I've had something in the front end giving off a slight knock/thump when going slow over bumps for a little while now.

I think I might need ball joints because I put a pry bar under the axle shaft and noticed the ball joints have some up/down movement.

I think I might have worn out hubs because I grabbed the wheel while it was on the ground and gave it a side to side wiggle and it felt like there was a little in and out play.

I have new tie rods and the track bar doesn't have any play.

I'm wanting to go with Mevotech ($55 at Rockauto) over Moog ($115 at Autozone after the 20% off deal) or Timkin ($2 less than Moog with the same discount). The Autozone online discount that runs until the 17th makes the Moog and Timkin hubs cheaper than anywhere else.

I can't find negative reviews for Mevotech hub assemblies online.
Mevotech is a Canadian company but their manufacturing is "outsourced" so they're made in China. They also dance around the question of where they are made by saying how great they are. Parts made China aren't all junk, it depends on the quality control of the company that is having them made there and whether or not the materials are shipped to them or sourced in China.
So has anyone gone with Mevotech hub assemblies?

 

I've never even heard of them..... That said, aren't the Moog, and Timkins also made in China?

 

Timkins are made in Korea. I believe they always come in a black and orange box and have plenty of markings showing that the are Timkin and that they're made in Korea.
Some cheap hubs are called Timkin because they use Timkin bearings in cheap housings.

I just read where Moog is made in 16 different countries.

The thing about outsourcing is that the company making parts in another country has to pass the quality control inspection at the company that hired them before they get put on the market. Movotech promotes their quality as if they're better than OEM and that's why I'm asking if anyone has them on their truck.

I've ruled out Dura International and WJB as being garbage because of some of the things that I've read. Dura International actually got sued by a rival auto parts firm for selling cheap/unsafe brake parts because they said that they were dangerous and would lead to wrecks.

 

So much stuff is made in China these days (either the entire part or components of it), its getting very hard to avoid parts made in China. Some China made stuff is pretty decent. Best to check reviews as you're doing, then roll the dice.

 

If you look on rockauto they have the "economy" ones that are generally under $100 and then there is the "standard" replacement that prices go up to $182 for the SKF BR930400. I'm sure there has to differences between the economy and standard replacement parts. Anybody notice what bearing the factory used in their hubs? I looked up the hubs in the dana/spicer parts breakdown for the dana 44 and 60 and it says "Contact Vehicle Manufacturer" so they weren't made by dana/spicer.

 

I don't know if you have an O'Reilly near you. (They're EVERYWHERE here in MN) But I put a masterpro in my Ram for $100. Seems to be holding up okay.

 

I'm thinking maybe it was my ball joints giving me the movement that I felt.
I'm still going to need hubs at some point because they have 180,000 miles on them but I believe they're ok for now because the wheels spin fine and there isn't any in/out movement when I manhandle the top and bottom of the wheel.

This is my ball joints, opinions? They're the same on both sides and they're 16 years old.

 

If there isn't any in/out movement on them, I would leave 'em in there. The slop you see there will be taken up by the weight of the truck. So, it shouldn't really matter.

 

After personally experiencing death wobble a while back, I tend to want my front suspension parts nice and tight. While you can get by with it for now, I'd plan on replacing those ball joints, in addition to checking the tie rod ends, track bar and U-joints behind the front wheels.

 

I thought any movement in the ball joints aside from rotating was bad.

I had my wife saw the wheel back and forth a while back and the track bar didn't wiggle around like it had a bad bushing at the axle but I can't remember if I thought to check it out where it connects to the frame.

The tie rods are new.

It is about time to check out the front u-joints, I think I've changed them twice now.

I guess I need to hop back under there and get aggressive with the big pry bar to find out where that little suspension knock at low speeds going over bumps is coming from.