failed my state inspection miserably

[DZink24]

. . 57,000 miles, they tell me the ball joints are real bad, and some suspension and steering components are beyond safe. . gotta love dodges. . they've always had great motors, but have been plaugued by driveline problems for decades. .

 

[Wingate]

hhmmm. . mine has 43k on it now and the front end is perfect... .

are the tires un-evenly worn? does it "death wobble"?. .

 

[Cosmo]

How are your roads up there in New York?

 

[SierraRam]

Who is THEY?

 

[EGroeneveld]

WOW, they must really inspect them...



I don't even have smog (yet) inspections...

 

[SWithrow]

My ball joints failed at 40k then again at 80k along with both steering knuckles & tie rods... Went to Moog that can be greased. In Virginia we have yearly inspections and some do thorough & some do not. I have 170k and it just past the yearly inspection.

 

[SRadke]

No surprise the balljoints are bad. They regularly get loose at less than 70k. Very surprised your inspections are that thorough though. We don't even have smog testing here yet.

 

[JMarketos]

How are your roads up there in New York?

In winter- approximately equivalent to running the Baja 1000.

 

[Wertles]

I'm live in the same county as DZink24. The roads suck. This time of year you can lose three grown men in the pot holes. My front end was shot at 55,000 miles. Some places go over your truck looking for a pinhole of rust to fail you, some just look at tires, lights and horn then hook you up to the computer. When I was single and broke, I used to always find those guys but now that I carry my family and large trailer, I'd rather be told my front end is shot before I find out myself the hard way.

 

[steved]

I think it has more to do with road salt than the road condition...



Get a set of greaseable ball joints, and some waterproof grease; that makes a world of difference.

 

[Bernie]

I think it has more to do with road salt than the road condition...

I am originally from Livingston and Monroe counties (now I live in Cattaraugus county).



I travel all over WNY, PA, and in the past Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, etc.



It is the freeze and thaw that destroys our roads. Water finds its way in to the first few inches of pavement through small cracks, freezes, expands, and creates pot holes. This gets worse the more freeze thaw cycles we have in a season.



And yes, WNY this time of year the roads do resemble a war zone.

 

[steved]

I grew up in the snow belt of PA. Your preaching to the choir...



When I made that comment, it was meant to imply the road salt corrodes the ball joint and that causes premature failure. I travel more miles in a year than most travel in five, and I run roads in almost every state, including my share of back/dirt roads and offroad.



I replaced my ball joints at around 150k, and they were still ok... but the pivots were rusted badly. I've replaced with greaseable Moogs, and (before switching greases) could pump a significant amount of water out of the lower joint each time they got serviced. I sit with 245k currently, an the Moogs have no play... but I also see zero water expelled now, which you can't do with a factory joint...

 

[DZink24]

i love the responses from non- new yorkers. . our roads are undescribable. honest to god, there are roads so bad that they literally cannot be plowed by municipal highway depts. . they will destroy the plows. . and yeah, here in NY (for now) diesel pickups are only subject to a safety inspection, not a safety and emmissions check. yeah, they go thru it with a fine tooth comb. i will keep the greasable parts in mind- i'm getting it looked at this weekend by a mechanic at my work- a heavy truck mechanic. and to boot- when a shop does an inspection, it is req'd by law to transmit electronically the results, pass or fail to the DMV in Albany immediately, so that a fail can not go to a shop down the road and "grase the palm" of the mechanic there. .

 

[mwilson]

In winter- approximately equivalent to running the Baja 1000.

X2 in Maine.



We have annual inspections here as well, we can have rust showing and/or rust through a body panel as long as it is not a structural issue, through to a passenger compartment or sharp edged (Pedestrian Danger).



Mike.

 

[steved]

i love the responses from non- new yorkers. . our roads are undescribable.

Hmm, and the NW PA roads are better how? Just because someone doesn't live right where you do, doesn't mean they don't experience similar conditions.



There are states out west that make NY roads look nice. :-laf

 

[NavyDood]

156,000 miles and everything up front is original other than the Dynatrac hub kit I installed.

 

[The patriot]

I will admit, NJ is nothing like western NY.

However I went the hassle of putting grease zerks on the factory balljoints.

129K miles and theyre still fine.

Granted... NJ has done away with inspections over 8K LBS (IIRC).

I check mine annually, and I was a mechanic... . many years ago. :-laf

 

[AEdelheit]

Well if its like the Baja 1000 then look into Carli suspension and ball joints, there expensice but Baja proven, many times over.

 

[makelemen]

The only inspection we have in Colorado (Denver metro) is the emission every other year. So far so good.

 

[Wingate]

156,000 miles and everything up front is original other than the Dynatrac hub kit I installed.

I LOVE Texas!!!!. . Last time we took a trip to to Chicago... . Holy CRAP!!!. . It was like a 14 hour ride on a ranked bull!!.