I know when I did u-joints I used spicer. Spicer I believe is made by Dana. I went with the moog ball joints because they have a zerk and are grease able. I'm sure either will do ya just fine.

 

Yeah, how do you tell what type of universal joints you need? I am going to go with Spicer, but I see different model numbers, different "series", and some say either "Half round driveshaft U-Joint", or "Bearing Plate Style".

How do I tell what I need?

 

Spicer is OEM Quality, I know the local distributor well, would buy Spicer over others in a heartbeat.

I had sears do my ball joints 3 years ago, when I did not have time to do them. Discovered they screwed up the Knuckle seals in the process, never ever take your truck to sears....

 

Even my raybestos ball joints came with zerk fittings.

I've heard good things about the raybestos stuff lately

 

You should do both sides and the u joints. My vote is raybestos pro.

 

How many miles is on your ride and are you running factory tire size? I'm trying to gauge when I'll need to do the deed. I just replaced ujoints because they were never greased at 98k. One thing I've read with the greasable ball joints is that the axle won't go in with the bottom one's zerk attached. Keep that in mind. It's still worth using greasable and every once and awhile putting the zerk in the bottom one and greasing it up.

 

I only run Spicer ball joints, u-joints, and axle seals in all my rigs. Just did my SuperDuty a month or two ago actually.

Yes, the ball joints are sealed, but they lasted 100k without you greasing, didn't they?

 

From my older post on a thread where I asked for help on the same thing. So far so good on my rig, not too bad of a job. 2000 F350 4x4 cclb.

"This is is what I used / ordered from Amazon since I have prime..

(2) National 710413 dust seal - $12 ea
(2) National 710493 axle seal - $22 ea (same as SKF 28600 - $30)
OTC 6695 tool to install above seals - $70 (money well spent since those seals are $53 at ORiley's / $60 at Advance Auto Parts, probably even more @ Ford)

(2) Spicer SPL55-4X U-Joint - $50 ea (these are the greasable ones vs. the SPL55-3X which are not.. will see if that was a good move after some time)
(2) Moog K80026 Ball Joint - $29 ea (upper)
(2) Moog K8607T Ball Joint - $42 ea (lower)

(1) Timken 515020 Axle Bearing and Hub Assembly -- $190 ea (came with new oring / new ABS sensor)
(1) Timken B2110 -- $7 (needle bearing only for my spare wheel hub/unit)
(2) SKF 4A322 -- $7 (yellow O-ring for hub.. I cleaned/re used mine.. manual hubs)

 

I just went with spicer ball joints, upper and lower. I then took it to 4 wheel parts to have it aligned, and they said the ball joints were bad, to much play and would not align it.

They wanted me to buy their moog product to guarantee the alignment. I'm running 22 37's by 13.50. So far its really chewing up the outer end of the wheels. Even though I checked the play on them, its not all that bad, but not about to spend more $ on just another brand, looking for another alignment shop now get a second opinion.

 

My local front end shop says they have the problem with Spicers not passing inspection, or being able to be aligned immediately after installation quite often. They use Motorcrafts. They cannot be greased, but are supposed to hold up well.
This is what they tell me,,, so don't shoot the messenger.