2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Ball Joints gone at 31K miles...

[Hohn]

It's more than a little disappointing to see the vertical play in my upper and lower ball joints considering how new the truck is. I had the truck on a lift with the tires barely off the ground. With a prybar underneath, I could definitely move the wheel up and down with the prybar-- and it was moving at the balljoints.

So now what? I know there are greasable joints out there. I know there's a decent writeup on pavementsucks.com about replacing them.

But WHY do they go bad so fast? That's the million dollar question to me.

I have a couple theories other than just cheap joints. One is the superstiff non-flexing front suspension. It seems to me that Dodge didn't want to put on a real shock, so they made the spring stiff to compensate. This means that the suspension doesn't soak up road impacts, and instead, the ball joints have to bear the brunt of the impact.

Related to this are the super-stiff E rated tires. Again, they don't absorb much shock, so it's transmitted to the ball joints.

I wonder if anyone has ever experienced abll joint failure after installing a KORE/T-rex suspension system. I wonder.....


Any input?

Justin

 

[SBall]

Justin,

My truck just had the lower ball joints done at 67000 miles. I have to admit though that we just got done a round trip from Pa. to Alaska and back with a heavy slide in camper, and in the process pounded the snot out of the suspension on the Denali Hwy, Cassiar Hwy, etc. I found it odd that Dodge chose to rivit the dang ball joints into the control arms, thus the dealer changed out both lower control arms, (under warranty thank goodness). I am now in the process of evaluating my options for when this truck is out of warranty, such as aftermarket units with zerk fittings, or items that have a better track record. I believe the issue of ball joints is not exclusively a Dodge truck thing; we just got a recall notice from VW regarding my wife's 99 Passat about ... ... . "ball joints".

Steve

 

[98rammer]

120k miles on my truck, and the stock balljoints are still in great shape. i also run my tires at 50-70 psi dailing driving on the fron tires (depending on what brand and load rating i'm running at the time). front suspension is all stock.

 

[diesel DOG]

Mine went at 59,000 and there is a thread about it. I had to DESTROY the hub bearings which were 668. 00 BUCKS. They rusted in the spindle and wouldn't come out with a multitude of methods. I had the same vertical wear. They are junk! The next time if there is one the Never Seeze will make it a brezze. Track bar was like new.

 

[diesel DOG]

Try this for some good reading

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113224&highlight=ball+joints



Sad but some funny reading. I went throught the same problems. Mechanic and myself spent 6+ hr. to remove them. It was 1809. 64 when done :--)

 

[Bodybomber]

Justin,

My 02 has 28K and I too have verticle movement in all the ball joints. Im going to wait till they get a little worse and ten take it to the dealer and see how much **** they try to give me.

 

[OTRPU]

Reliance Truck & Auto did my lowers, Dave's Diesel will do the uppers tomorrow if I get off this thing and get to driving. Got to be cheaper than eating a set of steers every other month. Steering pump is leaking, filled it with MOPAR and it stopped. That was about 1,500 miles ago, it started growling today again. Damn, if it ain't one thing it's another.



Cheers,

Steve J

 

[stevegeorge]

Just had my front end replaced. Took old parts to my shop and tore the track bar ball joint apart to just see what was inside. Nothing but a ball seat, ball, spring, nylon cup (?) and a washer where the grease fitting goes about the size and thickness of a quarter. I will be replacing all mine next time with Luke's link or other rebuildable alternative. Manufacturers probably have $75-100 in product, and sell them for 250+ - I will not play this game again!!!

 

[dslmacdown]

Justin, did you ever replace your ball joints?



Chris