I have a 2006 5.9L 2500 4X4, 114,00 miles Started out wanting to change out upper and lower ball joints. Doing research and reading many post I'm confused a bit on what all to replace. This is what I came up with so far: upper/lower ball joints, wheel bearing hubs, axle u-joints, tie rod ends, 08 steering upgrade, sway bar end links, coil springs, steering linkage. I already have the steering stabilizer and Bilstein damper shock. Michelin LTX 285/70, no lift. My questions are: will my Bilstein damper work on the 08 steering upgrade, should I get every bushing replaced such as control arm bushings. I am trying to get the steering and front end to drive well and last several more years down the road. Only have about $1200.00 for parts. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Probably not in your budget but...

Synergy Manufacturing HD Tie Rod and Drag Link Kit 03-13 Ram HD 8525-01

This might finally do it.

 

I also have a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9L (92k miles). When I got my last tire balance & rotation, the shop checked my alignment. The attachment shows the results printout. They told me that to correct the alignment, I need to replace the OEM upper ball joints with adjustable ones. I jacked it up and when pulling/pushing the tires at 6 & 12, I can hear a little play at the upper passenger BJ. I figured that I might as well change all 4 BJs.

I'm trying to figure out if it's best to go with regular, non-adjustable BJs or adjustable BJs. Will installing non-adjusting automatically put the camber back within tolerance? I'm also interested in hearing other owners and/or mechanics experiences with brands (Carli vs Dynatrac vs Moog).

Thanks,
Tom

 

From everything I've read here, carli is the way to go. Mine are still good. But when I'm ready to do it I'll use carli. I think danderson has done his with carli .I'm sure he'll chime in. Knows a lot about this stuff. Has good advice

 

I got in on a group buy+rebates from Dynatrac so I went with them for the freespins and bj's. Otherwise I might have used Carli's bj's.
Next front steering linkage will be the Synergy setup i posted depending on reviews.
I have ridden in a Carli 2.5 pintop with rear leafs and it's amazingly nice riding and handling. My trackbar is seven yrs old now and made my Thuren. His coils are great although a bit too soft for the leverage and weight of the camper. I have his 2.5 Kings. Quite a suspension mutt with Kore front coils. Mismatched but it actually works well.

 

Something out of the blue just happened with my '06 with about 60k miles. Both lower control arms went bad. The bushings rusted loose and loss there press fit in the arms, all 4 bushings. I took the first one out and pressed it back into position, but I didn't trust it as there wasn't a whole lot of press fit left in it. Pretty nice thing that the factory does with their arms is the press indentations in the bushing sleeve opposite the flange end so the bushing can't slide into a position that allows much play just a clink-clink and about 1/4" side to side motion. The aftermarket arms I bought didn't have this. I am thinking of pulling them out and doing the same to them. I have no clue how long they have been like this, but didn't think loose arms are much good.

It might be worth it to climb under your truck and shake your lower arms to see if they are loose.

 

has anyone used the synergy steering linkage that has a magtec diff cover. wanted to see if it will clear before i get one.

 

Perhaps contact these guys:
Synergy Manufacturing HD Tie Rod and Drag Link Kit 03-13 Ram HD 8525-01.
That's the best price I can find+no shipping.