My .02 on American Iron Ball Joint Deletes

[Parabola]

Have had these in for a couple months now with about 1000 miles on them. Off road they are game changing, on road I still have a little flighty feeling, this can be solved with extra washers. Also I think they have a little more break in time to go through. The real kicker here is 100% rebuildable via snap ring. Here's a link, and i highly recommend these if you are at that point of replacing. The build quality and customer service is killer.

American Iron Offroad Ai-1100 Ball Joint Delete System for Jeep 1990 -

Enhance your Jeep Wrangler's durability with the AI-1100 Ball Joint Delete System. Ideal for 1990-2017 models, offering unmatched reliability and strength.

americanironoffroad.com

 

[wayoflife]

Yeah, no thanks. Might want to give this thread a look.

In The Shop - Disciple Off Road

Good adhesion of any adhesive comes from proper prep. I think you hit it on the head here. 3M VHB tape isn't just a peel and stick operation, it's a process, and the better you follow the process the better your results will be.

www.wayalife.com

 

[Ddays]

 

[Parabola]

I saw that, I believe he was running the first gen BJD's. I currently have the revised version. I never buy 1st gen anything.

 

[wayoflife]

I saw that, I believe he was running the first gen BJD's. I currently have the revised version. I never buy 1st gen anything.

Cool. Glad you're happy with what you chose to buy in spite of them still feeling flighty. Not sure how they would be a game changer off road but that's just me.

 

[Parabola]

Yeah, no thanks. Might want to give this thread a look.

In The Shop - Disciple Off Road

Good adhesion of any adhesive comes from proper prep. I think you hit it on the head here. 3M VHB tape isn't just a peel and stick operation, it's a process, and the better you follow the process the better your results will be.

www.wayalife.com

Happens with Synergy as well. Torque and re torque is absolutely necessary. Not a hit it and quit it joint. Failures do happen. So far I've had a stellar experience with Iron.

 

[Parabola]

Cool. Glad you're happy with what you chose to buy in spite of them still feeling flighty. Not sure how they would be a game changer off road but that's just me.

Hard to explain... No squishy or slight looseness in steering. Very direct feeling through steering compared to my older HD joints. Ill keep updating as time goes on.

 

[wayoflife]

Happens with Synergy as well. Torque and re torque is absolutely necessary. Not a hit it and quit it joint. Failures do happen.

Funny, I've installed a set of Synergy as well as Dynatrac and Crown and Mood and others and can't say that I've ever felt a flightiness after install. As far as failures go, I can't say I've ever seen one quite like what I've seen on these before but again, that's just me.

So far I've had a stellar experience with Iron.

And really, that's all that matters. Me, I can't say that I'm convinced.

 

[wayoflife]

Hard to explain... No squishy or slight looseness in steering. Very direct feeling through steering compared to my older HD joints. Ill keep updating as time goes on.

I can't say I have any clue as to what you're referring to. Maybe when compared to a worn out factory joint with the plastic inserts but a metal on metal HD joint, all the ones I've installed and tested all seem to perform great. Can't really see how anything more would be game changing but cool.

 

[OverlanderJK]

Welcome to wayalife fanboy.

 

[Disciple Off Road]

As long as you are happy with them, that’s all that matters.

I would just keep an eye on those lower nuts backing out. Still don’t know why they don’t use a castle nut with a cotter pin. The reason they feel flighty is because they call for a crazy high torque, or at least that’s what I have determined, not allowing the knuckle to naturally return to center. I’m sure you noticed this just from trying to turn them by hand.

Hope they work out for you as they aren’t cheap.

 

[WJCO]

These things suck worse than the VP. Good luck, though.

 

[duktrx]

These things suck worse than the VP. Good luck, though.

I thought they both blew.

 

[DirtHeadDavis]

They are an acquired taste. They look pretty cool in action off-road too…

I went with Synergy and my steering is tight and it drives solid. No flighty feel. I also am running 35s and stock drag link, tie rod, knuckles, U-joints, etc. And I drive it hard in the desert like a 20 year old kid because I am one.

 

[Parabola]

As long as you are happy with them, that’s all that matters.

I would just keep an eye on those lower nuts backing out. Still don’t know why they don’t use a castle nut with a cotter pin. The reason they feel flighty is because they call for a crazy high torque, or at least that’s what I have determined, not allowing the knuckle to naturally return to center. I’m sure you noticed this just from trying to turn them by hand.

Hope they work out for you as they aren’t cheap.

The torque specs are set correctly , they do require weird torque specs., I talked to the guys at Iron and they recommend adding a washer to eliminate that flighty knuckle grab feeling. will update on that once done. I realize these aren't for everyone and very new to the market. All I can say is what I've experienced myself, and so far so good. A quick rebuild kit for these on the trail only takes 15min a side. no more popping out joints on the trail. That was important to me as I've had a joint fail on me and some others while out crawling. Ill be honest on my time with them, if they are shi$ and fail, ill post it. If they are solid joints and handle what i throw at it, ill post that too.

 

[cozdude]

The fact that you have to worry about a joint failing in the trail (or even the road) is scary. Never had to worry about that with my synergy or even Dynatrac joints.

 

[Spazbyt]

Red Flag #1 Describing a product as "game changing".
Red Flag #2 The company said you should add a washer to eliminate that "flighty knuckle-grab feeling".
Red Flag #3 Per their website "All Delete Systems products are backed by a 2 year/30,000 mile warranty which will replace any worn out spherical bearings or broken hardware for free. *Warranty registration is attached to Shopify tracking info when package ships."
Red Flag #4 More durable than a balljoint yet still needs to be rebuilt.

 

[WJCO]

Red Flag #3 Per their website "All Delete Systems products are backed by a 2 year/30,000 mile warranty which will replace any worn out spherical bearings or broken hardware for free. *Warranty registration is attached to Shopify tracking info when package ships."

Warranties work great out on the trail with no cell service.

 

[boardsurfer]

Crazy high torque, No castle nut / cotter pin, add shit to fix it.. Sounds like a bad design out of the gate to me.

 

[Parabola]

I completely respect all your comments and concerns. So far my experience with them has yielded nothing negative or out of the norm for HD ball joint deletes. Differing opinions matter to me and hoping to start a healthy discussion on these, as they are very new to the market and I think real world non bias testing is in order (Bluebicon on youtube) has had them much longer than I and more experience on his BJD's. If anything happens negatively with these I will certainly let the Off road community know, and the same goes for if they perform wonderfully. I can say that I have had other high end joints fail personally and witnessed. I wont name those brands as I don't want to bash on what people are using (their choice), plenty of youtube and forums have that information up. What I meant by 'Game Changing' is in the actual design of the BJD itself. A google search will get you that info also. All I ask is bare with the time it will take to see how these hold up.