HELP- H3 eating right upper ball joins

[rsm688]

As the title says. My 06 H3 is eating right front upper ball joints. I replaced my ENTIRE front end 10k miles ago, 3k miles ago I found slack in my right front upper ball joint (DORMAN brand), I replaced it with another (was covered under warranty). Well I went to get an alignment today and the mechanic said there is play in my right front upper ball joint (which control arm was replaced 3 months/3000 miles ago). The left side has been just find since I swapped everything 10k miles ago. Any idea what could cause this? I'm stumped. I can get another free DORMAN UCA under warranty. Does anyone make a really heavy duty UCA? Should I just tell DORMAN to go F off and get a MOOG UCA instead?



Spencer

 

[Big2dabank]

I assume you did you jack up the truck and check it yourself to confirm that it is indeed worn. I don't know much about the quality of the doorman UCA for the H3, but did you do the work yourself or have a shop replace the UCA. Was an alignment done at that time? If so did you get a print out of the alignment sheet, you should have. Also the shop you just took it too should be able to give you a print out of the alignment as it sits today, you can compare the two sheets and it might give you an idea as to what is going on to cause any premature wear or failure of the UCA ball joint.

 

[cgalpha08]

No one really makes a heavy duty upper control arm for the H3. None that I know of are re-buildable, and require you to replace the whole thing instead of the ball joint.

Someone did fab up and make some with a uniball design, however it was deemed that they would be too pricy to be market competitive.
I think others are in the skunk works working on this as well.

 

[alrock]

Are you running stock wheels? Do you have the front end raised through torsion bar crank or keys? Also, the OEM UCA is not that much more money than Dorman and they last a while.

 

[rsm688]

Sorry guys, meant to add the front is leveled to 23.5" and I have 35s.

I have not been able to check and confirm it myself yet. Normally I would assume he's full of it and trying to get money out of me, however after having my right upper go back on me in 6k miles once, it very well may be bad again. I ordered it through Amazon and contacted them and they overnighted me a replacement that will be here tomorrow. Saturday I will put the wheel off and check and see if there is indeed play in it. I did the work myself, replaced every thing in the front end, literally everything including the diff. Yes it was aligned as soon as I replaced everything in the front and I do have a print out.

The alignment is "under warranty" my alignment looks off to me visually and it doesn't quite feel like it's tracking right. So I took it in to have them check it. The alignment mechanic said there was play in the right upper ball joint and he told the front desk guys he wasn't going to give me a readout because it needed to be replaced so it was pointless (he was gone when I came to pick it up or he would have gotten an ear full from me). If there is indeed play I am going to swap it for the free replacement and take it to another shop in town for an alignment. If there is no play then the shop I took it to is going to, well... they will get an ear full lol.


If it is indeed bad what would cause just one side to go bad twice in 10k miles? Maybe some particular driving thing I'm doing, turning to sharp out of the driveway or something?

 

[alrock]

With that height the ball joints should last longer. I assume you're on stock wheels too, right? And no spacers? Those can each play havoc with ball joints.

 

[rsm688]

Correct alrock, stock wheels, no spacers. I'm sure thing will wear faster than stock but they definitely shouldn't be crapping out this fast. Hmm...

 

[MTUH3]

I want a new upper control arm with a uniball attachment too. I agree they cost a lot, and might be more prone to weather, but mine are holding up well on my other truck.

But alas, there is still not enough of a market for the vehicle to motivate many aftermarket companies.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Sorry guys, meant to add the front is leveled to 23.5" and I have 35s.

I have not been able to check and confirm it myself yet. Normally I would assume he's full of it and trying to get money out of me, however after having my right upper go back on me in 6k miles once, it very well may be bad again. I ordered it through Amazon and contacted them and they overnighted me a replacement that will be here tomorrow. Saturday I will put the wheel off and check and see if there is indeed play in it. I did the work myself, replaced every thing in the front end, literally everything including the diff. Yes it was aligned as soon as I replaced everything in the front and I do have a print out.

The alignment is "under warranty" my alignment looks off to me visually and it doesn't quite feel like it's tracking right. So I took it in to have them check it. The alignment mechanic said there was play in the right upper ball joint and he told the front desk guys he wasn't going to give me a readout because it needed to be replaced so it was pointless (he was gone when I came to pick it up or he would have gotten an ear full from me). If there is indeed play I am going to swap it for the free replacement and take it to another shop in town for an alignment. If there is no play then the shop I took it to is going to, well... they will get an ear full lol.


If it is indeed bad what would cause just one side to go bad twice in 10k miles? Maybe some particular driving thing I'm doing, turning to sharp out of the driveway or something?

buy quality joints, but understand that twisting the torsion bars are not a no-harm thing.... still, 10k seems quite excessive. I have twisted to 23.5, 35s and rancho-offset wheels and 30k on my GM replacement arms - and they're working just fine.