Shit day

Oh man, sorry to hear that. I appreciate you posting this as a warning to others though

 

That sucks OP. Anyway to contact original owner to find out what brand and date? I'd be looking to try and go after manufacture of ball joint if mileage and time is low enough.

HEED THE WARNING PEOPLE...........OEM BALL JOINTS!!

 

Definitely interested if you get any info on brand/mileage/date of install from the previous owner, OP. I'm not one to crucify certain brands immediately. As a former tech I know that the actual hands installing the parts can have a bigger impact than the manufacturer.

 

I hear ya, but not on this part. This part is truly to be replaced with OEM only. Do just a little research here in first gen forum for posts by @Dirty Pool about the Lbj's. He's dissected a few of the different makes. Proof is in the pudding.

 

This is the reason I picked up my 96 for as cheap as I did. The only real damage that came from it was obviously the upper and lower ball joints, tie rod...the hub wasn't included in purchase so who knows where that ended up. Also the fender needed replaced and still have a nice dent in the lower rocker. Good luck and remember it probably looks more expensive than it really is.

 

Sucks, but the bright side is it happened when you were going slow with minimal damage,
Could have happened when you were going 60mph and flipped the truck.
Rule of thumb as most of us know here, always use OEM balljoints and you won't have this problem and change The balljoint every time you change timing belt 100,000. I have 520,000 miles, never had a balljoint issue,

 

Did you see the ball joint replaced? Wonder if no work was done and the PO got a shady shop to pass it through inspection. Was it one of those "certified and E-tested for $500 more" deals?