Split Ball Joint Boots

[ricere]

Yesterday I was doing a routine chassis lubrication and while under the front of the coach, I was appalled to see the bottom ball joint boots have split on our 2006 coach with only 33,000 miles on it. This has been an on-going problem with Spartan IFS Chassis since 1998! About every light duty pick up on the road can go 100,000 plus miles without even thinking about the ball-joint boots, and we can't get a motorhome suspension to even go half that without failure? Something is dreadfully wrong with this picture.

Just can't afford to drive 800+ miles and $1100+ dollars for a repair that should not have to be done, and probably will not even last, in my opinion.

Right now, I wish I had a coach with a straight axle front suspension. At least it would be more reliable. I am not a happy camper at this time.....

[Shadowcatche]

You might want to look and see if there are urethane ball joint boots available
Suspension Restoration Parts Co. - Polyurethane ball joint boots and tie-rod boots. is a place to start. I agree this is a quality control problem.

[rsflight]

I had the passenger ball joints replaced last month on our 2002 Travel Supreme. A local truck shop did it. The lower one was cracked pretty bad, the upper one was still ok. I wanted the suspension solid because I also installed new tires. The old tires showed outer edge cupping on that side so I knew the ball joints were not tight. Spartan will ship you the part(s) so that your local shop can install it. They stock the parts, our local truck parts store needed 4 weeks to get the parts. An alignment is suggested after replacing the ball joint(s). $370 lower, $150 upper, $300 each install, $130 align. Sadly the new joints are still greased for life, so I'll have to continue use my grease needle on it.

[Brigadoon]

Over the years there have been many posts about the ball joints, but no one posts pictures. Would anyone care to post some pictures of the offending parts and problem?

Inquiring minds want to know (and see).

Thanks.

[ricere]

Shadowcatche,

I have been told there is no way to replace the existing bad ball joint boots. New ball joints have to be installed. So, unless you are talking about cutting the old boots off and the new boots can wrap-around and bolt together like replacement CV Joint boots do, new ball joints must be installed.

Thanks.

[ricere]

Brigadoon, I would be glad to post pictures of the problem, but I have never done it on this site and I'm not sure I could make it work. I will try later when I have more time, unless someone beats me to it.

[Shadowcatche]

Because you have been told you can't replace the ball joint boots does not mean you can't
I replaced the ball joint boots on my 72 Saab Sonett with new boots (no new or old stock available) that were close enough in size that with a bit of stretching did nicely.
Good luck.

[David K]

I just had my ball joints replaced this past Fall --- the rubber had failed on my MH and even though I had religiously greased the joints after every trip, they had been compromised. Very expensive to replace but, I had it done and the coach drives much better now. Shame that a permanent fix can't be found for this problem.

[ricere]

I agree, David. Cars and trucks do not have this problem and the owners would not put up with it. We should not have to put up with this either. Until this problem is permanently fixed, there should be no time limit on the warranty. I could accept a 50,000 to 100,000 mileage limit, but people don't put that many miles on coaches. My coach has 33,000 miles on it and for ball joint boots to go out with less than 50,000 miles on a 2006 coach is simply unacceptable. Freightliner is looking better all the time. Maybe Newmar is on to something....

[PandK]

Picture of my ball joint with split rummer is attached.

[Dave MN]

My wallet has been tuched by Spartan also. They have a great reputation but they should come up with a fix before the reputation is not Great.

[ricere]

PandK--My ball joint boots look very similar to yours. I stuck the nozzle of my grease gun deep in the split rubber and squirted the rubber as full of grease as I could on both bottom ball-joints. Hopefully if the rubber is stuffed full of grease, it will keep dirt out and buy another year or so. Maybe by then they will have a permanent fix for them.

I think there are several things causing the ball-joint failure. The extremely sharp wheel cut, the rubber boot is not of the right material and the rubber boot is much too thick. The rubber boot is just not capable of handling the 57degree wheel cut for very many times. The way the boot is split indicates to me that the sharp turning is what caused the problem. The boot is just plain poorly engineered, period.

[sl29]

I am very un happy with my spartan chassis.....ball joints, steering box and drag link?.....also a tie rod replaced......some of this stuff can be blamed on terrible roads(THANKS CALIFORNIA)The ball joints are ridiculous because it was a failure of the boot......2003/29,000 miles..........I have many Japanese work trucks that have done more than 300,000 miles with multiple drivers with no PROBLEMS.

Also the air bag system and hydraulic system is junk....and the company that produces it is very bad ........my next motor home will NOT be a Spartan!!!!!!!.......over $20,000 in repairs in two years and I'm no idiot......I take care of my stuff and do the maintenance.

[cold_iron]

Fleetwood/Sparten has a recall on the ball joint problem. They have replaced mine twice for $0.00, free twice. They made two type of boots, the clear ones are junk, the BLACK boots are the good ones. They bulked at doing them the 2nd time. I told them I was going to file a complant with the NTSA, the guy turned pale, then handed me a address and said take it here, we will pay.