Texan1983

ok, i normally am all for overkill and stuff, but carli is 5x more money. now i was looking for a HD unit, i am not doing the baja 1000 with my truck. and frankly if you look at those trucks, those guy don't complain about a clunk or slight wander in their steering. and if they did, they just put new parts in there. lets get serious. i am using this as a work/tow rig. nothing more. i got 140,000 miles out of factory ball joints. As with every car and truck on the road these are wear items. lets not get worked up here. my 89 suburban would need ball joints every 70,000 miles. ball joints are a wear item!!!

carli are a nice unit. but if they are a race unit like they claim, then they need lots of maintaince. sure they are rebuildable in the knuckle but is it that much easier? anyone done it?

stop with the "carli are the only way to go" tired of that crap. the rest of the non "made of money" crowd need a good quality ball joint that isn't 550 a pair. i don't own a race truck...

Fisherguy

Berak

If I got 140,000 miles on the stock units, I would probably use them as well. I went in for my second replacement set at 70K. If the carli's last 300K they will have saved me a bunch of money and even more time. If you paya a garage to do your work, the Carli's are maybe double the money. They don't make any more noise or any such nonsense. They are greasable, if that is what you call "needs lots of maintenance", so be it. No one said they are the only way to go that I can see and speaking for myself I am hardly "made of money". They can easily save money in the long run if they last as well as they are supposed to, time will tell. At the time I bought them I didn't see any other really HD units out there. The XRPs may be a good deal, IF they are any better than stock, and IF you can actually buy them here in the USA.

The Carli's are just another option and I am being serious.

CatDiesel_762

I second this topic that not all of us have much-o bucks laying around to put new fangle parts on our truck that are way over priced. Berak, I think you need to do a search on all the third gen ball joints and you will find that most people are stating or boasting about Carli this and Carli that. I can say that you will find what we are complaining about with confidence. In fact just look at the post in this thread and you will see a post that said "Carli is the way to go they are better than moog."

I been following these ball joints post now for the third gen for at least four years, now. Since the earliest cases of death wobble and let me s ay this ... At first there were quotes that said; "Moog is the best," then we are told; "Carli is the way to go," and now I believe have brand x. Hopefully, brand x is not made at the ACME Loony Toon's Factory. Only time will tell.

It is best to choose the parts the suite your needs or future need. Do not forget to look at your driving habits, too. If you are getting 170,000 miles on your parts with minimal maintenance. Then buying the lower cost part may be more beneficial to you instead of paying extra for a high cost race parts that only a racing expert could figure out how to rebuild or set. Do not forget to look at maintenance cost or extra fees associated with greasing or oiling a part on a regular basis.

Shawn

Halibrand

Tell me something, do you guys get this upset when someone recommends buying a Honda vehicle? If you dont want to buy it, dont buy it. But Hondas have a reputation for being low-maintenance and can be driven into the ground. Those happy with the performance of the car will likely shove it down your throat. The same goes with Carli. They have a reputation that preceeds any new part they release and its been rightly attained. They dont half-*** a thing, and this might be a reason for the premium price you will cough up.

Tell me this as well, how often do you see the phrase "do it right the first time"? How often do people tell you to buy a NICE tool over a cheap Harbor Freight one? How many times has going against that advice come to bite you in the butt?

The reason for ALL of the above is that people with EXPERIENCE have relayed their information so that others dont make similiar mistakes. Sure, a harbor freight pry bar might work get the job done for while, but give it one good workout session and its bent like a pretzel. I betcha that Blue Point you shoulda got instead wouldnt have bent. And now youve got money tied up into that piece of crap bent one and the NEW one you have to replace it with.

I wouldnt call it a race part, I would call it a Ultra-Heavy Duty part thats been tested in the most grueling conditions possible (i.e. a RACE).


And earlier something was mentioned about steel quality vs. hardened steel. Ima gonna wager that case-hardened or carburized 4130 is a helluva lot higher up in the Rockwell scale than an ingot of 1018 left in its natural state.


Stop being so butt hurt when people are stoked about something that doesnt jive with you.

Mocho

Until Carli puts some garentee that there ball joints are worth the extra coin, I wouldn't think of spending the money. I mean if the warranty said, 300,000 miles or we will replace them free, and pay for 8 hours labour to replace them, then i'd buy them. But there is NOTHING that says they are going to last any longer then any others. Just because a few trucks are getting huge miles means nothing, look at how much stock ball joints vary in mileage, 30k miles vs 200k miles? I don't care what anyone says, companies like carli, thuren, kore, etc have a lot higher mark ups on their products. They do it because they've got a fancy name and know people will pay for it, whether or not it's a better product

I have 80k on the stock ball joints, if I need to replace them at 90k, and I get some better ones that even last 120k, I will probably never need to replace them again. Pretty good in my books.

txarrowhunter

well some companys are very helpful, he knows who im talking about. but i do agree on outrageusly priced items with others...

Hali, "The reason for ALL of the above is that people with EXPERIENCE have relayed their information so that others dont make similiar mistakes. Sure, a harbor freight pry bar might work get the job done for while, but give it one good workout session and its bent like a pretzel. I betcha that Blue Point you shoulda got instead wouldnt have bent. And now youve got money tied up into that piece of crap bent one and the NEW one you have to replace it with." Stop being so butt hurt when people are stoked about something that doesnt jive with you

Folgers Can Leveling Spacer, Crushed Beer Can Add-A-Leaf, Reduced Cavitation Track Bar, and Old English 800 Remote Reservoir Shocks.


You guys are making me laugh, sounds like several people are hurt. lol

jfdid

The XRF's I bought last month were stated to have a "Million Mile Warranty" No questions asked, send them back, get a new set. We'll see how that goes when the time comes, but I kept pictures, reciepts and boxes for the spring! A set of BJ's per winter here in the oil patch.

Danderson

On Carli's website he claims that if his new bj's don't improve your ride,he'll buy them back.

Mocho

But the problem with that is, if someone buys them, and takes the time/pay for them to be put in, what are the chances they are going to want to send them back if they are just OK instead of great?

I'm not saying they aren't a great product, I really don't know but i'm pretty skeptical. I mean I bought a so called "proformance lift" and it was complete garbage. I lost all faith that in these "high end lift compenents".

Fisherguy

Is your Tough Country the lift you're talking about?

titan0454

I should hope not.

Mocho

Nope, Kore. But I am 1000x happier with tough country products then kore. The kore only lasted a couple months before I took it off because I hated their incomplete lift. Will never put another one of their products on my truck.

jfdid

It's been 16 months since I've put the XRF's in, and I'm fairly impressed. I've put on around 80,000km(50,000miles) since then, I blew a tie rod last week and the mechanic said the ball joints were still fine. I find just slight amount of play on the one side, but for the kind of roads I drive(oil patch, ugly), I'm pretty surprised.

They're obviously a wearable part, so when the time comes later this year, I imagine, we'll see how quick they are to give me a new set on warranty.

torquefan

I am curious to see how much wear or play it will take before they will replace them on warranty. On third gen trucks the wear spec allows almost 1/8" axial end play on the joints. Rightfully, I don't think XRF really has to consider them unusable unless they are worn beyond that, unless their warranty states that they will replace a joint that shows any play at all. Just wondering out loud.