck and diesel forums from members of the HD truck community. It's difficult to determine the exact cause of a problem when you don't have the truck on hand for troubleshooting. Well, our first hand experience with some Moog replacements rendered an interesting find.
In response to a Dodge Ram Ball Joint Thread on Diesel Truck Resource.com, Sage broke it down for us and threw a few bucks at getting to the bottom of the issue:
September 23rd, 2009: DTR Forum, Sage Carli's Input
"So I just had first hand experience with a truck with the exact same issue. The truck had our Extreme Duty Uppers and Moog lowers. One of our customers replaced the ball joints only and the truck started to wander all over. After reading this thread, I had to see for myself what was going on. I told him I would replace his lowers with McQuay Norris brand at no cost to him to see if it would cure the problem. When the truck was dropped off, I decided to take it down the freeway so I could feel how much the wander there really was. Well, I almost hit a car hauler that was in the lane next to me. As soon as I made a correction the truck would shoot off in the other direction, SCARY!!!
So I disassembled the front end down to the axle. I grabbed one of the lower ball joints to see if it was tight. Well, it was. So much so that it felt "crunchy" inside. There was no smoothness at all as I cycled it through it's normal motion. It felt very notchy. And there is no weight on them at all at this point. I then continued on and finished the replacement of the lower joints.
Time for the test drive. Customers exact words were "It is completely different!" The steering was nice and smooth and the wander was gone. He was very happy. But I still had to know why the moogs would give such a symptom. So of course, I cut one apart. The design was actually pretty interesting. No bushing or insert of any kind. Which if done properly, is the only real way to have a "lifetime part." But, I saw two things that I didn't like. One was the fact that it looked like they take in old ball joints on warranty and reuse the pin. The pin had some pretty deep pits in it. The other thing was how the ball fit in the cup. The wear pattern is up to high on the ball of the pin. The top 1/4 of the ball never makes contact with the cup. So the weight of the truck is trying to force the ball down a tighter radius, which could create a pinching effect. I have attached pics so you call all see what it looks like on the inside."
Cutaway photos of the Moog lower ball joints (click to enlarge)
Vehicle: 2005 LWB, CTD with Performance 2.5 and Carli Extreme Duty Upper Ball Joints with Moog replacement Lower Ball Joints that had only 1,000 miles on them.
We encounter customer questions on almost a daily basis who have had a ball joint experience or are in the middle of one and try to assist each individual with their needs, but sometimes it is too demanding to provide a definitive answer with a verbal assessment of a truck's behavior. This could have been the same thing, however we were able to keep the truck and the customer's parts and get to the bottom of things.
In response to a Dodge Ram Ball Joint Thread on Diesel Truck Resource.com, Sage broke it down for us and threw a few bucks at getting to the bottom of the issue:
Carli Extreme Duty Upper Ball Joints and Moog Lower Ball Joint Combination - WARNING
September 23rd, 2009: DTR Forum, Sage Carli's Input
"So I just had first hand experience with a truck with the exact same issue. The truck had our Extreme Duty Uppers and Moog lowers. One of our customers replaced the ball joints only and the truck started to wander all over. After reading this thread, I had to see for myself what was going on. I told him I would replace his lowers with McQuay Norris brand at no cost to him to see if it would cure the problem. When the truck was dropped off, I decided to take it down the freeway so I could feel how much the wander there really was. Well, I almost hit a car hauler that was in the lane next to me. As soon as I made a correction the truck would shoot off in the other direction, SCARY!!!
So I disassembled the front end down to the axle. I grabbed one of the lower ball joints to see if it was tight. Well, it was. So much so that it felt "crunchy" inside. There was no smoothness at all as I cycled it through it's normal motion. It felt very notchy. And there is no weight on them at all at this point. I then continued on and finished the replacement of the lower joints.
Time for the test drive. Customers exact words were "It is completely different!" The steering was nice and smooth and the wander was gone. He was very happy. But I still had to know why the moogs would give such a symptom. So of course, I cut one apart. The design was actually pretty interesting. No bushing or insert of any kind. Which if done properly, is the only real way to have a "lifetime part." But, I saw two things that I didn't like. One was the fact that it looked like they take in old ball joints on warranty and reuse the pin. The pin had some pretty deep pits in it. The other thing was how the ball fit in the cup. The wear pattern is up to high on the ball of the pin. The top 1/4 of the ball never makes contact with the cup. So the weight of the truck is trying to force the ball down a tighter radius, which could create a pinching effect. I have attached pics so you call all see what it looks like on the inside."
Cutaway photos of the Moog lower ball joints (click to enlarge)
Vehicle: 2005 LWB, CTD with Performance 2.5 and Carli Extreme Duty Upper Ball Joints with Moog replacement Lower Ball Joints that had only 1,000 miles on them.
We encounter customer questions on almost a daily basis who have had a ball joint experience or are in the middle of one and try to assist each individual with their needs, but sometimes it is too demanding to provide a definitive answer with a verbal assessment of a truck's behavior. This could have been the same thing, however we were able to keep the truck and the customer's parts and get to the bottom of things.
posted by Prozac at
1:41 PM
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