Im considering getting into this on saturday, most likely sunday as well, depending on the time.

Ill be doing the tie rods as well , but those arent bad.

I have both haynes and dodge manauls, but im wondering if there is a good source of "tricks" anything that will make it an easier job, this is my first dodge 3500 ball joint attempt and I know theres some subtle differences.

I will also be doing new rotors as well.

Any info will help

Thanks

 

I don't know if you're 2 or 4wd, but here's a link to a how-to my buddy wrote when he did his 4wd 2500.

http://tinbenders.org/articles.php?wgo=show&wval=2

 

get a price from a front end shop parts and labor. then deduct the price of the ball joints if you buy them.

Then, I guess it's what your time is worth.

1/2 way through you might be thinking that you would have been better off taking that OT at work and using that money to pay for the job.

 

Well assuming your truck is a 4x4 since it has D25's..... They aren't to bad to do, but they are press ins. You can get a generic balljoint press from harbor freight, but you'll have to buy the "add on" kit to go with it or make your own sleeve things. Or you can just pull the knuckle off and take it to a shop and have them pressed out/in , then put the knuckles back on.

The link Mike Stowe posted gives you a good idea of what has to be done. Only one main difference is thats on a 2000 model and the joints are in the axle. On 99 and earlier they are in the knuckle, so its actually easier IMO because you can pull the knuckle off the truck and work on it on the bench, or use a shop press, or like I said earlier, just take the knuckle to a shop for the press work.

Hope this helps.....Josh

 

(Assuming a 4X4) There are 2 parts of the job that can be a PIA: removing the hub and removing the ball joints from the knuckle. When it's time to do mine again, I'll pull the hub then knuckle and take the knuckle with the ball joints in it to an auto machine shop and have them R&R the actual ball joints in a press. I learned this the hard way when I purchased the ball joint removal tool and spent a day attempting to remove the joint. Finally I broke down and did what I suggested above. It cost 16.00 each ball joint to R&R them with me providing the parts. Cheap in comparison to the time and aggrivation I spend wrestling with the tools.