Are my ball joints worn out?

[31b]

My truck has been handling fine but, just recently my truck has started to wander slightly, either to the left or right at freeway speeds. It does not do it when driving 25 - 35 mph on city streets. I have an '07 w/ 49K miles. I have a Carli starter suspension kit w/ track bar, high mount steering stab and Solid Steel Ind steering box stabilizer. Tires are 285/75 /17 Toyo A/T's. I want to deal with this before it gets any worse.



I have been reading a couple of the threads on the ball joint's wearing out quickly w/ a suspension and tire upgrade and I'm wondering if I'm having the same problem. I'm not a pro mechanic, just basics so any opinions are welcome.



I am not trying to recycle the debate about Carli but, I've been happy w/ what I have so far so if I do need ball joints I'd seriously consider spending the $ on the Carli uppers. What lower is compatible? Thanks.

 

[WoodChuck]

Have you had the alignment checked?

 

[31b]

Have you had the alignment checked?

Alignment was done 11K miles ago.

 

[mwilson]

I think I have a frozen ball joint that is making it handle so bad that I put the truck up until I can get the time to change them out. It started out with the same wandering last fall that you are experiencing. I had just put new tires on it so I figured it was the new rubber / lots of tread wander and it would work out of it. I put the truck up for the winter and took it out last week. I got in a groove on the interstate and almost left the road!!!! If you turn the steering wheel at speed either left or right and let go of it then it will center itself so quickly it will rock back and forth, then settle in to the straight position. It is not a great sensation. Plan to pull it all apart Monday and am 99% sure it is a ball joint. 77,000 interstate miles and the ball joints are gone. I am not pleased. Poor design, for sure.

I went with the Moog ball joints as I don't plow, off-road or anything like that with mine. The truck has always had perfect alignment, got 76,000 miles out of the OEM Michelins with 3 rotations. I replaced those tires with the same identical thing. With that being said, have ordered K7460 uppers which are the no offset style which should keep my nice alignment if I am careful and K7467 lowers. Also have a set of 464 U-Joints coming in case those are junk as well. This will give me a chance to Never-Seeze everything so it will come apart easy next time. I looked at the Carli's and decided that if these Moogs don't stand it, then that will be what it gets next around. Carli's look nice but would stretch the budget right now as well. A 3-year old truck should not need a front end rebuild already and I was not prepared for it. Just my thoughts.

 

[WoodChuck]

Alignment was done K miles ago.

There's a lot of possible causes starting with the steering box, sector shaft, drag links and tie rod ends, wheels bearings and ball joints and the track bar/pan-rod bar.

Start with the truck on the ground and have a helper rock the steering wheel back and forth lightly while you check for play at the steering linkages/tie rod and drag link ends and the sector shaft for movement. Then get a little more aggressive with the steering wheel and check the trac/pan-rod bar for movement.

Then you need to jack up the front end and check for play at the ball joints and bearings. To check the lower ball joint just put a lever under the tire and fulcrum just outside and see how much it moves up and down. To check the upper ball joint you grab the top and bottom of the tire and push in at the top while pulling out at the bottom and then reverse looking for lateral play at the top, if you feel play then you need to have a helper watch and figure out if it's the wheel bearing or ball joint.

 

[mwilson]

WoodChuck is absolutley correct, check all that out. I already have on mine and will still unhook each tie rod first and move the knuckle to make sure that my diagnosis is correct before taking anything else apart. I just want to make sure that people realize that a frozen joint may not check out as being loose and could get diagnosed as something much more expensive.

 

[BILLVO]

Easiest way of checking upper ball joints for wear is to jack front wheel off the ground and wiggle it up and down or in and out at the top of the tire, if any play or clunking is noticed it will most likely be the upper joints are worn.



I have never ever jacked up a 3rd gen and found good joints. Even as low as 15k miles I saw some that were already clunky.



I will be installing Carli joints in my 05 tomorrow. It has 57k miles but they were already worn at 24k when I bought it. It wasn't causing any problems so I waited until I had some extra coin to spend on the good ones as I will also be installing bigger tires within the next year also so I wanted to be prepared ahead of time.

