31K miles and 3 out of 4 of mine have a small tear in them and won't hold grease. I've never over greased them ...only a squirt or 2 every 5K miles when I change oil. Not sure why/what caused this. What type of job is it to replace them?

On edit:

What's strange is the uppers have tears in them in the same place ...inside upper center. I'm starting to think they make contact with the sharp edge of the hole cutout where the ball joints attach ...when I lower the T-bars all the way down at the track. May not be possible but was my first thought. My DS lower has had a nick in it for over a year ...was aware of that one but the tears in the uppers are new because I just greased it 1K miles ago and they were fine.

Must replace lower ball joints and complete upper control arm assy to get the boots. Sounds like you may need to make a trip south for a day...;)

would this be a warranty item? I have the exact same thing but do not have the know how nor the tools to do the job. I may have voided my suspension warranty with the lift and tires but the place that did it does all the mods for the dealer. So its worth a go.

Must replace lower ball joints and complete upper control arm assy to get the boots. Sounds like you may need to make a trip south for a day...;)

See you in a few weeks buddy :D

I just spent 650 bucks having the inner and outer tie rod ball joints replaced because they wouldnt hold grease.

Here is your oppurtunity to get those sweet Fabtech ones

You don't need to replace the upper control arm to replace the upper balljoints. Napa carries the balljoints, and it's about an hour job w/ a balljoint press from Autozone. Fyi...

Tim

My ball joint boots were cracking and leaking horizontally all around the middle. I think this stems from the original way the boot was made. I looked at a new truck and there is actually a fold in the boot. It also appears that the original design is for very little grease inside. Do not pump enough grease inside to make plump.

It looks like over time this crease is a weak spot and develops cracks. If you grease them that they are plump there is problably enough pressure to cause even more stress and have them crack further and leak.

Just an FYI I never over filled, just kept them plump and this still happened.

Here is a fix that I have tried and seems to be holding very well for me.

1- Buy a can of brake cleaner.
2- Go to pool store and by a package of "vinyl swimming pool quick patch" part # 30278 by Poolmaster. These are sheets of clear vinyl with a peel off backing and very sticky, strong, durable and water proof glue underneath the backing.

3- Jack up car and remove front tire. Removing the tire makes it a lot easier to work on. Of course have it well supported with jack stands so the truck does not fall on you.
4- Spray the boots with brake clean to remove the grease from the outside. I also sprayed a towel and rubbed the boots a little to make sure they were good and clean.
5- With a pair of good sharp scissors cut a narrow strip to cover the crack. I cut one long enough to go all the way around the boot.
6- Remove the backing and place it around the leak or in my case, all around the boot. (Be vary careful the backing is very sticky and will stick very easily.)
7- Gently apply pressure with your fingers, working from the crack outwards.
8- do this fo all boots you have leaks on.
9- Put your tires back on, tighten the lugs to specification, lower the truck and you are done.

I've had this fix on my truck for a while now and it's holding very well. Also be VERY careful greasing from now on. I now only grease when the boot is pretty collapsed (lack of grease)

Oh also thank you "lovethesmellofdiesel" for the tip on buying just the ball joint from NAPA.