Teraflex ball joint life
01-13-2018, 02:09 PM
#1
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Teraflex ball joint life
Title says it all, went to get an alignment and noticed my driver side camber is at -1.8. I did the trusty old shovel test, and the upper ball joint has a ton of play. I bought these ball joints on July 17th 2017, they only have 2k miles and 2 wheeling trips on them (Jeep is not my DD).
Anyone else experience this? I can't believe the incredibly short life span. This must surely be a lemon? Especially considering my other 3 are completely fine/tight.
@Teraflex can you guys help me out? Not sure if this falls under warranty, but a 2,000 mile life span is pretty unacceptable. They were greased when installed at 33k miles. Jeep now has 35k miles.
Anyone else experience this? I can't believe the incredibly short life span. This must surely be a lemon? Especially considering my other 3 are completely fine/tight.
@Teraflex can you guys help me out? Not sure if this falls under warranty, but a 2,000 mile life span is pretty unacceptable. They were greased when installed at 33k miles. Jeep now has 35k miles.
01-13-2018, 03:02 PM
#2
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Eh did some reading in my livid state and it looks like warranty should have me covered. Also seems to be a common issue with all manufacturers (Synergy, Dynatrac, Alloy) and it comes down to the ball joint size. I guess it's time to start thinking about some real axles.
01-13-2018, 05:30 PM
#3
Super Moderator
I've got a friend with them as well as 37*13.5's on his daily. He doesn't have a ton of miles on them and maybe one wheeling trip (frequently deployed) and his are showing wear. Rare Parts or a new axle will be in his future soon.
01-15-2018, 09:26 AM
#4
Sponsoring Manufacturer
Sorry but our balljoints are not adjustable for camber. Moog has an upper version that will help some. Hopefully you can get your housing replaced under warranty. Other wise I would suggest one ours.
01-17-2018, 05:32 AM
#5
JK Newbie
Join Date: Jul 2017
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how y’all doing on your new designed ball joints,, ordered in first of Dec?
01-17-2018, 07:33 AM
#6
JK Enthusiast
I certainly have had trouble with greasing mine. The joints sometimes absolutely refuse to take grease from a standard straight zerk fitting. I've had to use a needle fitting and even sometimes that's questionable whether it's taken grease. I emailed TF about my concern even before the axle was installed on my JK. They said drive it first, then I discussed their installation instructions which said they had to be greased first. The reply was they are already greased. I was concerned about possible warranty issues since two of them did not seem to want to take grease when sitting on the work bench. Their last reply was crickets. Certainly not what I was hoping for after dishing out a few hundred for some ball joints.
01-17-2018, 08:02 AM
#7
JK Jedi
I think this is the first negative thread I've noticed about TF BJs so far. I would agree that the main issue for all the manufacturers is the amount of space they have to work with in the D30/44 axles. I think things have been pretty well documented with Synergy, Alloy, and Moog in the past. TF was newer to the scene and if anything.....taking a flyer on them rather than the before mentioned brands was at least worth a shot. Curious to see if more failures start to pop up since there's a been a little time since hitting the market.
What kind of response was this? Is TF suggesting that you have a bent C instead of their BJ just crapping out? LOL. I'd expect some better response on here TF.....it's like you didn't even read the OP. Maybe I'm just interpreting this response wrong.
The real problem is that jumping up to the next level of BJs is pricey. Bora Bora - from my observations, I think you and I have fairly similar wheelin' styles. I was in this same position few years back, and after burning through a few sets of Synergy BJs I got tired of performing the labor. They replaced under warranty with little to no hassle, but when it came time to do the labor for the 3rd time in 9 months I decided to put DT in instead. Maybe it's time to consider either DT or Rare Parts unless you see stepping up to a D60. I was blowing through the Synergies on 35s. Been on 37s for a couple years with these DT BJs and haven't run in to an issue yet. All things being equal, I'd probably select the RP's over DT though.....just due to the design of splitting the load a bit between top/bottom. I thought I had to have knurled after the Synergys, and RP didn't offer a knurled, which is why I went with DT at the time.
What kind of response was this? Is TF suggesting that you have a bent C instead of their BJ just crapping out? LOL. I'd expect some better response on here TF.....it's like you didn't even read the OP. Maybe I'm just interpreting this response wrong.The real problem is that jumping up to the next level of BJs is pricey. Bora Bora - from my observations, I think you and I have fairly similar wheelin' styles. I was in this same position few years back, and after burning through a few sets of Synergy BJs I got tired of performing the labor. They replaced under warranty with little to no hassle, but when it came time to do the labor for the 3rd time in 9 months I decided to put DT in instead. Maybe it's time to consider either DT or Rare Parts unless you see stepping up to a D60. I was blowing through the Synergies on 35s. Been on 37s for a couple years with these DT BJs and haven't run in to an issue yet. All things being equal, I'd probably select the RP's over DT though.....just due to the design of splitting the load a bit between top/bottom. I thought I had to have knurled after the Synergys, and RP didn't offer a knurled, which is why I went with DT at the time.
