BDS UCA issues with BDS 6" lift 5th gen RAM 1500

[ram1500rsm]

No signs of BDS in this thread in the 5th gen forums, but they have been notified.

1st occurrence Jan 03/2021
In the 1st case below, they only honored the UCA's. $1800 of damage because the BDS UCA BJ snapped. Everybody thought it was an isolated ocurrence.

Jan 03,2021
FISHON:
"Not romping it hard, literally flipped a U turn in a rutted dirt lot and got the *** end a little loose. Then she stopped moving... Ball joint blew, which let the spindle fall, which let the CV shear/snap, which railed the lower ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar links, etc...

Calling BDS in the morning to see what the warranty will cover as far as the "ripple effect" of damage."






Then Jan 13
RAMROB91:
same here my BJ broke going threw some small puddles super pissed for the amount of money I paid for them







If anybody wants a link to the thread PM me and i'll sent it to you.

These are the same BDS UCA's you get for the 2-3" lift, part# 122251
I thought these type of UCA's couldn't be used in 6" lifts cause they should have an offset, though BDS say they can be used in their 6" lift, but not the 4" one. I believe a bad batch of BJ's maybe at fault in both instances but given the gap between both ocurrences it may be a good idea to hold on buying these UCA's until BDS can address the issue. it's bizarre they haven't posted a single word about this in the other forum.

I do hope BDS own this right away, so far they're just sending out replacement BJ's. i'd like to see some sort of root cause analysis so everybody knows what happened. So much for a "warranty" but it's what it's when we mod our babies. you gotta pay to play and this is the worst case scenario when we pay to play.

 

[CheechDogg.0n37s]

It sucks because all these lift kit companies say they will honor the warranties but when it comes time to do so they find a loop hole or something that they can use to get away with not honoring the warranty.

I know plenty of people who have BDS lift kits and quite honestly they have a lot of issues with parts snapping off or breaking ...

But like you said .... beating up on the trucks is going to cost us ... in my case with the MaxTrac lift kit not wanting to honor the warranty on the springs because I have wide wheels with a -44 offset is complete BS lol ... hopefully they honor the warranty and fix your issue which I honestly don't think they will

 

[CincyZach]

No signs of BDS in this thread in the 5th gen forums, but they have been notified.

1st occurrence Jan 03/2021
In the 1st case below, they only honored the UCA's. $1800 of damage because the BDS UCA BJ snapped. Everybody thought it was an isolated ocurrence.

Jan 03,2021
FISHON:
"Not romping it hard, literally flipped a U turn in a rutted dirt lot and got the *** end a little loose. Then she stopped moving... Ball joint blew, which let the spindle fall, which let the CV shear/snap, which railed the lower ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar links, etc...

Calling BDS in the morning to see what the warranty will cover as far as the "ripple effect" of damage."


View attachment 236209

View attachment 236210

Then Jan 13
RAMROB91:
same here my BJ broke going threw some small puddles super pissed for the amount of money I paid for them
View attachment 236211

View attachment 236212

View attachment 236213


If anybody wants a link to the thread PM me and i'll sent it to you.

These are the same BDS UCA's you get for the 2-3" lift, part# 122251
I thought these type of UCA's couldn't be used in 6" lifts cause they should have an offset, though BDS say they can be used in their 6" lift, but not the 4" one. I believe a bad batch of BJ's maybe at fault in both instances but given the gap between both ocurrences it may be a good idea to hold on buying these UCA's until BDS can address the issue. it's bizarre they haven't posted a single word about this in the other forum.

I do hope BDS own this right away, so far they're just sending out replacement BJ's. i'd like to see some sort of root cause analysis so everybody knows what happened. So much for a "warranty" but it's what it's when we mod our babies. you gotta pay to play and this is the worst case scenario when we pay to play.

