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Recommendations on upper control arm and lower ball joints

Drew Solis

By Drew Solis
in Troubleshooting & Recalls

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Drew Solis Enthusiast

Drew Solis

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Working on my suspension for my 2014 Silverado I just purchased some benstein shocks 5100s and I need to replace my upper control arm including lower Ball joint I’m looking for recommendations I’ve herd good things about Moog products but wanted to get some onsite if Detroit Axel is any good seeming they are very inexpensive 

carkhz316 Enthusiast

carkhz316

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Moog has rested on their laurels in my opinion, and their quality has suffered for it. Our local Auto Value stores (all of them in fact) got rid of all Federal-Mogul products a few years ago (including Moog) in favor of other parts brands. The suspension components they now carry are made by Mevotech, which I've compared side by side to a few Moog pieces and the quality difference is apparent. Also, there was a tool/ parts expo recently that I attended and I stopped by the Mevotech booth that had various ball joints with cutaways (including Moog) and the differences were great: larger ball and sockets, metal bushings/ bearings instead of plastic, and encapsulated dust boots instead of slip fit. The representative informed me that their TTX line (heavy duty/ premium essentially for trucks/ SUVS) carry a lifetime warranty. Related to that, they had a upper control arm for either GMT800-900 and I picked it up and almost dropped it. It was like 15 lbs of what I was shocked to find was (as he told me) forged steel; not cast iron like I suspected. This was a replacement for the factory stamped steel arms.

 

Not saying Mevotech is the be all, end all, but since it's the best available locally for me, it's what I've been using. Also, Detroit Axle, despite the name, is Chinese junk hence the price. A friend went that route with some wheel bearings and CV shafts and had repeated failures within a year before he wised up and just bought better parts. Best of luck with whatever you decide!

Drew Solis Enthusiast

Drew Solis

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3 hours ago, carkhz316 said:

I appreciate the feed back I’m going to get going on this project will post some pics and let y’all know how this goes. 

Drew Solis Enthusiast

Drew Solis

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After doing some research in my option I feel that replacing the bushings on the existing control arms and replacing all 4 ball joints Upper and lowered the some high quality ball joints  would be most cost effective with still getting the job done correct What do you think about not replacing the top and bottom control arms but updating the bushings and replacing the ball joints I’m also going to be installing my benstien 5100 in the front and rear. 

davester Senior Enthusiast

davester

Posted
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It's just easier for the driveway mechanic to do, as they generally don't have the tools to do it, and they rent/borrow the tool to do it, it's still not easy to get it in there and lined up to do it if you aren't doing the bottom one at the same time.  And it's faster to do.

 

When I first got my truck, I found the upper ball joint on one side had completely worn through the top of the housing, and I just replaced the whole UCA, which went faster than doing just the fall joint.  Earlier this year, I replaced all the ball joints and the wheel hubs, and it took longer to get the upper ball joints out, and it was a hassle to get the spindle and brake calipers out of the way to do it.

Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted

I don't do as much of this stuff as I use to and since the bailouts it's been any ones guess on quality. There are OEM parts that pass muster. Some don't. If a part just wore out in a reasonable amount of time or miles I tend to stay with the OEM part. That said if it's a problem I've had allot of success with MOOG's Problem Solver line of products. Like almost anyone else companies have multiple lines of products. Some to a price point, some to solve an issue or meet a market demand. 

 

Loaded assemblies, as Dave just pointed out, tend to be easier to swap and take less tooling and knowhow to do but at an increase in cost and sometimes at a sacrifice in quality. My Honda broke a spring last year. Parts guy looked at me like I had three eyes when I ordered the spring. Spring was $50. Loaded strut was $450. Yea, I have access to a strut compressor. I could have gone aftermarket but then I would have needed to replace them all. Sometimes the OEM is just the best solution. Even GM has three lines of parts so be careful if you go this route.  

 

 

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