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Broken SD 60 balljoints

Doubleud

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Joined
Jul 18, 2020
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Who has actually broken or seen broken a SD60 balljoint? I see plenty of companies selling Balljoint eliminators and according to those guys theyre necessary for strength.

I did a little looking around and can't seem to find where this has been discussed other than mention of the possibility of a broken ujoint pushing the balljoint apart.
 
Couple rockbouncers broke upper BJs in rollovers.

I know of 3 buddies who bent the uppers too.
 
You talking 99-04? Which is the same as any other ford and dodge d60 BJ... plenty.

I haven't witnessed a 05+, but theres a reason solutions exist.
 
I’ve seen multiple sets wear out quickly and I have seen multiple sets get pushed out due to a broken u joint. Haven’t seen a sheered stud
 
I’m worried about a set pushed off with broken ujoint. Seen plenty of that. That’s why I’ll be getting a set.
 
+05 axles in particular. Where do they break?

It seems there isnt much out there on actual 05+ balljoint strength. It'd be nice to get some useful info out there. Are these things breaking in service?

Its one thing for them to break easily, its a whole different thing if you have to cartwheel a half dozen times and damn near rip the axle out from under it to break a balljoint.

Assuming a guy goes with a balljoint eliminator because he doesnt want the balljoint to get pushed out when a ujoint breaks, what breaks instead?
 
irate4x4.com

'05+ Ford Super Duty Dana 60 Axle Tech & Info

I'd like this thread to become the '05+ axle bible for tech and info. Since this is the next big project on my FSB... nOOB question: What do I need in order to swap a complete brake set up from an F-350 onto an F-550 axle? The 05+ F450/550 axles are wider but according to the below...
irate4x4.com irate4x4.com

:flipoff2:
 
20230107_115151.jpg
 
In addition to the one Corey Young posted, I've seen a "99-04" broken. It was an abandoned rig on Fordyce. Buggyish rig on 42s, looked like a broken U joint caused it.

So 99-04 "happen"

05+ pretty rare outside rock bouncers?
 
Just this year for the first time. We’re seeing the top BJ hole on the knuckles stretched out. And ball joints failing letting the knuckle come off. This is on small tires trucks weighing in from 10k to 12k on single wheel trucks and as much as 22k on the 550’s. I’ve killed a few wheel bearings too. Lots of impacts and side loading happening to these. Tire chains, washouts, deep ruts, rocks, sandstone ledges and 200k miles on them.

I’m going to run 99-04 SD outer on my rear steer buggy but I’ll be doing balljoint eliminators.

Edit: if TrailTamer thinks this is indicative of of a weak part. I want to know what you think is strong?
 
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Same ball joint part#s been in use from as early as 1980, up to as late as 2021. I say 2005+ outers is superior to 99-04 due to more spread/distance between ball joints, effectively make them ‘stronger’ despite they’re the same part# ball joints. This also means broken u-joint is much less likely will shear or push ball joints out as they’re farther away. This may be why 2005+ seem to not as prone to suffer a ball joint failure immediately after an u-joint breakage.

No personal experience with BJEs, but from what I can tell by looking at pictures and videos that not all BJE kits/brands are created equal.

Seems like a good number of them only have bje uppers, no lowers. Those ones are basically a big shoulder bolts with flanged bronze bushing. They effectively move all of carrying load to lower ball joint. I don’t know whether this becomes a problem or not in the real world as in a trail rig we usually don’t need as much weight capacity as a 1 ton truck was made for.

This one as an example which actually maintain carrying load in the upper. Ford Super Duty Dana 60

This upper BJE kit is not load carrying. In the video it actually says the bronze bushing need to be ‘floating’, basically just like what Jeep D30/44’s upper ball joints are (telescoping). (@5:40 in the video) BALL JOINT ELIMINATOR KIT Ford 05 + Super Duty Dana 60


And of course, 2005+ means bigger and stronger wheel unit bearings and room to grow if starting out with standard RCV or 1480 sized u-joints.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
We're both of those trucks original ball joints?
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No way for me to know but I highly doubt it. My truck got a complete front end rebuild at 110K. U-joints, ball joints, U-B’s, brake calipers/rotors, shocks, TRE’s, track bar.