 

[WoodChuck]

Easiest way of checking upper ball joints for wear is to jack front wheel off the ground and wiggle it up and down or in and out at the top of the tire, if any play or clunking is noticed it will most likely be the upper joints are worn

Not quite right, the upper ball joint is not really a ball joint but is actually a pivot joint so some up and down movement is normal and not an indication of wear, it needs to be checked for lateral movement. The lower ball joint is a real ball joint and gets checked up and down for play (up to . 009" is suposedly OK acording to Chrysler), if loose the lowers are bad.

 

[Bob4x4]

I just checked out a 2500/hemi truck today by the looks of the underside it has done a fair amount of wheeling,at 55k miles the steering gear box is shot, excessive play in the tie rod ends and the intermediate shaft is noisey.

It will be best to inspect the steering before jumping to conclusions. Popping out the tie rods will be a very quick way to see how free the uppers turn.



For all those waiting on the Carli lowers it is getting closer The prototypes will hit the testing phase soon Oo.

 

[seafish]

For all those waiting on the Carli lowers it is getting closer The prototypes will hit the testing phase soon Oo.

Thanks for the update... keep us posted. Oo.

 

[31b]

Thanks for the suggestions all. I'll jack up the front end this weekend and check for the lateral movement with the tires.



Will it be out of alignment in 11k miles w/ 99% driving on pavement?

 

[WoodChuck]

It shouldn't be.

 

[31b]

OK, I jacked up the front end, I grabbed the tires at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and pushed back and forth. I could feel a slight bit of movement when I pulled out at 6 o'clock and I could hear some metal on metal tapping each time as I pushed in on the tire at 12 o'clock. That was on both sides.



So if I'm tracking correctly w/ everybodys' suggestions, it starting to look like the ball joints are wearing out. Am I on track here?



Thanks for the replys. Like I said, I am not a pro mechanic so the suggestions help out.

 

[mwilson]

Have you got anybody around helping you that can move the wheel the same as you just did so that you can stick your hand up in there or look with a light to find what is moving??? You might also be able to reach up over or around the tire so that you can feel where the movement is if no one is there that can help you. Stick a bar thru the rim, under the tire, etc. and gently pull with that while you probe around in there. It sounds like ball joints but you should really see where the slack is to make double sure. Please for your own safety make sure that you have the truck on good sturdy jack stands. These trucks are extremely heavy on front and you need to be cautious when any part of your bod' is going to be under there including fingers.

 

[WoodChuck]

You are on the right track, you found play now you need to pinpoint where it's coming from. Did you follow the full procedure I outlined in post #5 or just check at 12 and 6 o'clock, did you try wiggling at 3 and 9 o'clock? As mwilson said you need to pinpoint if the play is in the wheel bearings or the ball joints.

 

[F-15I Ra'am]

You are on the right track, you found play now you need to pinpoint where it's coming from. Did you follow the full procedure I outlined in post #5 or just check at 12 and 6 o'clock, did you try wiggling at 3 and 9 o'clock? As mwilson said you need to pinpoint if the play is in the wheel bearings or the ball joints.

How can you tell if it's the wheel bearing and not the ball joint thats bad?

 

[31b]

You are on the right track, you found play now you need to pinpoint where it's coming from. Did you follow the full procedure I outlined in post #5 or just check at 12 and 6 o'clock, did you try wiggling at 3 and 9 o'clock? As mwilson said you need to pinpoint if the play is in the wheel bearings or the ball joints.

I didn't follow the whole procedure but I'll do that tomorrow. Thanks

 

[WoodChuck]

Well if you find play by wiggling the wheel vertically and horizontally it's probably the bearings. You can kind of tell by feel but it's best to have a helper so one person can rock the steering wheel and the tire itself and the other person looks for movement.

 

[Bob4x4]

By the time the wheel bearings have that much play they will be growling at you

 

[31b]

OK, I jacked up the front end this morning. I grabbed each tire at 3 o'clock & 9 o'clock and pushed and pulled. There was some movement on the tire/rim when I did this. I put a shovel handle under each tire and lifted up like a fulcrum and I could see the tire/rim move upwards a little bit.



I don't have helper but when I pushed/pulled at 3 & 9 o'clock on the tire I could see the drag link (I think it's the drag link) move back and forth slightly. By the way one tire was on the ground and the other was jacked up when I did that. Is that cool or should both tires be off of the ground?



BOB4X4 said that I would hear the wheel bearing if there was a lot of movement. There is no noise coming form the front end when I'm on the freeway. At least none that I can hear. Thanks all.