OEM Ball Joints Durability

Ive heard from everyone that OEM is the way to go for pretty much everything, especially ball joints. After having issues with proforged boots offroad i want some advice on what ball joints to get for someone like me who normaly drives on roads but occasionaly hits the trails a couple times a month. will OEM hold up to rocks, water, mud, etc?

 

Yes. They should be replaced every 100k. It also doesn't hurt to check them periodically for play.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-ball-joints.374853/page-2#post-10284167

 

OEM ball joints are very durable (I had 300k+ miles / 22 years on factory LBJ and still were solid) as long as boot it is not broken, so original grease is there and not contaminated. As soon as grease gets contaminated or washed out (because of cracked boot for example) OEM or aftermarket, any ball joint will be gone in a mater of days (or weeks if you are lucky).

So if you go off road and suspect the ball joins might get abused (driving on rocks, bushes, mud or water) just check if all boots are in like new condition (no cracks or torn, no grease leaking out). And of course follow the maintenance schedule which calls for inspecting all ball joints every oil change.

 

Here's a good way to check them:

https://youtu.be/tqw85L_sMgE

 

Go OEM on the ball joints. I went cheap on a set and nearly wrecked the truck with my kids in it. Fortunately it failed during a very low speed turn and didn’t do any body damage.

OEM cost doesn’t seem so bad after you replace a CV axle, upper ball joints, brake lines, etc. as a result of the cheap lower ball joint failure.

As a side note, I went with Camburg UCAs with the 1” uniball instead of upper ball joints. They’re stronger and allow a lot more downward travel, particularly if you’re lifted.