I'm eating upper Ball joints for lunch..

96Z714X4 · July 21, 2004

I'm sure I do not have a new story for all to hear but damnt if I'm gonna keep having problems.

I have a 96 Chevy 4X4 extended cab that has eaten upper ball joints continiously.

When I purchased the truck it had 15X12 rims, 33" BFGMT tires. With 8o,000 miles the front end suspension was wasted. I basically replaced every moving part under the front end, realigned it and bolted on 8X15 with 4" offset rims sporting" 33-12.5 ProComp Xterrains. Everthing was fine for a while but the tire treads started pitching across the whole tire on the front end. I rotate the tires every oil change but that only slowed down the process. They basically are all worn now but the high points still have pleanty of tread... Upon looking closer the other day I realized that the upper ball joints are shot. I have replaced these once before and twice on the driver side. Keep in mind I have stock suspension with new front shocks. The only thing I am conscerned is that I know the TORSION bars were cranked up between stock and full and cant help but wonder if that has a large factor in this problem. I have called around looking for HD ball joints or some super strong after market upper ball joints with no luck... Or just tell me what the problem is.....

Any suggestions or help is appreciated.

I you could possible e-mail me it would be faster..

thanks....

juicy · July 22, 2004

I'm sure I do not have a new story for all to hear but damnt if I'm gonna keep having problems.
I have a 96 Chevy 4X4 extended cab that has eaten upper ball joints continiously.

When I purchased the truck it had 15X12 rims, 33" BFGMT tires. With 8o,000 miles the front end suspension was wasted. I basically replaced every moving part under the front end, realigned it and bolted on 8X15 with 4" offset rims sporting" 33-12.5 ProComp Xterrains. Everthing was fine for a while but the tire treads started pitching across the whole tire on the front end. I rotate the tires every oil change but that only slowed down the process. They basically are all worn now but the high points still have pleanty of tread... Upon looking closer the other day I realized that the upper ball joints are shot. I have replaced these once before and twice on the driver side. Keep in mind I have stock suspension with new front shocks. The only thing I am conscerned is that I know the TORSION bars were cranked up between stock and full and cant help but wonder if that has a large factor in this problem. I have called around looking for HD ball joints or some super strong after market upper ball joints with no luck... Or just tell me what the problem is.....

Any suggestions or help is appreciated.

I you could possible e-mail me it would be faster..

thanks....

buddy of mine had the same problem, truck was out of alignment, balljoints taking a crap every so often. he finally got tired of replacing all that crap, he took it to a 4x4 shop.. spent 1500 bucks for it to be aligned the right way, they did him right and he hasnt had problems since.

CD01Z71 · July 22, 2004

I'm sure I do not have a new story for all to hear but damnt if I'm gonna keep having problems.
I have a 96 Chevy 4X4 extended cab that has eaten upper ball joints continiously.

When I purchased the truck it had 15X12 rims, 33" BFGMT tires. With 8o,000 miles the front end suspension was wasted. I basically replaced every moving part under the front end, realigned it and bolted on 8X15 with 4" offset rims sporting" 33-12.5 ProComp Xterrains. Everthing was fine for a while but the tire treads started pitching across the whole tire on the front end. I rotate the tires every oil change but that only slowed down the process. They basically are all worn now but the high points still have pleanty of tread... Upon looking closer the other day I realized that the upper ball joints are shot. I have replaced these once before and twice on the driver side. Keep in mind I have stock suspension with new front shocks. The only thing I am conscerned is that I know the TORSION bars were cranked up between stock and full and cant help but wonder if that has a large factor in this problem. I have called around looking for HD ball joints or some super strong after market upper ball joints with no luck... Or just tell me what the problem is.....

Any suggestions or help is appreciated.

I you could possible e-mail me it would be faster..

thanks....

buddy of mine had the same problem, truck was out of alignment, balljoints taking a crap every so often. he finally got tired of replacing all that crap, he took it to a 4x4 shop.. spent 1500 bucks for it to be aligned the right way, they did him right and he hasnt had problems since.

He paid 1500 for alignment?!?!?!?

Where did he get this done at?

Wingnut · July 22, 2004

I was thinking that maybe the wheel offset might be causing abnormal stress on the components...Mabye?

BDZ71 · July 29, 2004

The backspacing should not be that big of a deal. 15x8 with 4'' is a little further out than normal but not much .5" or so.

Uneven tire wear.. Check your air pressure b/c it might be low (you said center was good outside was worn?) And get that thing to the ALIGNMENT shop that knows what they are doing.

Bigger tires and cranking will add stress and wear parts faster but personally I think it is an alignment problem.. it might be tracking right that is why you think it is not the problem but the tires could be a little off camber putting extra stress and wear on the tires.