Which ball joints?

gonna replace ball joints this weekend. Is there a major difference between the cheaper ball joints and their 2x as much counterparts? Which ones do you guys use. I only want to do this once.

i wouldn't cheap out on something like ball joints

I usually don't cheap out on anything, but this is starting to get expensive! I was really just wondering if there was a difference other than one has a lifetime warranty and one has a 1 year warranty.

They're almost certainly just charging you for the warranty. On the other hand, never having to pay for ball joints again might be worth it (if it's 2x the price, then they only have to fail once to pay for the warranty)....

Moog has an excellent rep for chassis components, they sell ball joints for every piece on the XJ.

We had Upper ball joints (Moog) put on my moms ZJ about a year or two ago and there both junk.

I got mine from Quadratec about a year and a half ago and they have held up well, even with 3.75" of backspacing.

I used Moog tie rod ends (replaced all of them) on my 1990 about 5 years ago, still seem perfect, so I used Moog ball joints (all four) about 1 year ago- nice tight steering on a 16 year old jeep! When the 2001 Xj comes up for the same treatment, I will use Moog again.

I want to resurrect this thread (instead of creating a new one) .... as I'm going to be replacing the ball joints here very soon in my 99 XJ.
(HPD30 - 1ton OTK - 33x125 on 3.5" BS)

I have done plenty of research and would like to get a discussion going on what ball joints YOU would buy again if doing things all over again.
Now before this gets too crazy, let me bring you up to speed on what I know and have read.
Crown would be a direct OEM replacement, but I would rather not have to go thru the hassle of having to do the swap once or twice every year.
Spicer has a good reputation as being a decent OEM replacement. But that's it... it's just "as good as" stock... no better.
MOOG used to have the same rep if not better, but recently I read that they are now made in China or were bought by a Chinese company and since then the quality has gone down hill.
XRF look good on paper but still have composite (acetal) internals (cup) and I haven't been able to find any long time reviews on them. That and they're made in Taiwan.
Synergy supposedly is one of the better brands, offering a more "heavy duty" option than many of the above listed. AND team uses them in their KOH rig (or at least used to) ... yet I have still heard mixed reviews from both the XJ as well as the TJ and JK crowds on the reliability/durability of these.
Falcon Steering Systems came up in my searches, but I couldn't find anyone in the Jeep world that had any reviews on them.
Dynatrac's from what I've read are by far the best money can buy, (and for $600+ they better be) ...but if memory serves me correctly, they dont make them for the D30. Not that I would drop that kind of coin on BJ's for the turdy anyways.
Mevotech is ones I've seen on many XJ's but seem like just another cheapo Chinese made set of junk.
Alloy USA is a set that seems to be made well, and on paper, look to be superior to many of the above listed options. I have read many great reviews, and only a couple negative which consisted of getting something "bad out of the box" or getting the wrong part.... nothing bad to say about the overall quality or durability.

Now there's a lot that comes into play here in reviews, with a massive variance of lift, wheel and tire combos, backspacing, wheeling/driving habits and maintenance history between all of us, and those who have reviewed the above ball joints online. I know that everyone has had good results and/or bad with one manufacturer or another, and that's fine, I'm expecting my views to differ with many of your own.... that's the kind of reviews/advice I'm looking for though... what has worked well for YOU, and more importantly:
WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE IF YOU WERE TO DO IT AGAIN RIGHT NOW?

So far my research and what I have read is making me lean towards the Alloy USA or the Synergy ones (they have a very similar design)...
Thoughts?

just go spicer, if you have the money go synergy.

I'm curious to the "DEEZA" ones here:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1877188&cc=1181720

supposedly patented/better.
http://www.deezachassis.com/patented.html

They're made in turkey though, and I've seen the "quality" of some of the turkish made guns and that scares me.

I've dealt with quite a lot of Jeep ball joints at work.... My two cents:
Crown = disappointing, seem to be no better than the bargain brand parts store stuff.
Moog = never had any problems/comebacks with them that I can ever recall. price is pretty good and they look and feel like good quality.
Synergy = very nice pieces. Not cheap, but worth it in my opinion. Had one lower one that was really "tight,", like ungreaseably tight, and I heard of one other incidence of that from another shop. Other than that, they've been awesome. Their cutaway of their's vs factory JK is very educational.
Alloy USA = seen three sets now(one xj, two jk) on regularly wheeled rigs that had gotten loose/sloppy within about a year.
No personal experience with the others.

I like the Spicer ball joints, the main reason being they are smooth faced where they interfere fit in the C-arm of the axle. Many of the aftermarket ball joints are knurled and if you end up having to replace them several times they can increase the diameter of the holes in the C-arm of the axle to the point a new set of BJ's can be pulled in and out by hand. In addition most Spicer ball joints last 100,000 miles.
I have tried Synergy and it is too early to say how good they are going to be.
They look fairly good quality. I think Moog is poorer quality.

Good stuff guys, I appreciate the feedback.

I have synergy on my tj, with 35s, RCV axles and 3.75 backpacking... they have been installed for over a year and are still going strong, like day one...

blondejoncherokee said:

just go spicer, if you have the money go synergy.

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X2 on using Spicer.

Had Synergy on my JKU with 35's and wheeled the snot out of it, they held up great. When I replace the XJ BJ's I'll go with Synergy hands down.

Seems like a lot of guys are swearing by the Synergy... I may have to go that route.
I know Spicers are the best OEM replacement, and will prob do fine for how much the XJ is driven and how much/hard I wheel.... but I figure a little overkill never hurt anyone, right?

Tryfan said:

I like the Spicer ball joints, the main reason being they are smooth faced where they interfere fit in the C-arm of the axle. Many of the aftermarket ball joints are knurled and if you end up having to replace them several times they can increase the diameter of the holes in the C-arm of the axle to the point a new set of BJ's can be pulled in and out by hand.

Click to expand...

This is a good point.

Also, be wary of some of the cheaper ball joints. There have been several that are too long and the knuckle won't bolt up correctly. They also tend to be knurled. I ran into this problem once. After removing the crappy ball knurled joint the correct one nearly slid in.

I installed MOOG about 6 months ago, so far no problems.

If I had not chosen MOOG I would have gone with Spicer.