New Front End
#1
New Front End
I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a front end rebuild. I've read and searched numerous posts, but I am still up in the air. I need at a minimum upper and lower ball joints, and a new track bar. Should I just go with OE replacement? I have 98K (01.5 4x4 xcab long bed H.O.)on this thing without too much difficulty. What should I do to maintain this truck for the long haul?
#2
I would never replace the stock track bar with another stock one. Go Thuren or another good aftermarket brand. There is not that much difference in cost, and they are much better and will last much longer.
#3
Thanks for the reply. I am contemplating doing all of this myself, as some of the proces I've been quoted are a bit astronomical in my opinion. I'm considering going to a crossover type steering system such as Bulletproof, and possibly doing a Ford knuckle swap to gain the serviceable bearings, and the freehub configuration. What do you think? Is this do-able? Anyone know offhand what year F350 front end gear I need? Who makes the best crossover steering gear? I only want to do this once and be done with it.
#4
Vendor - Former Vendor
My recommendation is to call Don Thuren. He will give you great advice and not just try to sell you stuff. His number's listed on his website. Just goodle Thuren Fabrication. Excellent customer service and beautiful fabrication work.
#5
Found out that the Ford knuckle swap is only good up until the 97ish model year as the axle and stuff has changed. Looks like either EMS or DynaTrac for hub swaps. I'll call Thuren. Thanks.
#6
The Ford knuckle swap is good until 99 model trucks. 2000 was the first year that they inverted the ball joint mounting on the inner Cs. Since you have a 98 you are good to go for the swap.
To do it you will need to get the entire outter assembly from a Ford ball joint Dana 60 axle. This entails the hub assembly, rotors, calipers, spindles, outter knuckles, and stub shafts. From there its pretty much a bolt on proceedure. The only thing you might have to do is fab up an ABS sensor and tone ring if you have 4 wheel ABS.
Remember you can use knuckles from ONLY an 92-97 F350 4x4 as that was the only years that Ford used ball joints on a D60 with serviceable bearings. From 86-91 they used king pins, 80-85 they didn't use a D60, 78-79 was still king pin, and after 97 (Superduty trucks) Ford went to a unit bearing setup. Parts from an F250 won't work as all that was ever used in F250s were D50 axles, except for 78-79, and they were king pin axles.
You'd also be ahead to check out doing a conversion to a 3rd gen adjustable track bar. Thuren makes good stuff, but I'm still leary of the same type of ball joint setup on the top of the track bar. If you're really on a budget you can do a Luke's Link on top of the track bar and rebuild the lower bushing. You can do that for about $100, and the link is rebuildable/adjustable.
I would not mess with your steering linkages, unless you don't already have the HD ones. From 98-99 Dodge used the HD "T" style steering instead of the inverted "Y" steering. All the people with 99-02 trucks are doing the swap to 98-99 HD steering which you might already have, which is already a crossover style. If you have a tie rod that runs from knuckle to knuckle with the drag link bolting to the tie rod then you have the HD. If your drag link goes from the pitman arm to the passenger side knuckle and the tie rod from the drivers side bolts onto the drag link then you don't have HD steering.
There is a whole slew of other things that can use beefing up on the Dodge steering system, but that could fill a whole book.
To do it you will need to get the entire outter assembly from a Ford ball joint Dana 60 axle. This entails the hub assembly, rotors, calipers, spindles, outter knuckles, and stub shafts. From there its pretty much a bolt on proceedure. The only thing you might have to do is fab up an ABS sensor and tone ring if you have 4 wheel ABS.
Remember you can use knuckles from ONLY an 92-97 F350 4x4 as that was the only years that Ford used ball joints on a D60 with serviceable bearings. From 86-91 they used king pins, 80-85 they didn't use a D60, 78-79 was still king pin, and after 97 (Superduty trucks) Ford went to a unit bearing setup. Parts from an F250 won't work as all that was ever used in F250s were D50 axles, except for 78-79, and they were king pin axles.