Holy **** man, that really sucks!!!! Hopefully BDS makes good on the warranty and gets back up and running soon!!! I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[ram1500rsm]

To clarify none of them are my trucks. Just helping out a fellow enthusiast. In this case we have two with the same issue in literally 2 weeks.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

Wow, That’s a clean break too.

 

[olyelr]

Just imagine that happening while hitting the expansion joints on a freeway at 80 mph...


Yea, BDS should be on these like white on rice. Huge liability for them if there are a bunch of bunk ball joints out there right now.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Latest update to this saga. All i can say is wow.


Fishon:
02/21/2021

"Most of us BDS owners opted for the "higher end" products and were drawn in by the "NO FINE PRINT WARRANTY"... I'm not a cheap guy and did plenty of research before dropping the cash on the suspension lift I've always wanted. I've had nothing but good experiences with ALL Fox suspension stuff over the years, so it should go without saying that this whole situation is a major bummer. I was willing to accept my disaster as a "one off" situation and thought I'd share with our little community here, then@RAMROB91 had the EXACT same thing happen a couple weeks after me, and now we hear of a 3rd recent BJ failure. Doesn't sound so isolated anymore. All in all, they offered to cover their BJ and tie rod end, but I'll need to get hold of the shop to get that started... Paperwork, explanations, details, emails, and pictures are hassle enough, then add in the the looks I get from the wife any time someone comments on my truck or I want to take it and not her truck, and I think I'm done with it all. Just done. Built the truck of my dreams and it's become a P.I.T.A.


Here are some of the "finer print details" that aren't very clearly disclosed in BDS's "No Fine Print Warranty" and the reasons they can't/won't cover anything...

1. Since the truck is my daily driver, I opted to pay for the repairs and move forward... The shop didn't keep any of the failed components and BDS wanted to conduct a "metallurgical analysis" on the ball joint. I must have missed the part that says "send back all of your broken stuff so we can conduct analysis before progressing with warranty issues." No analysis, no help.
2. I didn't immediately register (nor was I aware that I was required to) for the 560plus warranty program. I don't know about you all, but I didn't receive (or request or desire) the instruction/installation manuals from a BDS authorized shop after the install, and that is the only place I found mention of the 560plus program, until I spoke with their techs after the failure. If you haven't registered your BDS stuff on 560plus.com, I recommend you do it now for a little C.Y.A. What they are willing to cover will NOT be covered if the -ish hits the fan and you haven't signed up.
3. Salvage Title Vehicles DO NOT QUALIFY. This would have been nice to know before I dropped $6k (now closer to $8k after the repairs) on their lift, due in part to the "No Fine Print" warranty and Fox's reputation in the off road community. Could've went King and any number of UCAs if I wasn't concerned about warranties.

I will say, the truck rides AMAZING on the road and handles like a champion. Easily the smoothest 6" lifted truck on 37's I've ridden in... But I'm still pretty apprehensive about getting too comfortable romping it. Not sure my marriage could handle another "Honey can you come get me because I broke my truck" phone call."

I haven't gotten anything from BDS, honestly i know BDS because of this forum and people talking about it. Before this forum it was a brand that i've never used, mostly cause i'm not into lifting IFS applications this way. BDS handling of this situation has been horrible, so much for people dislikes into RC or Rancho around, don't think i've seen people paying $8k to fix Rancho or RC failures. This is absolute BS these trucks are getting trashed because obviously bad BJ's and they only get a replacement and you better send it all the papers lol, god forbid you did the install. What kind of warranty is this ? and BDS is muted, not a single statement offering reassurance to anybody they're dealing with this. Damn.

Good luck with this company warranty in the future. I wouldn't have kept anything remotely close to those parts if this happened to me.

 

[olyelr]

Jeesh. I can see them having a fine print warranty...even though they claim they dont. However, to not even bat an eye at this given how serious of a situation this really is (and can further become!) just blows my mind. Really makes them look like ****. They could literally be putting A LOT of lives on the line if they have a bad batch of ball joints. Insane.

