how many km/mi do stock front end lower ball joints on 97 2500 auto go before they sieze up ? i have 200 000 mi on my 97 that i purchased 2 years ago and i was wondering if its possible that the ball joints are original or have been replaced. i know the truck has had a very easy life with lots of hwy mils. also if you know how to tell when the track bar needs to be replaced. thanks


97 auto 4x4.

 

Mine were original at 160K miles, unusual but possible.

 

worn out track bar...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPgOhcOxrHg

 

For some reason the 1st and 2nd gen trucks seems to last a lot longer as far as ball joints and u-joints go. If you have no wear on the insides of your front tires I'd just disregard the whole theory. Now, as for 3rd gens go........

 

I jacked my new to me 02 up this afternoon and noticed that when I let the jack down the lower ball joints moved back up into the socket a bit. Tire wear looks good and it drives good, So should I get ready to have them replaced? Thanks Mark

 

260,000 4th owner, the shop said they were stock and still tight
I use molly greese on everything

 

I just replaced the ball joints on my 01 w/103220 miles. The uppers were shot, boots dried and split. The lowers were fine but I did all of them. That was one thing I hope to never have to tackle again. nothing like having to drill all those rivets. Glad the new ones are bolt in.

 

2wd no doubt, mine were the same........uppers gone

 

I just replaced mine, truck has 335K miles. 4x4, the uppers were toast, ie no boots, no grease, just wobbling around in the socket with a bit of fine metal 'dust' falling out occasionally. The lowers weren't terrible, but I went ahead and had all replaced with moog's while I had it apart.

IIRC they replaced at the dealer around 150K miles, so this set had somewhere around 185-200k on them

 

My stock trac bar went TU around 65K which led to a general wear out of teh ball joints and tie rod ends. I had everything replaced and installed a Thuren trac bar.

My trac bar axle side bushing wore and allowed some play in the steering components but I caught it in time and everything is still fine. A slight amount of play is acceptable, I just keep the grease up and am good....

Dad's 94 is still all stock and drives really nicely at 96,000 miles, no parts, just yearly alignments, needed or not.

 

Not necessarily. The 2000 and newer trucks have a spec for allowable axial (up and down) play. Even at brand new they will show some movement that's totally normal. Can't remember the spec exactly but it's fairly large, close to .100" if I recall correctly. I would measure them with a dial indicator and just leave them alone until they get close to the limit, or until they develop radial (side to side) play.

 

My original lowers went on my 02 @ 120K miles. Tie rods were pretty worn too at 120K so I ended up replacing everything, all 4 ball joints, all the tie rods, both hubs, both axle shaft u joints, brakes, and the track bar. I have 91k miles on the replacement parts and they are still good. Glad I changed over to greasable parts.

 

PS: They don't usually "seize up" they get sloppy to the point where they don't hold the tire in the correct position when driving anymore...as mentioned, uneven tire wear is a dead giveaway.