njmaier

Went to get my truck aligned yesterday...said they couldn't do it b/c of all the slop in my front end. They said that all ball joints, both hub bearings, and one u-joint is whacked. I'm taking what they say with a grain of salt.

How do I verify this stuff on my own? I do not know how to check these things and see if they are really bad or not. I did search but didn't really find a good description of how to check things out.

Also, when looking at replacement ball joints, which ones do I need? I've seen some that are standard and non-adjustable, and some that are adjustable in certain increments.

If I really have to do all this stuff I think I'll just replace everything while I'm in there (hub bearings, ball joints, u-joints, brake pads, rotors, maybe even a Dynatrac hub conversion). Anything else to add to that list? I'd rather do it once and be done for a while.

Thanks for any help offered.

marlbroman

im in the same boat but i need 4 ball joint and 4 tie rods.so far going to use napa parts.

Jasco

Went to get my truck aligned yesterday...said they couldn't do it b/c of all the slop in my front end. They said that all ball joints, both hub bearings, and one u-joint is whacked.


NJMAIER, How many miles do you have with those 315's?

njmaier

I have 46500 on this truck...only 20000 of that is with 315s.

bigdav160

All I can say "make them show you".

Front end work is riddled with fraud. The manufacture has specifications for the amount of play in any joint. Sometimes as much as 1/8 inch.

Many shops will say "any" slack is too much. Upper ball joints should be checked with the lift on the frame and suspension hanging. Pushing in on the tire at 12 and 6 o'clock and observing the joints will show the bad ones. Typically the uppers shouldn't have any play. The lowers are checked by placing a jack under the control arm or axle and using a long pry bar to pick up the tire. I'd limit the play at the lower ball joint to 1/8 inch. Hub bearings are little hard to check but shouldn't have play.

04.5RAMHD

If you have to replace, use greasable components, like Precision 464 front
axle u-joints. Do the DYNATRAC conversion if within your means. You want
be sorry.

Forstner

The dealers around my area would replace the axle u-joints, but the front driveshaft, ball joints were not covered. I replaced allthe u-jonts in the entire truck. 351 for rear from NAPA. Couldn't get ball joints from aftermarket, so I bought all 4 from the dealer, $108.00 for upper and $87.00 for lowers. Fleet Pride located the U-joints for the front axle, had them ship direct to my house
Neapco 3-0485 ended up none greaseable,darn it. NAPA couln't even order 464 for me. I tore the truck down saturday and finally had all the parts tuesday afternoon. This ticked me off. I can find parts from the dealers and aftermarket for my '68 chevy dumptruck faster than a 2003 dodge, and greaseable! My drivers side upper had more play than the rest, I could move it alot just with the knuckle. I canged all 4. 1 bad axle u-joint changed both.
1 bad in front driveshaft, changed all 3. $250.00 for just front driveshaft. 50500 miles on her. Thankfully thats all up to this point. $900.00 for parts, a gallon of sweat, and some acetalene and oxogen. The hubs and rotors are fine. They pressed out pretty nice. I kept switching back and forth, while my son turned the steering for me. Having another set of hands is certainly the trick. I tried growing some took too long! My boy did exactly what I told him to do. Told him I could lose or smash a finger if he couldn't do what I asked. 12 hours worth of work for all that was done. The Dealer would still have it.If any have ?'s just ask.I isn't real easy for everone.Thanks, Randy

coobie

Please explain what DYNATRAC conversion is.Thanks,coobie.

04.5RAMHD

The factory front axle arrangement utilizes a unitized bearing which is nothing
more than a housing with sealed bearings and a flange that the wheel studs
press into and which is splined to a short stub shaft. There is no diconnect
at the wheel and therefore both axle shafts, the R+P and front driveshaft
needlessly spin anytime the truck is in motion.
The Dynatrac kit replaces NONSERVICEABLE and expensive factory unit
bearings with a fixed spindle , serviceable tapered roller bearings ,35 spline
stub shafts and manual locking Warn premium hubs, therefore eliminating
all the unnecessary spinning and thus wear on the front axle components.
It allows the use of 2wd low range and also eliminates the common 70 m.p.h.
vibration. There are also reports of a 1-3 mpg. increase, but I wouldn't
bet any money on anything over a 1 mpg increase. Hopefully I will soon find
out as I should be getting my kit this week.

coobie

Where can I buy this Dynatrac kit setup?Thanks for any info.coobie

04.5RAMHD

You will have to buy direct from Dynatrac. Do a web search to find contact
info . They are in CA . They also have adds in all major truck enthusiast
mags such as DIESEL POWER.

Berak

That is funny calling the factory bearings expensive when the Dynatrac kit is approaching $2K. You can replace the factory bearings 5 times for that much. MPG gains are probably less than 1 mpg, and your adding another component to the driveline which may break (although I'm sure the Warn hubs are pretty strong) and adding an inconvenience in needing to engage the hubs manually. I like getting into and out of 4x4 effortlsessly from within the cab which I find much safer. I don't think it would ever even come close to paying for itself and the only reason I would ever consider it was if I really needed 2WD low.

04.5RAMHD

To each his own. I consider this the best mod to be made to these trucks
and I would still do it if the mileage went down!
I believe the kit will pay for itself in the LONGRUN in u-joints, wheel bearings,
and driveshafts, although as I mentioned I did not buy it as a cost saving
feature. Those of us who plan on keeping their trucks until there wore out
are the ones that have the most to gain from this mod.
I've not bought a unit bearing for my truck, but I'm told they run about
$300 each so that would equate to 3 sets to pay for the kit and I consider
having to get out of the truck to manually lock the hubs a very small trade
off for not having the front axle shafts and driveshaft spinning when I'm
traveling 70 mph or more on the interstate, but like I said, to each his own.

Berak

Well I plan to keep my truck a good long time but I think if you have install greasable u-joints, most of these parts excepting the wheel bearings since they are not greasable may have a benefit from constant rotation in a lubricating fluid vs. going a summer with no movement and letting moisture and rust set in.

As you say, to each his own ...

XLR8R

You're right Berak - generally, the worst thing for a machine is to not use it!
When I got my '05, I considered removing the front drive shaft for non-4WD weather, but with the AAM axles (I'm used to Dana's), figured it was better to let 'em spin the hardware through the juice.

On the 2nd gens, I did like the ability to run 2WD LO by using a vacuum breaker connected to a dash switch.