Problems with Moog ball joints

I replaced my LCA's with Moog and I've been so unimpressed. One of them was threaded for the zerk, the other wasn't. I'd never seen that before so i called Moog and they told me the zerks are self tapping. I asked if the zerks are stronger metal than the joint so they won't sear and the guy said yes. So, i screwed in the zerk and not nearly all the way in, it seared right off. Now i have a B.J. that can't be greased. I went to remove it today and can not, under any circumstances, get that joint out. The lower lip is thicler than the OEM joint so there isn't a collar in the Auto Zone press that fits around it. I spent the entire damn day on this joint and no love.
Besides the idea that not threading the zerk holes is such cheap manufacturing and this is far from the first Moog product I've had issues with, has anyone had success removing a Moog ball joint?

 

Yes, you need a cup/tube with a 2.5" ID. A metal yard should be able to cut you piece for cheaps. You'll need a DOM tube - one without an inside seam, or you can grind it out, as I did.

 

You ground out a ball joint?

 

You grind out the inside seam of the piece of tubing.

 

Oh, ok. Makes more sense. Its a rental from autozone though, i don't think i can alter it

 

You're not getting it. If there isn't a 2.5" ID cup in with the tools, get a short piece of 2.5" ID tubing and use it for a spacer. If the tubing has a protruding inside welded seam, grind the seam flush.

 

Had a similar issue with tie rod ends for my rusty beater Subaru- one had a zerk, the other didn’t. Brought it back and made the parts store (unhappily) exchange it.

 

My drivers side Moog LCA only lasted one year, ball joint blew out.

 

OEM. OEM. OEM.

Would have saved you all this pain and agony.

 

moog brand suspension/steering components are awful quality. OEM is the way to go

 

Moog used to be top quality, I've heard a lot lately that they've gone downhill. When I did my tie rod ends back in February, I ordered Proforged. They're an OEM supplier (don't know if Toyota is one of their customers), and dealing with some aftermarket manufacturers on my Mustang, they were highly recommended. If you're familiar with BMR, they said drag racers will pull wheelies and slam down on them and they take a beating. That's all they use now.

 

Do you do much 4x?

 

Back in the fall of 2010, I replaced my tie-rod ends (100,000K on OEM at the time) and sway-bar end links with MOOG products as I wanted something that could be greased. They have greased them every 10,000 miles (sometimes 20,000 miles) since then with AMSOIL synthetic grease and all is well (403,000K now). I do remember being disappointed in having to install the zerk fittings, one of the zerks on a tie rod end never seated properly so I had to epoxy it in place.
If they eventually fail will I use MOOG again, maybe, they have held up quite well, maybe it's been since 2010 their quality has diminished?

 

Do you do a lot of offroading?

 

Zero

I do drive fire roads/log roads if you consider that off roading. Nothing high speed.

 

I recently installed Moog lcas, tie rod ends, and sway endlinks. I've had great success with them in the past on other vehicles and hope they continue to work out for me. I only do mild off roading and nothing hardcore.

 

That's con

That's concerning. Had this planned out but going back to the drawing board. What makes me leery is that the ball joints don't have grease fittings

 

Only hope is that I got a defective ball joint. The passanger side was still tight and they were both replaced at the same time.

Next time around i'm demanding my money back from rockauto and buying OEM's. Too much work to swap them out once a year and get a new alignment.

 

No, 99% highway/road miles

 

I've never had any aftermarket part including moog last in the past 18 years. But wheeled and ran every rig pretty hard on the trials. So they seem to do better if the vehicle stays on the pavement.