Who makes the best Ball Joints and Wheel Bearings out there??

I am going to be rebuilding the front end of my truck this winter and I am starting to buy parts for it. This is what I have heard so far for best manufactures of these parts.
Truck has 150K on it and I don't think these have been replaced yet.

Ball Joints - Carli
Wheel Bearings/Hub - Timken

Are these the best parts for my truck or will like Moogs work? Want parts that will last another 150K at least.

 

take your chances with moog. they don’t stand behind thier product and i received two bad sets back to back ( ih have a full thread heard about undiagnosable wander), then i bought a factory set (lasted 40k miles) before finally learning my lesson and going carli. i paid for the carli with all the issues prior to them.


wheel bearings i did ems hub conversion kit. no going back 230 k miles on serviceable bearings zero issues. ...

 

ddestruel,
Do you have a part number or link to the EMS Kit??

My truck has the electronic 4x4, not sure if that matters.

Thanks for the Info!

 

Just be done with all the hastles...carli ball joints and spyntec shorty free spin kit with replaceable/greasable wheel beraings.

 

doesn’t matter. you don’t Shift on the fly anymore unless hubs are locked already



i did ems with 30 spline hubs. didn’t need the 35 spline more expensive hubs and 35 spline stubs saved $300 back then it was $1200 or $1500or it was $1100 and $1400 can’t remember exactly. price was right and what i needed the stickup isn’t bad at all if you want lower profile you can use yukon low profile or dynatrac low profile hub. I’m just running warn traditionals. i do a lot of towing in 4x4 on gravel roads with heavy loads and have had zero issues. twisted a stock inner shaft splines other than that everything else is still holding up

edit: heres the link

http://www.emsoffroad.com/store/inde...923fbaf524f412

 

I am just looking for a Stock Type Wheel Bearing, don't need or want the conversion of all that.

Is Timken a good brand for wheel bearings??

Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

Matt

Just what you stated Carli ball joints and Timken wheel bearing and hubs
Good to go sir.

 

stay away from Moog, went down that road. put new tires on at the time of ball joint install and started cutting tires and had terrible memory steer. also would not stay in alignment; lasted 4ooo miles could not take it any more and had them replaced with Dyna Trac pro steers and never looked back. tires and ball joints have been in for close to a 90k. you cant really grease the lowers even though they have a grease zerk fitting. also don't put in a greasable u joint in front axle. they wont last as long as the factory expensive dodge one. mine greaseable ones lasted one year and then were junk. they seem to get water in them for some reason and I greased them every 3k with oil change and water would come out. I am sure Carli ball joints a superior product as well. between Carli and dyna trac pro steers either on would be good choice.

 

You can grease the Dynatrac lower ball joints but it's not easy I got a tool from Princess Auto in Canada (like Harbor Freight) and I have the spicer U joint (greasable) and they have more than 100,000 on them and they are still tight and smooth. I know this as I decided to repack the wheel brgs. about 10,000 miles ago and I removed the axles to really check the u joints out.
Jim O

 

they are stock.......... 1980-1997 ford, chevy, dodge dana 60 front wheel bearings..... ford spindles - redrilled.

 

I just did the complete front axle rebuild myself.

I used Timken wheel/ hub bearings. Found them to be the cheapest at Summit Racing.

I went with the Napa gold upper and lower ball joints. They are both greasable, but unfortunately the zerk cannot be left in the lower... I plan on greasing every oil change by removing the plug, installing the zerk, greasing, removing the zerk and installing the plug. Sucks, but it's the way it is until replacement...

I went with non-greasable Spicer u-joints.

I only have about 1k miles on the new parts thus far, so far very happy. But, only time will tell.

As an FYI, you didn't mention front u-joints, but you should go ahead and change them while you're there. You will also need an alignment afterwards.

 

Everyone,
Thank you for the info.

Sounds like spending the extra cash for the Carli ball joints is going to be worth it. Figured it would, since there is a lot of work to get them out and back in. Don't want to do that again for awhile.
Also seems that the Timken wheel bearings are going to be good also.

For those that asked, I had the front U-Joints replaced in May by the dealer and don't think I will need to replace them yet. Right??

Is there any special tools -beside a Ball Joint Press Tool- that I should look into getting?

 

There is an article I wrote on my web site about a free wheeling front hub installation on my 2006 2500.


www.rvbprecision.com

 

SKS are supposed to be OEM. I've read several complaints of the Timken's failing prematurely.
Rock Auto's got a pretty good price and combined with their free shipping code,it's competitive.
If you Google Rock Auto Discount codes,many will popup. Most for 5% off,a few for free shipping. I plugged a free shipping code in last week for a test and it worked.

 

I went to rockauto.com and got timken wheel hub assemblies for 149 a piece. Than ebay for xrf ball joints greasable. Really heavy duty. Couldnt be happier.