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01-17-2018, 05:26 PM
#8
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Well this doesn't give me the warm fuzzys. I installed mine around September of '17. BoraBora it's not due to not being a knurled ball joint is it? Also did you ever have any issues getting grease to flow into yours?
I certainly have had trouble with greasing mine. The joints sometimes absolutely refuse to take grease from a standard straight zerk fitting. I've had to use a needle fitting and even sometimes that's questionable whether it's taken grease. I emailed TF about my concern even before the axle was installed on my JK. They said drive it first, then I discussed their installation instructions which said they had to be greased first. The reply was they are already greased. I was concerned about possible warranty issues since two of them did not seem to want to take grease when sitting on the work bench. Their last reply was crickets. Certainly not what I was hoping for after dishing out a few hundred for some ball joints.
I certainly have had trouble with greasing mine. The joints sometimes absolutely refuse to take grease from a standard straight zerk fitting. I've had to use a needle fitting and even sometimes that's questionable whether it's taken grease. I emailed TF about my concern even before the axle was installed on my JK. They said drive it first, then I discussed their installation instructions which said they had to be greased first. The reply was they are already greased. I was concerned about possible warranty issues since two of them did not seem to want to take grease when sitting on the work bench. Their last reply was crickets. Certainly not what I was hoping for after dishing out a few hundred for some ball joints.
I think this is the first negative thread I've noticed about TF BJs so far. I would agree that the main issue for all the manufacturers is the amount of space they have to work with in the D30/44 axles. I think things have been pretty well documented with Synergy, Alloy, and Moog in the past. TF was newer to the scene and if anything.....taking a flyer on them rather than the before mentioned brands was at least worth a shot. Curious to see if more failures start to pop up since there's a been a little time since hitting the market.
What kind of response was this? Is TF suggesting that you have a bent C instead of their BJ just crapping out? LOL. I'd expect some better response on here TF.....it's like you didn't even read the OP. Maybe I'm just interpreting this response wrong.
The real problem is that jumping up to the next level of BJs is pricey. Bora Bora - from my observations, I think you and I have fairly similar wheelin' styles. I was in this same position few years back, and after burning through a few sets of Synergy BJs I got tired of performing the labor. They replaced under warranty with little to no hassle, but when it came time to do the labor for the 3rd time in 9 months I decided to put DT in instead. Maybe it's time to consider either DT or Rare Parts unless you see stepping up to a D60. I was blowing through the Synergies on 35s. Been on 37s for a couple years with these DT BJs and haven't run in to an issue yet. All things being equal, I'd probably select the RP's over DT though.....just due to the design of splitting the load a bit between top/bottom. I thought I had to have knurled after the Synergys, and RP didn't offer a knurled, which is why I went with DT at the time.
What kind of response was this? Is TF suggesting that you have a bent C instead of their BJ just crapping out? LOL. I'd expect some better response on here TF.....it's like you didn't even read the OP. Maybe I'm just interpreting this response wrong.The real problem is that jumping up to the next level of BJs is pricey. Bora Bora - from my observations, I think you and I have fairly similar wheelin' styles. I was in this same position few years back, and after burning through a few sets of Synergy BJs I got tired of performing the labor. They replaced under warranty with little to no hassle, but when it came time to do the labor for the 3rd time in 9 months I decided to put DT in instead. Maybe it's time to consider either DT or Rare Parts unless you see stepping up to a D60. I was blowing through the Synergies on 35s. Been on 37s for a couple years with these DT BJs and haven't run in to an issue yet. All things being equal, I'd probably select the RP's over DT though.....just due to the design of splitting the load a bit between top/bottom. I thought I had to have knurled after the Synergys, and RP didn't offer a knurled, which is why I went with DT at the time.
Funny you mention stepping up to the next level ball joints, the Rare Parts BJ's have been sitting in my Amazon shopping cart for a few days now. I ended up giving Teraflex a call, and they're shipping me a new ball joint...however, like you, I'll probably pull the trigger on the Rare Parts if ball joints end up becoming a consistent problem. Lifetime warranty on the TF is great, but it's gotta be the most annoying PITA maintenance job to keep re-doing
01-17-2018, 05:32 PM
#9
JK Enthusiast
Yup grease just shoots back out of zerk. Even when I do hit the fitting with a needle, I don’t see the rubber flex out it just comes oozing out the top or from the other set screws.