resharp001

I think this is where i, self-admittedly, error. I think of having one tire 7 or 8 foot up on the side of some wall and the jeep is at some dumb angle, though, where that bad BJ shows itself is on the road, not off road. So if you're running 37s on pavement only . I would tell you that in less than a year I blew through 1 set of brand new Synergy BJs, then the warrany set has a bad lower literally out of the box......then I blew threw a set of DTs in maybe 15 mos. My lessons are hard learned. You can take your chances, and gawd willing you're luckier than I. We all have diff experiences....and I'm not saying mine is normal, just what I've seen. You seem like a knowledgeable guy....I'd only say JK is different than a hot rod suspension and steering....though I can't quantify that at all.

Sv_dude

I’d say this is true for many things. There’s a lot that can go wrong on a trail and you not even know about it till you hit pavement. Simple example, ever heard of guys making their own driveshaft for a trailer queen? You don’t need much balance when you’re going a whole 5mph or less. Take that home brew drive shaft on the road and spin it fast, you’ll definitely know there’s a problem. Same goes for many parts of the vehicle.

Boat211

My advice after dealing with teraflex balljoints and all the problems I have had with them from the beginning. Suck it up buy the rare parts ones so you don’t waste tons of time ripping everything apart to continually adjust the preload all because the nut and tool they provide are junk along with there cheap grease fittings.

jjjmm56

Those are some nice units. I also some from skyjacker that were identical.

jeepmojo

Im still on my stock ones and ive had 33s nitto trail grapplers on there swithching back and fourth from stock wheels and tires for winter use and the nittos for summer generally but some years i left them on winters as well . The stock tires are back on and nittos finally wore out after about 70.000 of great service use im a nitto fan i guess now . They were 10 ply e rated too . . But my jeeps a 2012 i ordered my rubicon in 2011 and got it that november. of 2011 ) Prior to that the nittos were on my sport as well so over all about 80.000 miles on them.
The nittos went right on the rubicon when i got it. They are heavy tires but i have had no issues with stock ball joints thus far . I think it was about 5 years after owning the rubicon i purchased 4 hd synergy ball joints and there still sitting in the jeep for when i do need them . Ill then replace all 4. But no sense in fixin what aint broke in my case . i have to say ive been lucky . The chrysler ones have held up fine . So i have no complaints and the jeep really has had only a few minor things go wrong but were covered . And those were when it was relitivly new. Since then its been awesome vehicle . Im keeping it & repair things when it needs replacing . I changed plugs and pcv valve around 70.000 i think it was . and other than that only changing all my fluids on schedual including tranny and diffs , Im really interested if when i do put the synergy ones in some day if ill say wow should have done this long ago lol

resharp001

Jeepmojo - you got some good life out of those factory BJs, and the Nittos for that matter. I guess what I might say is 33s might be that level of making em last vs 35s and 37s that are considerably more weight and require lower BS wheels to accommodate.....which add a bit more stress as the weight moves further out.

How did those TrailGrapplers handle your winters up there? I've always like Nittos/Toyos, but have never had to worry about wintery conditions being in Texas. I've always just heard they weren't spectacular for that. My TG's didn't last near as long but I really tore em up on the trails. I changed when mine had about 45k miles on em, and they probably had another 5-10k life left for pavement use.

I get your thought process on the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" regarding the ball joints. I guess I'd say that since you have those on hand just consider this. Your factory joints are getting up there. Bad BJs are a leading cause of wobbles, and wobbles lead to further damage in other components. I'd counter with this might be a good preventative maintenance thing once the weather is nice and you have nothing else to work on. You have been fortunate to date, but no telling if that good luck runs out 5k miles or 50k miles down the road.

