2018 GMC Sierra, Steering Arm Issues Again

[birdman22]

I have a 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 6.2L. Bought it new, put a 3" lift on the front and 2" lift on the back (will never do that again), new wheels and tires. 2 years ago at 40,000 miles the right front control arm/ball joint went bad. Brought it to where I got the lift, they recommended replacing both side control arms with heavier duty parts made for this lift kit. Did that, now 2 years and 20,000 miles later the right front ball joint is bad again and need to be replaced.
I don't put on a ton of miles but I do use the truck. Pull a 33 ft travel trailer in the summer and take one or two hunting trips/year where it takes some abuse. Broke the ball joint this year on a hunting trip -- 30 miles of rough mountain road pulling a UTV and a box full of coolers/gear (no meat of course.)
Suggestions on this before I put the same control arm back in and hopefully get 20,000 miles out of it?

 

[Titan]

3" lift? or 3" level? Sounds like a leveling kit based on your issues. Those are some rough angles for your ball joints, especially when you load the rear.

If you are pulling things apart, and need an alignment anyway, I would pick up a 2-2.5" front kit and see if that helps.

 

[RSather528]

Are the ball joints that were put in grease-able or sealed? If they were sealed that seems premature unless they are really beat on. If grease-able just give them a few shots of grease when changing the oil.

 

[JeffP_Or]

Agree with @Titan; if the kit didn't address the extreme angle on the ball joint, it will continue to fail as it is the weakest link. No amount of greasing, maintenance or upgrade to a HD joint will change that. Get used to replacing and/or learn to replace them yourself if you continue with the higher lift.
Generally, you can get away with an inch, but two or more is pushing it until you address the angle.
Used to be you could tighten the torsion bars on Chevy/GMC's to level them a bit but too much and you start wearing ball joints.

 

[birdman22]

I'm not to mechanically savvy so correct me if I'm wrong. Guessing the lift kit did not address the angle which is why the stock control arms failed? But the shop then put new control arms on driver and passenger side that were designed to compensate for the 3" lift angle, but that apparently failed in 20,000 miles.

 

[Titan]

I'm not to mechanically savvy so correct me if I'm wrong. Guessing the lift kit did not address the angle which is why the stock control arms failed? But the shop then put new control arms on driver and passenger side that were designed to compensate for the 3" lift angle, but that apparently failed in 20,000 miles.

Some front control arms do help "correct" the angle issue. But those usually go to heim joints rather than the "ball joints" that you are talking about. The newer UCAs might have been to just clear the coil bucket to avoid hitting it when the suspension drops.
Can you upload a pic so we can see exactly what you are working with? And what symptoms are you experiencing to point that this is for sure the issue?

 

[JeffP_Or]

NEVERMIND - reread your post; replaced arm to work angles not necessarily due to failure.....

 

[Westernduck]

Sorry, I can’t help you with aftermarket parts. But you might consider returning it to stock height if you want reliability.

It’s a completely different vehicle, but my stock height F350 went 435,000 miles on the factory ball joints. I only replaced them because I felt a little play in one while doing a tire rotation