Mevotech LCA Ball joint - major disapointed

[59ctd]

So my son and I finished redoing the LCAs on his 09 OB maybe a year ago.  We bought Mevotech AL LCAs left and right with the ball joints included.  All installed easily enough.  Ball joints are junk and are clanking like crazy on minor bumps now.  We figured that stinks but we can replace them easy enough since it was not that long ago it was all new (i.e. not rusted).  Did right side front ball joint easy peasy in <1 hour.  Dropped the left side joint and the ball joint is totally different with a WAY bigger tapered shaft.  We have no clue as to what ball joint might work here as a replacement.

Edited April 2, 2023 by 59ctd

[Infosecdad]

I believe that's normal for the aluminum arms, that cone may have stayed in place on the other side.

The Subaru aluminum arms are like that as well. 

I replaced the Mevotech ball joints with Forged when I did mine but am about to pull the Mevotech to replace the bushings with Whiteline.

[59ctd]

Alright that makes sense.  If there is a cone on there I can see this happening some of the time.  We will take it apart again and try to take the cone off of the ball joint stem.  If this is the case I will amend my original post with the proper details regarding the issue.

[Infosecdad]

I looked at my Mevotech's that I pulled and they have cones on them at the moment.

I had bought these pro forged ball joints to use instead: https://www.amazon.com/Proforged-101-10259-Front-Lower-Joint/dp/B008VQMF3U

I'm hoping they aren't the source of my clunking, we'll find out later this week.

I probably had another set of cones from somewhere and that's why the unused mevotechs still have their cones.

[KZJonny]

Napa carries ‘555’ brand ball joints. At least in Canada.

They seem to be well liked by the Nasioc crowd anyway. I must have gotten lucky, since my mevotech stuff has been solid so far, but it the balljoints go, I was eyeballing those for replacements…

[m sprank]

Lol.  Aluminum arms use a cone over the ball joint shaft. Cones stck to shafts and arms.  Cones fit tapered hole in arms. 

Dont have experience with the aftermarket budget versions. Cant offer advice beyond the standard design. 

[silverton]

I've always been disappointed when using mevotech branded things.  we use 555 brand bj's at my shop, I have zero qualms.

[kealoha]

Mevotech ball joints were crap…replaced with OEM and the clunks disappeared. 

[motorbreath]

Does anyone have any experience with Moog? I have used them in the past with my old Jeep, looks like I need inner and outer tie rods soon...

[lagwagon]

Just one data point - me and my wife put about 70,000 kms on mevotech control arms with no issues with the ball joints. My wife doesn't slow down over rough roads, or the icy alley in the winter, and has blown shocks doing so but no issues with the ball joints. The car got totaled before they needed to be replaced so I don't know how long they wouldn't lasted but they were still in spec for play/slop. They probably would've gone around another 70,000 kms. 

 

If you get a bad set though, not much you can do other than replace them when they go.

 

Currently I have about 34,000 km on Whiteline ball joints and no issues there either, and again, my wife hasn't slowed down over bad roads yet and my car is lowered (see the "what did you do to your car today" for other anecdotes about my wife wrecking stuff). I am aware that in the past there have been issues with Whiteline ball joints and tie-rod ends.

[Infosecdad]

No experience with Moog, and I haven't used the Mevotech ball joints yet.

I had replaced them with a set of ProForged ball joints because they were supposed to be better than Mevotech.

However, after about 18 months the ProForged ball joints were clunking and when pulled had a bunch of play to them.

I ended up replacing with OEM ball joints, which should hopefully survive for a while.

[KZJonny]

Just replaced ~4 year old Moog sway bar links in my DD Outback.

Probably only did 30 000kms, since I don’t really drive all that much. Roads here aren’t great, but I wasn’t thrilled with that time/distance. Easier fix than ball joints tho.

I installed Moog Ball joints last fall, and I can at least say with confidence that they fit well and came with the right pinch bolts. Hopefully they last, the price was right for the DD.

[motorbreath]

I currently have Mevotech control arms in the front, replaced when I had my front subframe replaced. So far so good, but I only have 15k km on mine so far. I went with Mevotech because they also sell an adjustable rear ?link?, so now I can get both camber and toe within specs in the rear.

I'll need to replace the inner and outer tie rods soon, so just considering my options.

[blackobxt]

I’m currently running mevotec lca’s and they were clunking on both sides at about 10,000 miles. Currently trying to decide what to replace the ball joints with 

 

just to add, I knew about the ball joints being less than reliable when I bought them. My stock lca bushings were trash and I wanted to go aluminum without paying for spec b parts.

Edited April 11, 2023 by blackobxt

[59ctd]

I figured I'd close out this thread with the update since we finished with new ball joints on my son's Outback yesterday.  We never thought of the possibility the aluminum LCAs might have the cone but thanks to you guys for setting us straight on that.  The mevotech ball joints had very little grease in them and I would not recommend them to anybody. We bought new ACDelco joints with grease zerk fittings on the top.  Obviously the zerk won't fit in there installed so after pumping full of grease we put flat zerk caps on them and installed them.  They were easy to do since the LCAs were not that old at all ~1 yr.

I see that NAPA carries 555 Sankei brand ball joints here in the US too so that looks like a quality option when our next rig needs them.