I had my driver side lower ball joint replaced this month and decided to go with Isuzu OEM for exact reason LittleBeast said. The rubber boot was still INTACT, 84k, 12 years old.
Only replaced because I had to have lower control arm replaced, so while they were in the neighborhood…. Had I known about the Prothane LBJ boots, I MAY have just bought them and kept the rest in action.
VXordado posted his bad experience with aftermarket lower ball joints: also:http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...7&postcount=54
Merlin mentioned the Moog brand as a cheaper alternative, sounds like that's the best aftermarket like Billy said above.