Flatbed24v

My front end needs a rebuild. The tires have started to rub when I turn one direction, and the steering wheel has a lot of play in it. My 2001 4x4 5 speed has 240k miles. I will take it to a shop to get rebuilt but what I don't know is;
what do I need, to make sure that they replace it and what is not needing to be replaced to avoid extra cost?

And how much I should expect to pay?

Is there certain parts that are better then others that I need to make sure they use? Thank you for any help.

gorms

Anything worn out needs to be replaced. Without checking yourself what needs to be replaced (visual inspection) or having a trustworthy mechanic your guess is as good as any one else's.

Most likely, track bar is shot. Lots of opinions on this, but a 3rd gen set up (has no "ball" joints just bushings) seems to work well. Steering box brace is nice as well. Quality replacement parts like Moog/XRF/napa/etc. should go a long way for ball joints and tie rod ends. Always a good idea to check the frame where the steering box bolts on too, more then a few have cracked there. For stuff like this I'd have your shop show you exactly what's wrong if you don't know for sure. Good luck.

lovinCTD59

Have someone jump in your truck that you trust with it running while in park and rock the steering wheel side to side just enough to take the play out of the steering system. While they are doing this, look under the front of the truck at EACH tie rod end, both track bar ends. IF there is any play or binding they need to be replaced.

As far as ball joints and wheel bearings you can jack the front of the truck off the ground about 4 inches. Use a long pry bar (the one I have is about 4 feet long) Place it under the front tire and try to pry the tire up. If you feel and clunking, or play going up and down you may need new ball joints or wheel bearings..


No sence in replacing one front end part at a time. If you are going to do it replace all worn front end parts at the same time or you will be doing it all over again in a month.... Not sure what it would cost if you brought it to a shop. My Dad had ball joints replaced with Moog parts by a shop when he was out of town, I think it ran him between 800-1000USD..

Id be willing to say you would save about 1000USD if you can do it yourself.. Good luck!

Flatbed24v

Thanks for the input, is this a job that is simple enough for me to do my self. The biggest thing I have done is replace my injection pump my self. I'm better with engines and have more knowledge then suspension which I know nothing about.

Tallguy67

Suspension work is mostly busted knuckles, sweat equity and knowing a few tricks. The knuckles and sweat are a choice only you can make. The tricks are things the folks here will be able to help you with. For instance there is a really cool trick folks on here have figured out that allow you to use the force off the power steering to get the steering knuckle off. I have an upgraded track bar with a balljoint you can tighten and I replaced the passenger side bushing with a urethane one instead of the stock rubber one. That came from advice off the good folks here on the board. A DSS (Darin's Steering Stabilizer) will save a new steering box or extend the life of one that is starting to get sloppy. There was a really good post a few days ago explaining what (including part #'s) and how to convert from our standard Y steering setup to a very stout T steering setup. I first started hearing about this a few yrs ago and could't understand what the problem with Y steering was until I crawled under the front of my Dodge and figured out how the steering worked and then compared it to the much stronger and simpler steering mechanism on my old 1987 Chevy 1500!!

I have a bit of play in my steering these days, not horrible but enough to be annoying. In the not too distant future, I am going to get my 4 ball joints checked and deal with them if they have too. Once that is done (and I mean like the next day) I am going to convert to the T steering. If I have to, I will put in a Redhead steering box at the same time. After that, I am expecting I will be good to go for tight steering for a number of years. I don't go off-roading and most of my driving is highway driving but I do have to drive about 3 miles from home to the highway and then back again at the end of the day on a gravel road. It isn't a horribly maintained gravel road but it does have some pot-holes and a lot of washboard.

So, after all the rambling, you can get lots of tech support and know-how from us here telling you how to fix / upgrade your suspension, as for whether or not you want to do it (not criticizing you if you don't want to do it yourself), that is something only you can decide.

patdaly

My only contribution is with the 2000-2002 trucks, MOOG lower ball joints are problematic, they used to be too tight and caused some wander issues.

I would replace everything related to ball joints and wheel bearings while I was int here with good stuff, no sense in having to do it again soon, and at 240K, it all has to be worn.

Flatbed24v

I decided to try my hand at doing the work my self, is there any specialty tools needed for the job or any tricks that might make things go smoother? Thank you all for the info and help!!!!

lovinCTD59

A few things that you might want...

Ball joint press
Tie rod seperator/pickle fork
Air hammer
Air impact
Good penitrating oil/pb blaster


Like said before front end work is blood and sweat. But its not too complicated, you can do it...
I like to pressure wash under the front of the truck before the job to help eliminate the oil and grease built up over the miles...

patdaly

Having a long stroke air hammer rather than a standard air hammer is like night and day. I had never been around a long stroke type till we did my ball joints.

I have to say, that hammer did most of the work, it really saved my bacon.

Oh yea, make sure you have a Fifth of SOMETHING for when you are done.......

joem

I did mine this past year, my joints were so bad I could grab any one of them and move the joint up and down so far I thought they were going to pop out- friends wouldnt ride with me. I used lukes links on all except the drivers side rie rod as that one un screws easily. I also threw in Bilstein 5100's and Energy suspention bushings on the sway and control arms! that was a huge upgrade, truck feels new again! Here I am just after we got the 2nd pickel fork to remove the entire mess

texasprd

If you do it yourself, before you start make sure your ball joint fork will go over the new ball joints at the widest part of the stud. I had to grind out my ball joint fork (yes, it's a ball joint fork - not a tie-rod fork) so it would go over/past the stud. You don't want to be wondering why you can't get the fork in to separate the ball joint and steering knuckle (I thought about that ahead of time so I didn't have to learn it the hard way!).

SIXSLUG

Doing it yourself will definieltly save you some coin. My complete rebuild with the best parts, DSS and Thuren trac bar ran over $2000, and that didn't include steering box, steering shaft or control arm work...

Flatbed24v

Thank you guys for all the tips!!!!