 

[CheechDogg.0n37s]

Here is the thing though ... just because we lift our trucks with top brand names like BDS, ZONE, FULL THROTTLE, McGaughy's doesn't mean these lift kits are meant to be used in an offroad high stress, impact environment ...

These lift kits are honestly more show like lift kits than anything else .... we have to still upgrade our suspensions with better, stronger parts on top of these lift kits ... unless I have my truck on some long travel suspension I won't be beating it up ... and even then these long travel "baja type" suspensions still break !

I used to do the Baja races with my uncle and cousins every year back in the 90s and we would break something at least 5 times during a race and that was with the proper long travel suspensions they paid 10s of thousands of dollars for ...

Nevertheless BDS should honor the damn warranty ... all these lift companies are "TARGETING" the lifted truck community at places like SEMA most of all with lifted trucks yet when something like this happens they point you to fine print bs allows them to get away with not honoring a warranty.

Just like what happened to me with MaxTrac .. they will not honor it because I have -44 offset wheels which they claim is causing the front coil springs to sag .... really ? lol

Even though I had this bad experience with MaxTrac I can't say the lift kit is complete trash ... my truck still rides better than stock but what made me go with MaxTrac in the first place was the fact that everyone here on the forums recommended it and the MaxTrac sales department on the phone swore by their no hazzle warranty even after I explained to them the set up I wanted on my truck.

Not honoring the warranty is enough for "ME" to stay away from MaxTrac but that doesn't take away the fact that they still make a quality product which I will still recommend to others but with the warning that they might not honor their warranty if you decide to use a tire and wheel setup like mine ....

I personally would never pay for these over priced lift kits, again most people buy them because everyone has them especially at shows like SEMA and they want to be part of the crowd, they are more of trend than anything else and are not meant to go offroading ...simple as that ....

 

[Salty Ram]

No signs of BDS in this thread in the 5th gen forums, but they have been notified.

1st occurrence Jan 03/2021
In the 1st case below, they only honored the UCA's. $1800 of damage because the BDS UCA BJ snapped. Everybody thought it was an isolated ocurrence.

Jan 03,2021
FISHON:
"Not romping it hard, literally flipped a U turn in a rutted dirt lot and got the *** end a little loose. Then she stopped moving... Ball joint blew, which let the spindle fall, which let the CV shear/snap, which railed the lower ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar links, etc...

Calling BDS in the morning to see what the warranty will cover as far as the "ripple effect" of damage."


View attachment 236209

View attachment 236210

Then Jan 13
RAMROB91:
same here my BJ broke going threw some small puddles super pissed for the amount of money I paid for them
View attachment 236211

View attachment 236212

View attachment 236213


If anybody wants a link to the thread PM me and i'll sent it to you.

These are the same BDS UCA's you get for the 2-3" lift, part# 122251
I thought these type of UCA's couldn't be used in 6" lifts cause they should have an offset, though BDS say they can be used in their 6" lift, but not the 4" one. I believe a bad batch of BJ's maybe at fault in both instances but given the gap between both ocurrences it may be a good idea to hold on buying these UCA's until BDS can address the issue. it's bizarre they haven't posted a single word about this in the other forum.

I do hope BDS own this right away, so far they're just sending out replacement BJ's. i'd like to see some sort of root cause analysis so everybody knows what happened. So much for a "warranty" but it's what it's when we mod our babies. you gotta pay to play and this is the worst case scenario when we pay to play.

This is really good information because I bought the 6" Coil-Over kit (for my '16 Sport) and the UCAs with them. BDS knew I had the 6" kit and my part number is the same (maybe they all are?) as the one you have listed (PN: BDS122251) and I bought the parts in July 2020 but didn't get them until like October 2020. This is sort of frustrating for me becuase my purchase was based around the quality of the BDS parts and history of satisfied folks. Makes me a little nervous now for mine but I haven't beaten it up yet but know those days are coming. So, my question centers around the "bad lot" of ball joints maybe? When were the UCA's purchased that had the failures? And, I'm curious if we'll get an acknowlegement and perhaps a "recall"maybe on the UCA's? Maybe that's just wishful thinking?