And at 125k it’s hammered out again. I’m babying it along on bad shocks and a seized caliper hoping it can make it till better weather. This winter has made roads worse than anyone can remember. And these trucks get serviced with the cheapest parts money can buy, in a hurry, with the care of a slave owner.
 
JR4X said:
I want to know what you think is strong?
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imho the strongest of strongest configuration will be 4 of EMF’s lower ball joints… 2 in lowers AND 2 in uppers. And probably tig weld the ‘cup’ in knuckle making it impossible for them to start moving around or ‘rip’ out on a hard flop or rock bouncing.

1679020143170.jpeg

OEM upper ball joints’ stud is tiny compared to lower. :lmao:
 
Is enough meat left on the knuckle after it’s been bored out?
 
fl0w3n said:
Is enough meat left on the knuckle after it’s been bored out?
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Does it matter?

I assume the knuckle is a weldable alloy just like all the prior ones were. Not hard to cram a strip of steel around the OD to reinforce it.
 
arse_sidewards said:
Does it matter?

I assume the knuckle is a weldable alloy just like all the prior ones were. Not hard to cram a strip of steel around the OD to reinforce it.
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Good point but looking back at photos from when I did BJs my question isn’t even relevant

The stud rides in the C not the knuckle, so I guess the question actually is what about the caster shims with a lower up top?

1679076088746.jpeg

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TrailTamer said:
imho the strongest of strongest configuration will be 4 of EMF’s lower ball joints… 2 in lowers AND 2 in uppers. And probably tig weld the ‘cup’ in knuckle making it impossible for them to start moving around or ‘rip’ out on a hard flop or rock bouncing.

1679020143170.jpeg

OEM upper ball joints’ stud is tiny compared to lower. :lmao:
Click to expand...
so the lowers fit the upper hole or do you need to drill out some?
 
fl0w3n said:
Good point but looking back at photos from when I did BJs my question isn’t even relevant

The stud rides in the C not the knuckle, so I guess the question actually is what about the caster shims with a lower up top?
Click to expand...

chaplinfj60 said:
so the lowers fit the upper hole or do you need to drill out some?
Click to expand...

Need custom caster shims and boring the knuckle.
That's why I went the BJE route.

I like the idea of using a lower BJ up top better but was too much of a pain for me.
 
Bebop said:
Need custom caster shims and boring the knuckle.
That's why I went the BJE route.

I like the idea of using a lower BJ up top better but was too much of a pain for me.
Click to expand...
because of big bells? and the custom magic you did?
but would a ujoint 1550 axle be fine? or 1480
 
Big Bell won't work with lower BJ in the upper position. Not enough room.

1550 joint would be fine with that setup, I know someone on PBB did it, forgot the username.
 
Kinda relevant since someone posted above that Ford and Dodge are basically the same ball joint.

These are EMF ball joints. They offered to warranty them BTW

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1679094400728.png

1679094412731.png
 
TrailTamer said:
Ball joints appear to be ok. Your knuckle failed.

What did you hit?
Click to expand...

Dont know if the AAM ball joints are similar to whats in a super duty 60 but that seems like a teastament to the strength of factory balljoints.
 
TrailTamer said:
Ball joints appear to be ok. Your knuckle failed.

What did you hit?
Click to expand...
Not mine, just came across it in the DTX group shortly after I was done reading this thread so I thought it was worth sharing

They are EMF ball joints, looks like a big testament to me that the joint appears together but the knuckle failed around it.

Guy clipped a big rock boogeying through the desert. Totaled the truck, frame buckled. Pretty fuckin nuts
 
Doubleud said:
Dont know if the AAM ball joints are similar to whats in a super duty 60 but that seems like a teastament to the strength of factory balljoints.
Click to expand...
That stud is fancy steel. The knuckle is some sort of cast steel.

What's the cross sectional area of the thin part of the bore in the knuckle?

What's the cross sectional area of the ball joint stud?

Do the math.
 
The pics of the two ford trucks posted above, here’s a couple updates. Still not sure how it happened.

310528D4-68BA-4A0B-940C-B59D8391AFDD.jpeg
316F649D-F23E-45BF-9699-A94CA5FF73FB.jpeg
995B1084-99D0-4A8E-9833-18A534B154CB.jpeg
F7930B53-2A1C-4E35-BAD6-7C0A1250E57F.jpeg
 
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