2002 GMC 2500HD suspension problems

Having problems with my 2002 2500HD. I currently have 58,000 miles and have already had the front ball joints replaced at 30,000. The problem is that they are going bad again and the dealer wants $1,200 to replace them. If all I am going to get is 30,000 out of a $1,200 set of ball joints then I certainly dont want oem parts.

Does anyone know of any heavy duty parts that I can use to replace the stock units. I looked at going with a lift kit but I really dont want my truck too high (it is primarily a tow rig for my 35 foot camper) and it appears that most of the lift kits utilize the existing control arms.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jake

My guess is that you have a Dmax in truck which adds a lot of weight to front end of truck and presses the limitions of the suspensions capacity. Also if you are using oversized tires it increases the load on ball joints too as do offset wheels and lifts. The ball joints are not that hard to replace and the dealer is scalping you on this.  I would get a few bids for a few other garages if you do not do work yourself and uses some Moog joints. Also do gear them regulalry and use a moly based grease (it will be jet black) not plain lithium because it provides superior wear protection in chassis joints under high loads than lithium grease simply cannot provide regardless of what label may say. You want to lube them at least every 5K miles especailly the lower ones. I use moly grease on a 2000 K3500 that has been used to plow snow since nov 99 and the joints are still tight (granted it is a gas truck but the plow places more load on front axle than a Dmax does alone) I also run stock wheel and tires and no lift. While that IFS front axle is not a weak design, it is not very strong either in wear resistance when loaded heavily all the time.

Thanks Snoman. Actually my truck has the 6.0 liter, no lift and 265/70/16 tires which are only one size larger than stock. As for the dealer scalping me I certainly agree, however I was not sure how much of a job it was to perform. I am a more than capable mechanic and certainly am willing to tackle the job myself. What is a good source for the Moog parts that you mentioned?

You are correct thought that I have been using a standard lithium grease to lube the oem joints. I will try switching to  amoly based grease. Is it okay to grease evrything else with this grease as well?

Thanks

Jake

Try NAPA for Moog and if not, call some parts places looking for Moog parts. It is a old name in suspension parts. On the grease, you can use it everywhere that they is no roller or ball bearing. (you do not want to use it in ujoints and such but slip joints and centering ball in front CV joint on front drive shaft is fine) I jkeep a couple of gear guns here, one for chassis and one for ujoints.  BTW, Ford specs moly grease for their chassis needs but GM does not because I guess they do not want you (or techs) using wrong greae in ujoints because moly does not play well at all there.

On the ball joint replacement. It helps if you have air tools with a air chisel to cut rivets or crimp holding ball joint in and a ball joint press to press old one out and new one in (you can buy or rent one) GM manual calls for removing lower control arm and working with it on bench but I have always done it on the vehicle so you do not need to mess with removing Tbars to get arm off. It is not a hard job if you get right tools for it and air tools help a LOT here. SInce yours have been replaced once all ready it should not be too bad to do (getting them pressed out)