Hi, 2001 DRV 3500 5.9L here.

I didn’t know Moog products went so far downhill in quality with the Co. under new ownership until I replaced both my upper control arms (that came with ball joints installed) recently with new Moogs from eBay. Less than 200 mi. later one of the new ball joints is shot. Almost the whole front suspension, steering and brake parts had been replaced along with new tires and alignment before these control arms went in. The new ball joint in question was likely shot or the wrong size before it was ever installed.

My questions are first, should ball joints other than Moogs (but made for my model van) fit the Moog control arms I’m leaving in place or am I stuck with Moog ball joints only.

Second, if I can use other brand ball joints what is a quality brand you might recommend?

Thanks in advance.

 

Personally, I bought the Moog control arms (which came with generic Taiwanese junk ball joints preinstalled):

1@ $91.51 = $91.51
1@ $94.77 = $94.77

and then I bought (USA made) Moog ball joints separately and installed them into the Moog control arms:

2@ $31.66 = $63.32

I will say that it was questionable as to whether or not it would work, because the replacement ball joints were able to thread in by hand all the way to the bottom and felt loose in their holes, but I was able to torque them to spec and so I rolled the dice and ran them anyway. Now at 8k miles later, I have no problems and everything works as it should.

Pics of the ball joints from my install:

 

I researched ball joints on this forum and it looks like I’m gonna be out some bucks.

The upper control arms (with ball joints installed) were recently bought on eBay and are now in my van. But there was a “fitment note” I never saw. The note said for 3600# GAWR. The sticker on my door says 4000# GAWR. Those new control arms sure look identical to the originals though.

It seems I’m not the first to screw this up and am looking at 2 ways out of buying totally new control arms. Can I just use the 3600# ball joints I have with little chance of serious problems even though they might wear out faster or can I put new 4000# ball joints in the 3600# control arms I already have? I drive maybe up to 50 miles a week.