We finally made the Jump to Dynatrac HD Ball Joints
A complete set of Dynatrac HD Balljoints for the Jeep Wrangler JK
As the title states, we finally made the jump to Dynatrac HD Balljoints for our Jeep JK. Dynatrac’s ball joints are well-known in the industry for their strength and quality. They are also said to be the last ball joints that you will ever buy. It is not that I doubted their quality, but rather it was the $629 price tag that set me back.
Ball joints are a common wear item on a Jeep JK, which is further exacerbated when you upgrade to larger tires, in our case 35" Milestar Patagonia MTs, and extensive offroad driving. They are what connect the outer Cs to the inner Cs and axle housing while still allowing the outer Cs to turn. When we needed to replace ours a couple of years ago we conducted extensive research across the market including Genuine Mopar Balljoints, Dynatrac, Synergy, Alloy USA, and Teraflex.
The ones that stood out to us the most at that time were the Teraflex Ball Joints. similar to the Dynatrac’s they are heavy duty, heat treated, made of Chromoly, And at $307.99 they come in at half the price of the Dynatracs. Teraflex is a leader in the market for high-performance offroad Jeep parts and this reputation, along with strong reviews in the market, gave us confidence that they would be of high quality. With all that in mind, we purchased a set of Teraflex Heavy Duty Balljoints in August of 2020 and had them installed by our local Jeep dealer.
Within a few months, a strange thing happened. While in for an alignment, and after completing a standard assessment, the mechanic told me that both of my ball joints were bad. How could this be? They were literally only a few months old! So, I placed a call to Teraflex. After that call, I learned that the Teraflex Balljoints are adjustable and will need to have the pre-load adjusted from time to time.
Of course, it requires a unique tool. I believe one comes with the purchase but if you didn’t know what it is to start with you might not keep it. If you need one, you can pick one up from Teraflex for about $10. Quick note; it does require a male pipe plug socket to use. Once I received both tools I was able to adjust the pre-load on both sides. It is relatively easy, you just need to loosen the three set screws on each lower ball joint, and apply roughly 60 inch pounds of torque in order to tighten.
The Teraflex Pre-load tool that is required to adjust the Teraflex Balljoints
But again, shortly before we left on our trip, the problem cropped up again. This time I wasn’t able to adjust the preload as I had before, so I bought another set in August 2022 and again had my local dealer install them before we departed. A couple of months into the trip our front tires started to wear extremely unevenly, and you guessed it while having my Jeep in for service they again told me that my ball joints were bad. Of course, I hadn’t brought the tool or pipe plug so I had to buy another one. This time I wasn’t able to adjust the pre-load no matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn’t tighten.
The tires had gotten so bad that the entire front end would shake whenever we drove it at lower speeds. While in Tampa I called two different offroad shops to see if they could adjust the pre-load. I heard the same thing from both of them, they have had bad luck with Teraflex ball joints and no longer sell them, or work on them (even though one still sold them on their website).
One of the shops that I spoke to was Suncoast Speed: Offroad Performance in New Port Richey, FL. The owner Glenn and I hit it off and he said that they have had similar problems with the Teralfex ball joints and no longer recommend them. I had to do something so I asked him what they recommend. He said that they had very good success with the Genuine Mopar ones along with Alloy USA, but if I offroad a decent amount, and could justify the price, then he highly recommended Dynatrac.
According to Dynatrac, their Heavy-Duty BallJoints™ are the strongest, most durable, and highest quality available anywhere, featuring heat-treated high-strength billet bodies with Chromoly stems. The heat-treated, precision-ground stainless steel ball meets military specifications. Unique seals prevent contamination, and the ball joints have greasable fittings and Teflon-coated wear points to provide a long, durable life. Dynatrax truly overbuilt these balljoints and by doing so ensured that they will most likely outlive your vehicle.
A rebuild kit is available for the Dynatrac Balljoints for $149, and can be completed in the shop while installed with basic hand tools
Glenn also informed me that while unlikely, one of their best features is that they are fully rebuildable, right in the shop, while still being installed on the vehicle. However, they have installed dozens, and have yet to need to rebuild a pair. This is what finally swayed me. I was sick and tired of replacing ball joints and wanted to this over with once and for all. From my previous install, I knew that the hole in my outer C was starting to wallow, so Glenn recommended that we go with a knurled set, that adds ridges to the outside seat of the balljoint to better fit in enlarged openings. So, the team at Suncoast installed a set on our JK.
Shortly thereafter we installed a new set of four Milestar Patagonia’s. Do I wish that I had gone with the Dynatrac’s from day one? Absolutely, without question. I have always kept the adage, buy once cry once close to mind, but it wasn’t like we went with some cheap knockoff. Teraflex is a reputable brand.
We ended up buying two sets from Teraflex for $614, plus the cost of two installs at a Jeep dealer, which is not cheap, and a new set of Patagonia’s for $1250 (even with a really good deal at Walmart.com), for over $2,500 vs. $1200 installed for the Dynatrac’s.
Add to this the reassurance that these should be the last ball joints that I will ever need to buy made it a no-brainer. It has only been a couple of months but so far so good and the front end is as stable as ever. We will keep you all updated, but we expect to get years of service from them.
