Just curious...

I heard from a supporter of a rival truck brand, that he heard that the front end components of our trucks are wearing out early. He said he's heard of people needing replacement of all front end parts at around 60,000 miles.

I'm at 40,000 miles, and it drives and feels as tight as the day I drove it off the lot..

What front end work have you had done, and at how many miles?? I dont believe him, so I want to prove it!!!

 

Bump ---- 30 views and no response.. I'll take that as 30 3rd gens with no front end problems so far.

 

Just had front u-joints replaced at 30,000 on mine . They were not greased at factory and that is why they failed , I would say Dodge had a vender problem . A lot depends on how you use your front end as to how long it will last . If you do a lot of city driving you will get more front end wear then somebody doing mostly highway driving also if your truck is loaded and unloaded everyone situation is different . If we could grease the front end life would be a lot better .

 

Lets see here, lower BJ's at 60k...new steering rack 130k

 

83,000 miles and no problems.

 

Has anyone had any problems with the ball joints on a 2004.5 3500 4x4? Just in the last week, mine has taken on a different feel in the steering. It is stiff and has a tendency to wander going down a nice smooth freeway. Pulling a 5er is a real handfull. Jacked the front wheels up, one at a time and with a crowbar under the tire, there is a bit of play, like 1/32 or less on the left and a little more on the right. I think that is the problem. Any input from you fellow truckers would realy help. It only has 14,000 miles. No off roading, or abuse, just pulling a 5er, and hauling some mulch. Babyied too much, but waiting for the big trip.
Thanks.

 

Just hit 40 miles and I am on my 3rd (and last) track bar, hub assemblies are totally shot and so they are being replaced with the Dynatrac upgrade, steering (tie rod, specifically) was totally worn out and had to be replaced.
So far, I'm still on the stock ball joints, but I might go ahead and replace them just so it's over with. Dodge front ends do bring the suck.
Fords aren't much better, and GM's have an incredibly weak IFS setup. They all have their downfalls, I'm just glad that I know what all "can" go wrong with mine so that I can fix it myself.

 

Put all four ball joints on mine at 13k miles. Now at 24k the tech. says I need them again. 0-13K miles with 37 inch tires. 14k-24k with 35 inch tires. Maybe there is difference why some have no problems and others are wearing out fast. The tech. told me it was just cheap parts and when I replace them not to go with Mopar parts.

 

Power steering pump at 37,200, steering box at 37,800

 

28K 2004.5 Front wheel hub and rear u-joint.

 

Even though the truck road fairly well it didn't pass the "bounce test" in the shop. Today at 51,000 I replaced the factory shocks with Rancho 9000's.

While I was under the truck I checked the ball joints, steering linkage, bearing hubs and track bar. All were tight and sound.

 

96,000 mi
front brake caliper replaced under warranty. 32,000 mi.
No other problems

 

I am sure that this misguided F-word enthusiast is speaking of the problems that the second gens had with steering. The 98-02s had better tie rods, drag links, and steering stabilizer setups. The 94-98 had pretty weak tie rod, and drag link setup. All second gen track bars sucked.

 

Hardlyhindle, I tow hard in 4 lo offroad with up to 25k outback. I spend alot of time on logging roads. Ujoints on the front hubs lasted well for me 130k miles, All the others were replaced at least once with greaseables finally. The 03 has a better track bar than the 04 and 05's. Ball joints were just replaced at 130k miles and they were still ok. If you have been hard on your truck in the past then the ideal situation is to replace the track bar with an aftermarket design. There is a steering box brace that helps the front end keep tight also. I was expecting to replace the whole front end of the truck every 30k miles based on what the Ford and Chevy guys were telling me. Dodge, is as reliable as any for sure. My truck steers like it did when I got it with 5 k miles on it. ks

 

I did a front pinion seal at 34,000.
Otherwise, so far, so good.