I took the truck to the shop today to get the outer tie rods replaced and ended up leaving needing:
upper ball joints
lower ball joints
1 stud
1 hub
brake pads
and my outer tie rod ends


ain't life a......

at least i know that the front end will be better that new when i pick it up tomorrow.
it also looks like my water pump might be leaking a little. when it was up on the rack at the shop i saw a drip.....drip......drip......

at least i am still saying i got a good deal on the truck. i paid well below blue book and by the time i get it the way i want it and any parts i need to get it in top shape, i will still be below blue book...

 

im in the same boat... i just replaced my track bar bushings only to figure out one of my inner tie rods it bad. i think im going to replace all the tie rods because if i dont ill get it aligned and a month later another one will go out and have to pay for an alignment again. i chceked my ball joint a while back and they seemd ok, gues ill save thoes for later! truck just rolled over 88k today and a guy i ride to work with said "its not even broke in yet". i was think in my head... the motor isnt, but the truck sure is wore out!

 

yup yup, mine has lived a rough life as a farm truck before i bought it. it will be like new by next spring though

 

one month ago- i put on upper and lower greasable ball joints, new greasable axle u-joints. new tie rods, don thuren track bar, dds stabilzer bar, new steering stabilizer, new sway bar poly bushings and the dyna-trac locking hubs,along with front pads-all that is left, is new sway bar links. front end is tighter/better than when i drove it off of the dealers lot!!!-only took 14 hours over two days-with a buddies help to accomplish all this-plus two cases of beer!

 

where did you buy the greasable ball joints? How much better then stock are they

 

they are moogs- the best price i could find local or on the net-was from rockauto.com. i think they are better because they are greasable for one. being adjustable helps for alignment reasons too! my alignment came out perfect!

 

I agree with RJM022 when my front end finally gives up I will do the whole thing.
Has anyone ever tried putting an older front end unit in that has servicable bearings?
Would this just be a nightmare?

 

how do you guys know how to do your own alignment at home?

 

How does Moog compare to Spicer? I noticed that RockAuto has both. Also, I noticed that they only had the Moog lower balljoints listed for the 2006 CTD.