jeepmojo

my thoughts exactly BTW your jeep looks awesome from the profile photo . i know did write that but im thinking the same thing. Ill prob bring it into some place to have them install them seeing its a 12 and they have been on there so long i dont think i want to deal with them to be honest. Ill prob run into dificulty and be stuck in my drive way and need to be towed there. It would be nice if i had a garage for that and usually , Any time i plan on doing something on my own the sun is shining and then i feel pitter patter , and next thing i know im sopping wet and kneeling in hard pack driveway im sure it wont be so cheap to have a mechanic do them all but . Sometimes They have all the correct tools and knoledge for when something goes wrong.. To answer your question the trail grapplers are awsome , longevity & in most conditions At least the ten ply E rated ones ahave been for my need here. Im sure people would say use c or ( d) rated is a much nicer ride and prob rightly so. But i figured E rated 10 ply would be tougher than nails . So i ordered them from Discount tire direct and they shipped on wheels i chose mounted and ballanced & shipped . The package at the time cost me 1700 for the 4. I could be wrong but i think each tire weighed in at 87 pounds much more than the stock wheel and tire .. I do remember guys getting 37" tires that weighed less than my little 33s. But i chose no lift and just 33s because all the expense that would go along with buying 37s lift kit and people were saying you really have to have gussets welded if you go 37s even 33s . So i also bought a poison spyder gusset kit came with skids for my control arms . Those are also sitting in the jeep too never welded on lol . I figured id have them welded when i put the ball joints in so the welding wouldnt melt the new ball joints they the heat will melt them if not careful if you have the ball joints in and then decide to add gussetts yould have to have wet beech towels and slow welding. I also bought hd spicer axle u joints & sitting with every thing else. but when i asked the only real (jeep shop) we have in nh Steves jeeps for offroad They said. With me having bought the parts around $850 .00 seemed rather steep then so i just never installed any of it im sure more now . To be honest i really have not had any big reason to pork over 850 for something that i prob never absolutely needed . But i have the stuff in case . But 37s to go down the power lines and stuff like that or a lift i really dont need , but wouldnt mind having them maybe regardless . I still have people comming up to me saying nice jeep ! , yeh ive had lifted vehicles before and yes personally i do like it for the looks. Other than that for logging road type stuff i think it would just hinder me at the gas pump when daily driving . and wear items . With lockers and a 6 speed with 410 gearing and 4:1 transfer in low there hasnt been anything i cant get out of. And ive been down in a culvet looking up and only seeing sky and pulled itself out w/ lockers engaged , when i came out of the hole i look and i had dragged a big boulder up with me underneath . Never even hesitated . So im glad i got the rubicon with factory lockers as well . Not that i use them often but theres been at least half dozen times my elec . swaybar disconect recently failed So added a manual knob type underneath . The motors are prone to getting water as you know .. . But the low gearing you get with 4 lo with 4;1 transfer will get me out of anything ill prob encounter . I dont do mud bogs over my wheels nor rock climbing in NH so. Its a Daily driver for most part but it does off roads just about every day from sept to december. the rest is mall crawling if thers such a thing in NH . Im in the white mountains the snows gets deep . Ill def be buying another set of the nitto trail grapplers even with the extra weight . Toyos i also concidered but i guess Nitto is like the little sister to them. I wont bother with the toyos now after having the nittos they have been the best tire ive owned and that goes for all vehicles ive ever owned im 56 years old so ive had lots of tires on trucks. Im not saying i wont ever lift mine either obviously articulation and all helps or for a lot of peoples use its nessesary practically . I just have been totally happy with mine being low . Not having to yank myself up every time in and out . not that im heavy 145 pound but i had a ford truck with 6" lift and it got old pulling myself up by the steering wheel in general . Course once your up in it its the balls , So yeh if things get a bit better ill be prob droppin those ball joints axle joints and gussets. And then New Tires again
Only thing is i bought a 1946 ben- hur sears& roebuck trailer ( Ben Hur made trailers for the military in 46 also this which was for civilian . Then David Bradley took it over for sears iIt was in a barn may years . iIt was in great shape already but i cheaply restored it . I added pintle hitches and all . but i'd have to lift that too if i lifted my jeep up. ! Id go Synergy unless they cheapend them in some fashion they were suposed to be dam good at the time i bought them anyway. and paid good money for em compared to a standard brand

Travis Patton

Its simple math and basic physics... bigger tires mean more weight, more leverage, more stress and shorter life ball joints. 37's are simply too big for stock axles, atleast according to Yukon...

resharp001

Meh, I think they have to state that just to cover their rear ends in regard to wear and tear on components. I mean, 37s being max size for a D60 is a joke too. I don't disagree in general though. The issue is simply that manufacturers only have so much space to work within the D30/44 axles. The only BJ on the market that has a different design, that I know of (I haven't researched this stuff in a long time), is Rare Parts whose design splits some of the load off the lower BJ and diverts it to the top, whereas all the other manufacturers leave the full load on the lower BJs. Those BJs come with a price that most people don't care to accept....though they are forced to accept the cash expenditure one way or another.

resharp001

Jeepmojo – sounds like you have a good handle on your use. I’m all about building for use rather than just building for looks. If 33s and your lockers get ya to and from where you want to go, there’s nothing wrong with that. So many people build for the looks and gotta have the big tires and just don’t care about all the added stress and decreased economy. My jeep is about as uneconomical as it gets, but it’s pretty much just a toy these days.