DANGEROUS PRODUCT = Moog Ball Joints

jbc426 said
I purchased a pair of Moog Problem Solver lower ball joints for my '68 Barracuda convertible. The pair that I put in there when I went through the suspension 3 or 4k miles ago were worn out? My alignment guy lifted the front of the car to make enough room for a prybar to lip under the tire and lift it up. The amount of freeplay at the lower balljoint was scary. The bottom of the tire would move over 3/4 of an inch up before the balljoint play would be taken up. Yes, Moog joints.

I ordered another set of Moog joints from Summit, K-781 & K783. I have the 11 &3/4" disc brake swap on my car.

The driver's side went in like normal. When I pulled the passenger side out of the box and prepared to put the rubber boot on it, I felt the entire ball joint itself wiggling loosely in the forged arm. I called Summit and they sent me a replacement and picked up the bad one UPS. I love Summit!

The next day, I received the replacement passenger side lower ball joint, # K-781. The ball joint seemed tight in the arm, so I began to bolt it in. No sooner than I had the K-781 bolted to the spindle and began bolting on the castle nut to attach the assembly to the lower control arm, than the ball joint fell out of the forged arm nearly dropping my spindle/dustshield onto the ground. I was just barley able to catch it in time.

I started doing some research about Moog quality and was disappointed to find this is a rather widely known issue. What a disappointment to find out Moog sold us out! :wack:

Needless to say, I am returning both lower ball joints to Summit and making them aware of the dangerous quality control issue with Moog.

I found a company that reportedly sells high quality suspension pasts called XRF Chassis. Has anyone tried their parts?

Yes Moog is becoming an inferior part now. They are predominately produces in Mexico with a small portion coming in from China and an even smaller portion that's still produced on our shores. As far as XRF goes.......they are the best!

The designer and owner of the company was the lead designer for Dana/Spicer years ago. He was getting disgusted with the company's direction and the use of inferior materials and craftsmanship at Dana/Spicer that he broke away and started XRF Chassis. We had a sales rep come in and showed us cutaways of a Spicer ball joint, a Moog, and their own. You could just tell just by looking at the XRF that it is a superior ball joint. We also saw a video of a pull test between the three and the XRF took nearly 1.5X the amount of force to pull apart than the rest.

So the first XRF ball joints purchased went on a Toyota pre runner 2wd truck. We put two sets of moogs in it and within 3 months they were loose and rattling. We then put in a set XRF's on the third attempt and they are still in the truck til today and tight, 4 years later. I was so sold on them after that, that I purchased a complete set for my 71 Scamp. I will always use XRF when they are available for what I'm working on. Also they are made by our friendly, skillful, and smart neighbors to the north, Canada!