Thought's and advice?
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Joined: Oct 2008
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Thought's and advice?
So a month ago I had les schwab put a lift kit on my truck. Told me everything looked perfectly fine and went without any issues. Sure enough drove around and totally fine. Take it in today for the suspension to be retorqued ( after 100 miles they advise for you to bring it back in to make sure everythings fine and get the suspension retorqued) Drove around and seemed fine, bout an hour ago I'm on my way home and the lower ball joint blows. Trucks sitting on the front tire. Had it towed back to les schwab. My question since I just had it in their damn shop is this. Are they at fault? I know ball joints go out all the time, yet I just had this truck in the shop today and they did whatever they do to it. Kind of odd I've never had a problem with my truck until I get it back from the shop for suspension work and the lower ball joint blows. 
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Joined: Sep 2001
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From: cairo,ga
Wow, that's tought. If the truck was in the shop the same day, it seems like something the tech should have noticed during the front end inspection. Heck, they should have noticed it during the lift installation. I know ball joints are a high wear item, but they wear out gradually, not overnight. If it fell apart now, it was worn out 100 miles ago (probably a 1000 miles ago).
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Joined: Dec 1969
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What failed on the ball joint exactly?
I installed new ball joints on my '04 Heritage a couple of months ago along with 3.5 spindle lift and the ball joints installed ok but both lowers fit loose now. They are the same size as originals. Then I came across this two days ago online:
Lower Ball Joint Removal and Installation Issues
When this happens the ball joint moves up/down in the lower control arm and the only thing keeping it from separating completely in uneven ground/holes/bumps is the snap ring. If the snap ring comes off that's it. And it still doesn't prevent wear/tear.
Not that this is what happened in your case, but something to check into. In my case I wish I knew about it before completing all the work and getting alignment.
I installed new ball joints on my '04 Heritage a couple of months ago along with 3.5 spindle lift and the ball joints installed ok but both lowers fit loose now. They are the same size as originals. Then I came across this two days ago online:
Lower Ball Joint Removal and Installation Issues
When this happens the ball joint moves up/down in the lower control arm and the only thing keeping it from separating completely in uneven ground/holes/bumps is the snap ring. If the snap ring comes off that's it. And it still doesn't prevent wear/tear.
Not that this is what happened in your case, but something to check into. In my case I wish I knew about it before completing all the work and getting alignment.