ball joints
 

I read and heard a lot about ball joints wearing out on the trucks, some earlier than others.

Do you think it from normal driving? pulling heavy loads ?

is it an certain model year(s) ?

I think the biggest factor is larger wider tires. This and I have always thought turning the wheel full lock often can't help either? Mostly I think It's large tires? I personally have never had much complaint with them. I have always got more than 100k miles out of the stock ball joints.

I fully expected mine to fail long ago, but alas, I'm still on the originals after 10 yrs, even with the big Alcoas. Although, I keep spares on the shelf ready to be used.

Also, many people don't understand that most ball joints have a wear spec. Just because they show some axial end play doesn't mean they are no good. Get the dial indicator out and measure the end play; they are allowed quite a bit before they require replacement. It's usually the ones that are too tight that cause problems with steering- do a search on Moog joints on these trucks that are so tight that the steering won't return to center after a turn.

Are worn ball joints ever associated with "Death Wobble"?

I have personally looked at several DW cases and have not found any that I could attribute to ball joints. The allowable ball joint movement is axial (up and down) movement, and DW issues are an uncontrollable side to side movement of the front wheels and steering, so I don't believe the allowable movement will generally cause the condition. If the ball joint is worn enough to show radial (side-to-side) movement, it is beyond allowable spec and should be replaced.

Torquefan, thanks for reply. I'm going to start another thread to keep from hijacking this one.