You'd also be ahead to check out doing a conversion to a 3rd gen adjustable track bar. Thuren makes good stuff, but I'm still leary of the same type of ball joint setup on the top of the track bar. If you're really on a budget you can do a Luke's Link on top of the track bar and rebuild the lower bushing. You can do that for about $100, and the link is rebuildable/adjustable.
I would not mess with your steering linkages, unless you don't already have the HD ones. From 98-99 Dodge used the HD "T" style steering instead of the inverted "Y" steering. All the people with 99-02 trucks are doing the swap to 98-99 HD steering which you might already have, which is already a crossover style. If you have a tie rod that runs from knuckle to knuckle with the drag link bolting to the tie rod then you have the HD. If your drag link goes from the pitman arm to the passenger side knuckle and the tie rod from the drivers side bolts onto the drag link then you don't have HD steering.
There is a whole slew of other things that can use beefing up on the Dodge steering system, but that could fill a whole book.
#7
wthomps,
Thanks for the info. I believe I may have caused you to type a fair bit unnecessarily. I have an '01.5 H.O. 6 speed with 98K miles. I think I understand the 98-99 steering deal, as I assumed they all had Y style. I would like to change to the T style or crossover. I guess it depends on the best deal vs. longevity. I do like lifetime warranty parts though.
Thanks for the info. I believe I may have caused you to type a fair bit unnecessarily. I have an '01.5 H.O. 6 speed with 98K miles. I think I understand the 98-99 steering deal, as I assumed they all had Y style. I would like to change to the T style or crossover. I guess it depends on the best deal vs. longevity. I do like lifetime warranty parts though.
Trending Topics
#8
Ok, if you have an 01.5 then you definetly have the inverted Y steering. Take a look at the 4th gen steering (2010+) as it will fit the 01/02 trucks.
http://www.dieselbombers.com/5-9l-24...ing-cheap.html
If you're willing to get some machining done the free spin can still be done on the late D60/AAM axles. The parts for this particular swap can be from any Ford D60, but 92-97 still works best.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...s-t178781.html
If you're looking for pretty much a bullet proof long haul setup then I'd do the following. Keep in mind this isn't the cheapest route, but IMO its the best way to go. You can cut out some of these, or go with different parts for alot less $$ and still get a perfectly reliable setup. On my truck I tend to lean towards the grossly overbuilt side of things.
-3rd gen adjustable track bar conversion of your choice
- 98-99 or 2010+ (I'm going 2010+) steering
- Free spin kit (either a kit or your own home built)
- CAD delete with single piece shaft (if you even have CAD)
- XRF ball joints (when your current ones wear out)
- Steering box brace
- Borgerson steering box (when your stock one gets loose)
- Borgerson shaft (do with the box)
- PSC steering pump (do with the box)
- Rock Solid Steering Bushing
- Bilstien 5100 series shocks
- 3rd gen brakes (have to go with 17" wheels to do this)
- New front control arms (not really necessary, but they do help some)
http://www.dieselbombers.com/5-9l-24...ing-cheap.html
If you're willing to get some machining done the free spin can still be done on the late D60/AAM axles. The parts for this particular swap can be from any Ford D60, but 92-97 still works best.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...s-t178781.html
If you're looking for pretty much a bullet proof long haul setup then I'd do the following. Keep in mind this isn't the cheapest route, but IMO its the best way to go. You can cut out some of these, or go with different parts for alot less $$ and still get a perfectly reliable setup. On my truck I tend to lean towards the grossly overbuilt side of things.
-3rd gen adjustable track bar conversion of your choice
- 98-99 or 2010+ (I'm going 2010+) steering
- Free spin kit (either a kit or your own home built)
- CAD delete with single piece shaft (if you even have CAD)
- XRF ball joints (when your current ones wear out)
- Steering box brace
- Borgerson steering box (when your stock one gets loose)
- Borgerson shaft (do with the box)
- PSC steering pump (do with the box)
- Rock Solid Steering Bushing
- Bilstien 5100 series shocks
- 3rd gen brakes (have to go with 17" wheels to do this)
- New front control arms (not really necessary, but they do help some)
#9
For steering check out this guys website.
http://www.mark74.com/ram_modifications.htm
I switched over to the 98 HD steering. I bought all my steering parts through Rock Auto. It was by far the cheapest.
