If you own a Ram HD and have spent time researching front end parts, it’s likely you’ve heard of Carli Ball Joints.
Now, those with a post-2013 suspension redesigned Ram HD equipped with factory radius arms can install their last set of ball joints.
As research begins and customers are overloaded with information, what’s the benefit to these Carli Joints?
The main differentiators that matter are materials, process, and design.
Our philosophy has always been to skip the enumeration of materials and process.
Leave this to the engineers who are smarter than those of us within the organization tasked with trying to destroy the products they design.
As our lifetime ball joints have been in circulation for many years and more competition enters the market, the “what makes these so special” questions surface regularly; we’re happy to shed some light!
The design comes first.
To know how we improved it, let’s take a look at the factory.
The Factory Ball Joints consist of a lower ball joint and upper floating king-pin.
What better way to learn a product than to cut it in half to understand its functionality?
The lower ball joints are the true ball joints in the AAM design.
The spherical lower is a ball and socket design allowing lateral misalignment, unlike the king-pin upper.
Because the design tracks the knuckle on an imperfect axis, the spherical lower is required to allow the knuckle to move freely with only slight vertical travel through its steering cycle.
By design, the lower factory joint is a pin isolated from the housing by a nylon material loaded from the top and sealed by a press with a boot to keep out the elements.
When this composite liner fails, the ball joint needs replacement.
It’s the old saying, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
