Anyone keep breaking their drag link ball joint?

[linc]

Back story: 2012 crew 6.7 service body clocking in at just under 15k#. In 2019, I clipped a retaining wall and broke the front pass. Spindle off the control arms, plus some body dmg. Dealer owned body shop went buck wild with the insurance and replaced the whole front axle (they said). Ever since, the ball joint on the drag link connecting to the Pitman arm explodes violently every 12-14 months with low speed turning. First two times was in my cul-de-sac turning to back into my driveway. Happened again today in the parking lot of a chick-fil-a. Nothing appears bent, twisted or otherwise out of place to the naked eye. Anyone else ever deal with something like this? I fear the day it happens at speed.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Back story: 2012 crew 6.7 service body clocking in at just under 15k#. In 2019, I clipped a retaining wall and broke the front pass. Spindle off the control arms, plus some body dmg. Dealer owned body shop went buck wild with the insurance and replaced the whole front axle (they said). Ever since, the ball joint on the drag link connecting to the Pitman arm explodes violently every 12-14 months with low speed turning. First two times was in my cul-de-sac turning to back into my driveway. Happened again today in the parking lot of a chick-fil-a. Nothing appears bent, twisted or otherwise out of place to the naked eye. Anyone else ever deal with something like this? I fear the day it happens at speed.

I wonder if the stud part of the "ball joint" is binding, like over reaching the limit of angle, up against the rim.