As for converting over to part time hubs, I reccomend doing it, I'm the one who did the conversion and wrote the link in the previous post.
A caveat to that is the junk yards don't want to sell individual pieces to the Dana 60, they want to sell the whole unit. Everyone who is driving a truck with IFS is switching over to solid axle and using the Furd Dana 60. You can buy a whole Furd Dana 60 for about $1200 and in the long run would be easier to swap into your truck then deal with what i did and cheaper than EMS offroad or Dynatheft.
By doing the whole axle swap you get rid of the CAD get 35 spline axles verses your 32 spline axles and get 4.10 gearing (most common for those years Furd D60) which will run better if your going to 35 inch tires and lift.
Only problem is no ABS tone ring but that is solveable by doing what I did in the conversion.
PM me if you have any other questions as to switching over.
http://www.mark74.com/ram_modifications.htm
I switched over to the 98 HD steering. I bought all my steering parts through Rock Auto. It was by far the cheapest.
As for converting over to part time hubs, I reccomend doing it, I'm the one who did the conversion and wrote the link in the previous post.
A caveat to that is the junk yards don't want to sell individual pieces to the Dana 60, they want to sell the whole unit. Everyone who is driving a truck with IFS is switching over to solid axle and using the Furd Dana 60. You can buy a whole Furd Dana 60 for about $1200 and in the long run would be easier to swap into your truck then deal with what i did and cheaper than EMS offroad or Dynatheft.
By doing the whole axle swap you get rid of the CAD get 35 spline axles verses your 32 spline axles and get 4.10 gearing (most common for those years Furd D60) which will run better if your going to 35 inch tires and lift.
Only problem is no ABS tone ring but that is solveable by doing what I did in the conversion.
PM me if you have any other questions as to switching over.
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada (just outside Edmonton)
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Personally, I went with Moog parts. I got 300,000 kms on the stock stuff, and Moog has lifetime warranty. For the track bar it was about $200 which was cheaper than the aftermarket 3rd gen upgrade stuff, and like I said has lifetime warranty. Plus all of the Moog steering and suspension parts are all fully greasable now. I also installed the steering box stabilizer bracket too. Just my two cents.
#11
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Rockford IL
Posts: 205
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I rebuilt my 2wd.
Mine was a 2wd with the riveted balljoints and I will let the machine shop do most of the component disassembly and reassembly next time. The suspension teardown was no big deal, it was dealing with the individual components. I did bushings and all, the ball joints were a b*tch because of the rivets and getting the bushings in and out should have been done with an arbor press. It may be better with the 4wd.
Good luck...gary
Good luck...gary
#12
XRF: Good stuff!
MOOG: not so good stuff
Carli: $$$$, good stuff
DYNA:$$$, good stuff
I went with the xrf, easy install, 60% of the price of moog and way better quality!
MOOG: not so good stuff
Carli: $$$$, good stuff
DYNA:$$$, good stuff
I went with the xrf, easy install, 60% of the price of moog and way better quality!
#13
Registered User
Personally, I went with Moog parts. I got 300,000 kms on the stock stuff, and Moog has lifetime warranty. For the track bar it was about $200 which was cheaper than the aftermarket 3rd gen upgrade stuff, and like I said has lifetime warranty. Plus all of the Moog steering and suspension parts are all fully greasable now. I also installed the steering box stabilizer bracket too. Just my two cents.
#14
Registered User
If you just want a common replacement track bar, the Moog one is very good. The ball and socket are about 50% larger than the OEM one. There are specialty units available too, if you want high dollar stuff.
Same with ball joints. For jobber stuff, the XRFs are supposed to be really good. Again, there are also high-end specialty stuff available too.
Same with ball joints. For jobber stuff, the XRFs are supposed to be really good. Again, there are also high-end specialty stuff available too.
#15
My approach is anytime a Chrysler made part fails which is often - it is replaced with something someone else makes that is better. Thank goodness for the aftermarket or my truck would be broken all the time. I suggest everyone else do the same.