balljoint diagonosis

[crispyboy]

Recently I had the tires balanced and rotated on the truck after noticing a slight vibration at 70 mph.

The shop told me that the truck was getting a slight bit of play in the ball joints.

Is this possible with only 29k miles or is the shop full of hot air?

The truck has OEM Michelin tires and seem to be wearing very evenly.



What are the symptoms of bad ball joints?

What do I look for?

Is this a do it your self project if actually needed or am I better off hiring someone? I have mediocre shade tree mechanical abilities.

 

[Bob4x4]

The Oem allows some play in the b

Jd I don't remember the number maybe somewhere

Around 60 thou

 

[ENafziger]

Very possible the BJs are already developing play.

As Bob said, there is an allowable tolerance for play, and greater than you may think. Search on this site for specs and how to check.

I did a pretty inclusive thread with pictures on how to change ball joints (also on dynatrac hub installation). Take a look at it and see if you'd feel comfortable with it.

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

Here's one writeup: https://www.turbodieselregister.com...ntrac-free-spin-carli-ball-joint-install.html

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

Okay, I looked up some more info for you:

The upper ball joint tolerance is measured at the the joint/knuckle and should not exceed . 060 (60 thousands) IN/OUT.
The lower ball joint tolerance is . 090 (90 thousands) UP/DOWN measured at the joint. 90 thousands is about 1/10 of an inch!
Both measurements should only be taken using a dial indicator. Never should measurements taken at any other point be considered.

I usually check by jacking up the truck and lifting the tire with a big pry bar. Alot of slop isn't good... some is ok... very little is best.

--Eric

 

[TFucili]

Recently I had the tires balanced and rotated on the truck after noticing a slight vibration at 70 mph.

The shop told me that the truck was getting a slight bit of play in the ball joints.

Is this possible with only 29k miles or is the shop full of hot air?

The truck has OEM Michelin tires and seem to be wearing very evenly.



What are the symptoms of bad ball joints?

What do I look for?

Is this a do it your self project if actually needed or am I better off hiring someone? I have mediocre shade tree mechanical abilities.

Mine were toast at approx. 37,000 miles, but also brought on sudden, serious tire wear by the time I realized what was going on. The vibration may be the unitized hub/bearings, which were also getting rough and were replaced.

 

[crispyboy]

Thanks for the information. I'm going to try and borrow a dial indicator and see what's up. I was really hoping that Dodge had this front end problem figured out by 2009 - the joke is on me isn't it... .....
I have been searching on some threads. My next question is: Can the unitized bearing assembly be removed without destroying it so it can be reused? I can't swing a free spin hub kit right now as much as I would like too.

 

[steved]

Ball joints don't cause vibrations do they?? I would look at a bad tire, bad unit bearing, or bad ujoint somewhere if I was looking for a vibration.

 

[Nelco]

Recently I had the tires balanced and rotated on the truck after noticing a slight vibration at 70 mph.

The shop told me that the truck was getting a slight bit of play in the ball joints.

Is this possible with only 29k miles or is the shop full of hot air?

The truck has OEM Michelin tires and seem to be wearing very evenly.



What are the symptoms of bad ball joints?

What do I look for?

Is this a do it your self project if actually needed or am I better off hiring someone? I have mediocre shade tree mechanical abilities.

The last time I had this type of thing was when the front drive shaft was going bad. While driving down the road and the problem is occurring you can put the truck in neutral and see if the lack of power to the drive train make a difference. (it was the CV joint)

 

[Andres]

To reuse the bearing and remove it quite easily:



Back off about 1/8" the 4 bolts that hold the bearing in place



Can cut a peice of 1/2" steel water pipe to around 4. 5".



Position the short pipe against a bearing bolt and with truck idling, have a buddy slowly turn the wheel using the steering to push the bearing out. Move pipe from bolt to bolt, pushing it out evenly.



My 13 yr old daughter was able to help me do this, it's real easy.