I put a Just Suspension front end kit under my 92 D250 5 or 6 years ago. All the joints are completely wasted. There's so much slop it's hard to track it all down.

My truck doesn't get much use. Being a single man with 4 vehicles (down to 3 now) means the truck only comes out when I need a truck.

When the odometer had 272,00 miles on it I went through the front suspension. It got a complete rebuild. Every piece of rubber and every joint was replaced. All parts were lubed properly. I remember getting a new grease gun so I could have the flexible hose instead of the straight tube on my old one.
Today, with 282,678 miles on it, I went to get an alignment.

One it was on the rack the tech showed me the damage. Every joint is trashed.
All 4 ball joints, outer tie rod, inner tie rod, drag link, pitman arm, and idler arm all have significant slop. At first glance I must say the bushings seem to be serviceable but that's about it.

Have any of you experienced this kind of problem with front end parts?

 

Did you go elcheapo parts or use name brand like Moog?

 

what brand parts did they sell you? I did the font end on my wife's Durango about a year ago with 214.000 miles. The upper ball joints had been replaced, the replacements did not have grease fittings. (they were bolted in, originals were rivetd in that's how I knew they were not originals)
I put MOOG lowers and outer tie rods on, and got the uppers from the Dodge dealer because I got a "good deal"

At 221,000 miles in Houston TX (I live in Illinois) we were on a road trip to visit a potential school that my son was considering; going no more than 25 MPH just having crossed a set of RR tracks the right upper ball joint sheared off at the threads. We walked to the closest parts store shown on my son's smart phone a mile way and bought 2 MOOG upper ball joints and replaced the one on the side of the road. I put the other upper in, in the motel parking lot the next morning before heading back to Chicago.

I went against the advice I gave so often in 18 years as an alignment guy, on my own vehicle. I will never again put anything besides MOOG parts on any of my vehicles again!
having a new ball joint shear 1,000 miles from was not my idea of fun.

We used to have people complain about price we quoted and go next door to useless Zone and buy McQuay Norris parts when I worked at the alignment shop. Some would go home and install them themselves while others came back across the street and beg us to install these parts that they just bought. We refused every time. They are cheaper for a reason! I do not know who Just Suspension sources the components of their kits from.

 

I used the parts in the Just Suspension kit. I honestly couldn't tell you who made them. It's been too long ago.

I heard that Moog was starting to build parts in China. I hope that doesn't apply to all of their parts.

I have an excellent parts connection at the dealership. The original stuff lasted a really long time. If Mopar has switched vendors and started selling crap I want to avoid it.

 

Reality that don't matter.

If Its Moog its Moog

I just replace the waterpump in my truck.

Genuine Cummins parts purchased from Cummins Northwest.

115 bucks plus tax Made in India.

 

yup Moog is getting their hub bearings from China We use em at work because they still seem to hold up better than the "store brand" ones.. Ball joints tie rods etc still seem mostly US made that I have seen.

I agree though I do all I can to avoid "made in china" no matter the cost

I too have an "awesome source" for dealer parts as I never pay list (I get "employee" price on most things) but the last few times I have been PO'd by what I have gotten from there. Rotors for my Cherokee XJ; right from Mopar, made in china; clockspring for same Cherokee; came from (I think) Thailand-- that's been a little while; rotors warped in 3 months.
My buddy that works there says that since the bankruptcy they source the cheapest pat to fill the hole;

YEARS ago (like the mid 80s) I had a cousin that worked for a now defunct Dodge dealer; when they closed he grabbed everything that he could that would fit either his Lil Red or his '79 Magnum, I ended up with that pile whn he moved; back then Mopar service replacement suspension parts were Moog. but no more.

 

Spending the last 12 years in the auto industry has taught me that parts are made all over the world. However, it has also taught me that quality control in China is a bit lacking to say the least.
Sure, the guys putting parts together may be up to spec but I can tell you that there is very little oversight when it comes to materials vendors. The 4130 steel requested may be a dubious mix of random metals with similar appearance but nowhere near the strength and wear resistance.

There has been a bit of a stir about the raw materials being used in China. Talk to the guys that do failure analysis on metals and see what they have to say about the Chinese products. I know one that can tell you all kinds of stories about metals not matching specifications.

 

When I first got my crewcab, and it was 2wd, I rebuilt the front end...except the lower control arm bushings and BJ's. When I pulled it apart for the 4wd conversion almost all the front end components I replaced were darn near toast! I probably had 20-30K Km's on the front end parts.