Hey folks, just yesterday I picked up my first truck a 2003 2500 Laramie (not HO) with 216,000 kms (135,000 miles) a recently replaced automatic tranny, a Magnaflow S.S. exhaust, a ?" Skyjacker lift, 315/70's and a Leer cap. The previous owner (who bought the truck at around 16,000 kms) seemed to take excellent care of the truck and based on the shop reciepts did not neglect it. The truck is in excellent shape although the A/C isn't working and there is some surface rust showing up on the rear fenders and the top edge of the driver's door (common??) This is a Canadian truck and we use salt on the road in the winters

Anyhow, I paid $14,500 cdn ($13,800 usd) as is (asking price was $16,000 certified) - I've been looking for quite some time and this seemed like a really good price - GOOD DEAL??

So I take it to my local Chrysler dealer for safety inspection and emissions testing (emissions testing is a formality around here for diesels). Anyhow, it didn't pass safety it needs the following:

1.) Passenger upper/lower balljoint (previous owner had replaced the driver's side in April of this year so I'd hoped both sides were still good).
2.) 2 broken front coil springs??? The tech believed they may be from the Skyjacker kit - he had never seen broken coils on a Ram truck before??
3.) Inner tie rod (attaching to the pitman arm) - this ones the kicker Chrysler won't just replace (or can't get this style of end anymore) - through Chrysler I have to go with the steering system upgrade (i.e. 52122370AB upgrade)

So my questions:

1.) How can I tell if the coil springs are part of the Skyjacker lift (it looks like they used to be painted red) and is there an easy measurement I can make to determine the lift amount - I'm guessing it's a 2.5" (the previous owner didn't put the lift in and didn't know much about it) - anyone else have coil springs break?

2.) Can I get an original inner tie rod end through the aftermarket instead of the uprgraded system? (tech says he'd pass it if I just get the slop out) or should I dig in and do the steering upgrade.

Thanks in advance.

 

For starters, i wouldn't be putting chrysler frt-end parts back on. If you can't do the work yourself, find a garage that is known for doing good alignments. If i'm not mistaken those coils were red when new. Where are you at?

 

Definitely go with the upgraded '08 Dodge steering linkage! The stock stuff is weaker and the new one is Dodge's fix for death wobble. It's a real nice setup that requires a new pitman arm too. Be sure to get the new pitman arm.

 

Hey Mike, I'm from Collingwood - I plan to do all the work myself I just have to find some time. I work full-time plus I have an apple farm and we won't be finished harvest for another 3 weeks. Until then I plan to ask alot of questions, source all my parts, let my temporary sticker run out, then in a couple of weeks get another 10 day temp and head up to my buddy's, he has the exact same year, make and model and a hoist plus he's already done most of this stuff to his (newer style steering though).