 

[HTXRamExp]

I recently had the BDS 6" Coilover lift installed on my truck, but opted to re-use my OEM UCAs, since at 6" there shouldn't be a need for any extra UCA offset.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[6.7CumminsDrvr]

This stinks and I really feel for the fellow members having this issue. I’ve said this for some time now, the warranties only cover the part that broke, not any of the collateral damage, the BDS warranty is no better than any other companies.........

hopefully they’ll step up as a company that is perceived as higher end and high quality, they advertise like they are, here’s their opportunity.

 

[CheechDogg.0n37s]

This stinks and I really feel for the fellow members having this issue. I’ve said this for some time now, the warranties only cover the part that broke, not any of the collateral damage, the BDS warranty is no better than any other companies.........

hopefully they’ll step up as a company that is perceived as higher end and high quality, they advertise like they are, here’s their opportunity.

And just like MaxTrac Bro they wont ...... I have said it before and I will say it again ... BDS is just a glorified show type lift kit and you still need the proper suspension parts to make it perform like an offroad suspension should ....

 

[MAJ_Charlie]

Unfortunately this happened to me Sunday. Approximately 2000 miles and zero offroad on my BDS control arms.



State trooper told me there was at least 300 feet of skid mark about 2 feet away from the guard rail...yep...I was there for that.












I sent all these photos to BDS. Their tech support tells me their control arms are not recommended for their 4" lift kits. Not the same thing the sales person told me when I was convinced to buy them. Bottom line I am paying out of pocket to replace the tire, cv axle, abs sensor, tie rod end, sway bar end link, and possibly a lower ball joint. Tech support was only willing to cover their parts so I'm being sent more crappy Moog "Problem Causer" ball joints.

I was told using the Fox 2.0 coilover shocks with the 4" lift and it's required spacers has not been tested by them so they wouldn't accept liability for their product failure. No Fine Print warranty my ass! He told me their 4" lift kit is based on using stock struts. I asked what's the difference since the fox shocks were set to factory height per the instructions and going back to factory struts I'd still have the same height issues and angles on the control arms. No response. The shop that did my install is just as shocked by BDS and their response. My shop recommended we raise the front an inch to decrease the angle of the control arms and go to 3 inch spacers in the rear to keep it level. After seeing how others of you out there have the 6" lift and suffered the same failure you'd think BDS would realize there's a serious problem with the ball joints they are using!

It's very aggravating that BDS won't step up for their product failure and how this could have been a far worse situation...potentially life ending! Of course my setup was going to work fine when I was convinced to make the purchase of their control arms, but now that something has seriously gone wrong they are back tracking with quickness. Say anything to make the sale...then find any reason not to honor up to collateral damage cause by a failure of their parts.

Shout out to the tow driver that got me from Gettysburg to Dillsburg where I was able to get the replacement ball joint and to the AAA tow driver that got me all the way back to WB. I was able to get the ball joint replaced Sunday night and had to order a new abs sensor from Amazon since it wasn't available locally at 1/8 the price. My shop got the new tire in this afternoon along with the replacement cv shaft so I'm setting up to bring it to them Thursday morning.

If anyone has recommendations of control arms that I can trust...please share. Worried about the passenger side ball joint just going "snap" on me at any time like this one did. No excuse for this failure with such low miles after a month.

 

[RAM-pagingMN]

Wow this thread has me concerned that i purchased a kit from a shady company... BDS should be ashamed of their motto "No fine print"

 

[Salty Ram]

No chit, I'm not "fully comfortable" with mine anymore and that's a shame because before these claims came out I was all kinds of proud my my lift and UCAs. My brother just asked me to hit the park this weekend. So, I'm going but will very likely be thinking about these damn things leaving me stranded. Maybe I should just buy a replacement set and keep them in the truck?