sallyman1

I have a 2004.5 ram short box diesel 4X4. It has 190,000km on it now and front ball joints are shot. Heres my ? I want to order MOOG (with grease fittings ) and do it myself. Question which ones do i order. There are some with different cambers on them .5, 1.5 etc... Which offset or camber do i get. I run a stock lifted truck and normal sized tires. Do a search yourself online for ball joints and youll see what i mean.

rjm022

upper adjustable part number is k7448. lowers are k7467

OOPS

Why does he need adjustable ones when his suspension is stock?

vzdude

Never had to put offset balljoints in anything. If the camber is off with standard ( not worn out ) ball joints ...something is either bent, or the rear springs are weak. Just my experience. That, and the long discussion with the alignment shop before putting my ball joints in! LOL BTW - bought the Moog standard ones. Biggest problem I saw with the offset ones is you have to put the standards in ( because they ones now are loose right? ) to get an alignment reading, then do it all over again when you know what offset you'd need. Not this guy!

rjm022

i have offset/adjustable upper ball joints on my stock height truck. made the alignment so much easier. the guy at the tire shop said my truck was the easiest vehicle he had aligned in 20 years! took him 20 minutes to align it. my truck tracks down the road perfectly straight!!

sallyman1

okay. so i should buy moog adjustable upper and lowers? then take them to my dealer so that they can install them?

OOPS

Dealer may not install aftermarket parts.

rjm022

i would not take it to the dealer! there has to be a good shop in your area.

sallyman1

yeah there is. thats what i meant sorry. but buy the adjustable upper and lowers or just 1 or the either?

rjm022

uppers are greaseable and adjustable-buy two. the lowers are just greasable-buy two. best price is at rockauto.com. i checked locally first, but rockauto was the cheapest by far.

sallyman1

only uppers are adjustable? im sure there was adjustable bottoms to

rjm022

well, if they make lower adjustable ones- i did not get them- i bought the moog ball joints- part numbers above(another post) my alignment came out perfectly. if they make lower adjustable ones, i would not see why you need them, with the uppers being adjustable!!

sallyman1

If doing the job myself (except wheel allignment) what tools do i need? Parts? Of course ill buy the 2 upper and 2 lower ball joints but what will I need? Will I need any axle seals, Bearings etc...? Can it be done without the tool?

sallyman1

if i do it myself what will i need?

OOPS

A ball joint press will make life a lot easier for you. I just did a D-44 on a 95 1500 and if I did not have the press I do not think I would have gotten them out. I got mine from Harbor Freight for $30.00. A lot of the auto parts stores have tools to loan/rent in my area. I also used an impact wrench, basic hand tools, 1/2 six point sockets 3/8's allen head socket, and a torque wrench.




Here is a write up on changing them on a D-44. Our axles are very simlar.

http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178091