Bad SPC ball joint at 2500 miles?

[linuxgod]

Slee replaced my SPC upper ball joints about 2500 miles ago. I’ve done a couple trails since then, and my steering feels kind of imprecise and wandering. Took a brief look this morning and noticed the drivers side balljoint seems to have some shaft showing. It’s cold and I needed to make the short drive to the train so I didn’t have time to check the torque but the cotter pin is in the castle but and I can’t believe Slee didn’t tighten this and I felt like my 1000 mile drive back from Colorado was ok, so I’m wondering if this is a sign the balljoint is wearing (dropping down?). Or is this actually normal?!?

Pics of the drivers and passengers side below:

 

[Artie]

For comparison, I just checked mine, see pics. Like yours, mine are the non zerk version and recently installed by a cruiser specific shop about 3500 miles ago. They look similar to your first picture.

Mine drives fine but sensitive to road crown, this can present as a slight wondering sensation to me but I’ve just chalked it up to lifted truck behavior. Hard to compare our experiences but visually yours looks like mine… and we could both have issues lol.

 

[TimCFJ40]

Ball joints wear in the socket inside the boot, not where you see that gap.
If you're concerned about the wear in the joints, jack the truck up and see if you can cause movement by rocking the tires.

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

That doesn't look correct to me. Try driving the offending side (first pick) up a ramp and see if it moves up. Might also check tie rod ends and sway bar.

 

[linuxgod]

I dropped it off at a shop I generally trust across from the train station this morning on my way into work. They checked and said the Bj is good, seems the boot came off :-/ but they put the truck on their lift and spun the wheels and the source of my squirreliness is that the belts in the front tires seemed to have “slipped” as the tires are wobbling. The wheels are straight.

So I guess that’s a plus. Hopefully Falken will cover these as manufacturing defects. I’m going to roll into Discount Tire next week and find out. If not I’m likely going to replace them with Nitto Ridge Grapplers again since my gut says C load may be insufficient for my towing needs and these belts may have given out from the load. Disappointing either way.