Please define "premature"When compared to my other SUV's...any ball-joint not lasting 300k miles is failing prematurely. I had to replace the lower ball joints on my 98 Pathfinder at about 375k miles.
Please define "failure"Failure speaks for itself. Not able to perform it's normal function. Steering either too stiff or loose...tire cupping.....etc.
“Failure speaks for itself.”
Some people consider a worn ball joint to be a failed ball joint
Some people consider a worn ball joint to be a worn ball joint
Personally, I consider a worn ball joint to be a worn ball joint
Some people consider a snapped ball joint to be a failed ball joint
“any ball-joint not lasting 300k miles is failing prematurely.”
I strongly disagree with that, even though I took your sentence out of context
I STRONGLY suspect the ball joints on most suvs will not last that long. It’s probably the case that your pathfinder had a robust suspension design
And just because some guy has high miles on his truck and he hasn’t replaced his balljoints, does NOT mean they’re still in great shape
Well maintained fleet vehicles often accumulate in excess of 300,000 miles with the original suspension and steering components, other than sway bar links and bushings, never needing attention beyond lubrication. Age and off road use seem to be the greatest cause of failure for front end parts on properly maintained vehicles. When the boots on suspension components deteriorate from age and split, allowing water and dirt to contaminate the grease the part has for all intents failed. Likewise when debris splits a boot open.
@“Rod Knox”
“Well maintained fleet vehicles . . .”
But if those fleet vehicles are Fords without zerks, a torn boot is the kiss of death
Whereas, we have several GM trucks in our fleet with torn boots, and we can keep hitting the zerks. And some of those ball joints soldier on for a long time before wearing out
This may seem controversial to some . . . but on a Ford with torn boots, I request the parts guy to get me Moogs with zerks
Controversial, in the sense that going from a sealed for life ball joint to a ball joint with zerks is a step backwards. Theoretically, FWIW
The king pins on Fords twin I-beam suspension were nearly indestructable @db4690. But they had zerk fittings and when the changed over to ball joints and dropped the zerk it became necessary to use the needles and it was very difficult to do so. I guess few shops and very few DIYers made the effort to keep those ball joints greased.
@“Rod Knox”
Here’s my opinion . . .
If a vehicle comes in for a scheduled service, and the king pins, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. do not have zerks, I think it would be unrealistic to expect the mechanic to try to inject grease through/under the boot
I bet less than 1 in 100 professional mechanics would do it, unless their boss instructed them to do so, or the customer paid extra
I serviced very few privately owned vehicles over the years, @db4690. And my entry into automobile repair was with fleets and for several years I owned several commercial trucks that accumulated in excess of 75,000 miles annually, driving one of them myself. For most people it would seem outrageous to spend $100 for a basic 7,500 mile service these days but they are unaware of the need to lubricate sealed components or the difficulty involved. I was charging $48 years ago for basic service on automobiles and light duty trucks when the Jiffy Lubes were charging $15 and my fleet customers seemed to feel it was money well spent. It’s amazing what attention to critical details will do for the reliability and dependability of a vehicle in the long run. A few shots of white lithium on windshield wiper linkage and opening brake bleeders while a vehicle is in the air being serviced might seem odd but if at 400,000 miles the original wheel cylinders and calipers are operating as good as new as are the wipers, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc., the price for the service was a bargain. Very few car owners are concerned about long term reliability though.
I STRONGLY suspect the ball joints on most suvs will not last that long. It's probably the case that your pathfinder had a robust suspension designAnd just because some guy has high miles on his truck and he hasn’t replaced his balljoints, does NOT mean they’re still in great shap
I know the ball-joints in my pathfinders were fine.
When you’re talking about something that’s fails prematurely…it’s a relative term…(always has been…always will). It’s term to describe a failure on an acceptable rate, or compared to comparable parts by other manufacturers.
Do a google search…you’ll find far more complaints for GM ball-joints then almost any other brand. Nissans and Toyota’s have not had the ball-joint problems GM has had…neither has Ford. Good friend of mine owns a Nissan and GMC truck dealership. He use to also own a Pontiac dealership. The two things they repaired the most on the GMC trucks were the V6 intake manifold gaskets…and the Ball-joints. After a few decades GM finally fixed the intake manifold problem…but they still see a lot of ball-joint failures. And rarely see any ball-joint failures for the Nkissan SUV’s (which they outsell the GM suv’s by over 2:1).
I suppose we’ll have to agree that it’s all relative, as you say
Consider this, please . . .
I’ve been at this fleet job for several years now, and we have tons of domestic vehicles. Why am I not doing GM ball joints left and right, if they’re so terrible . . . ?
Seems I do far more Ford ball joints, versus GM, for that matter. And many of those Ford trucks have zerks, and the boots aren’t torn. That seems to directly contradict what you said . . .
But that’s one man’s experience
“Do a google search…”
I like google just fine, and use it to find information from time to time. But I know darn well I have to sift through a bunch of garbage, before I find information I can trust and/or verify
That said, a google search, IMO, does not give an accurate representation of how good, or how bad, something truly is.
Don’t you people know this?
Look up GM plastic injected ball joints.
Among other parts!
Is everyone living in a cave?
Tester
No we’re not living in caves, that’s why we don’t succumb to the one size fits all generalizations some people put forth as indisputable fact.
I also believe that there are, by and large, more ball joint failures today because they are no longer serviceable- plastic cups or not. And it is not just GM that is having issues. And it does not afflict vehicle types across the board (all GM trucks for example). Some models really do have systemic issues but it is more related to a combination of factors that place more stress on the parts in that particular vehicle application.
Again, if these parts (the OP vehicle) were so inherently weak to begin with, how could any of them survive 13 straight years of residential snow plowing exposure and not have failed miserably by now?
Plastic isn’t necessarilly inferior to metal in suspension components. Ford’s Twin I-Beam suspension originally used allow bushings that required machining to fit the king pin. They changed to plastic some time in the 70s and the plastic bushing would outlast the the rest of the truck if regularly greased.
Does anyone else have experience with king pin/wrist pin suspension? If not regularly greased it was a nightmare.