Ok, I'm getting a pretty good "rattling" sound up front over small bumps. Most prevalent at slower speeds up to 20 mph. I'm fairly certain the ball joints are toast as they are original with 144K miles on them. I do have Rancho quicklifts leveling the truck out.

My Question: Which ball joints/control arms do you recommend? Obviously I'll have to do the control arms for the top joints, as they are OEM and can't replace just the ball joint. I'm kind of leaning towards the MOOG problem solver series from RockAuto, but would love to hear some feedback. 21.79 for each lower, and 65.79 for each upper.

Are there some cheap ones out there that you have had decent luck with?

After I do the ball joints, will I need to have an alignment done?

 

Moog is a favorite among folks here. They make a good part. Some other reputable brands are TRW and the Napa Chassis line. I've had the latter on my truck for about a year and a half now and am pleased with them.

And yes, you will need an alignment afterwards. The general rule is anytime suspension parts are changed/adjusted - get an alignment.

Check your strut bushing, sway bar links/mounts, and lower control arm bushing as this can cause rattling noise at well.

 

if it's the ball joints, I've run the premium napa ones in the past. they needed greased like the old days which was kinda cool, but something extra to get done doing my oil change. I had a bottom fitting that quit taking grease so I had to replace the zerk but other than that I had no further issues in the roughly 80k I put on before selling the truck - 98 B2500 aka Ford Undercover (Ranger)

 

I am in the same boat, need uppers. I have decided on the Moog Problem Solvers. I have used them on other vehicles with great results. I like that it has the zerk fitting so it's a grease-able part.

 

i don't think the rancho quick lifts are as likely to contact the UCA's but this might be a good time to look into some upgraded ones like camber or icon that replace the ball joint with a uniball too.

 

I replaced my lower/upper ball joints/UCA/tie rod ends around this time last year with a generic parts kit off of Amazon, I don't recall the name of it, but I paid like $130'ish for it all.

A year and several thousand miles later, I have no complaints

 

Thanks. My sway bar links are MOOG, I had to upgrade those before. They look pretty good yet, no movement. Lower CA bushing....interesting. Hopefully that's not bad.

Thanks, yeah, definitely want to go with a greaseable style.

I'm guessing I'm going to go this route as well.

Would love to do that, but trying to keep as cheap as possible without sacrificing too much longevity. If I was to do it right, I'd put the correct length shock tower back in, and raise the whole front drive instead, but yeah, $$$$.

I saw that kit too. Do you have the front end leveled? I'm concerned about the extra pressure it would be putting on those joints. But if it works, it works. Kind of looking between 3 options:

1. MOOG upper CA's and lower joints and hopefully bushings are tight.
2. Mevotech (same, just a little cheaper)
3. Cheap *** full kit for $130, and if it goes bad in a year, just do it again.

I would like to stay away from having to align it a whole bunch though, always need to consider that I guess.

 

I replaced the lower ball joints with the Napa brand, outer tie rod and sway bar/stabilizer end links with Moog Problem Solvers about a year ago. Napa quality and design are evident over the Moog, everything has grease fittings. I noticed a clunk at every little bump in the road before I started. The lower ball joints were noticeably worn so I did them first, still had the clunk. Then the tie rods, still had the clunk. Everything needed replacing but the stab links finally fixed it. I did a do it your self alignment, it's not difficult and there are plenty of YouTube vids, and my tire wear looks normal a year later.
I haven't replaced the upper control arms yet.

 

Stay away from Mevotech. I sold parts for many years. High failure rate on the Mevotech stuff.