Front end is trash
06-16-2007, 05:53 PM
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Front end is trash
I have 63,500 on my truck and the front end is trash. I started to replace the left axel u-joint , and found hub bearings , ball joints and the u- joints to be bad. I checked the other side and found the same thing. I don't beat my truck, i drive 120 mi. a day round trip to work, on good roads. I would think this thing would last a little longer than this. 
06-16-2007, 06:20 PM
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I have 63,500 on my truck and the front end is trash. I started to replace the left axel u-joint , and found hub bearings , ball joints and the u- joints to be bad. I checked the other side and found the same thing. I don't beat my truck, i drive 120 mi. a day round trip to work, on good roads. I would think this thing would last a little longer than this.
06-16-2007, 09:47 PM
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Like I said , I drive on good roads 120mi. a day. The worst this truck has seen is a dirt road. I am replacing every thing with what ever NAPA has that is top of the line.
06-16-2007, 09:59 PM
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i have 63,000 miles on my truck. i just replaced the enitire front end two weeks ago- axle u-joints, upper and lower ball joints,and tie rods. i also had a bad wheel bearing, but i refused to spend 240.00 bucks each on the hub assemblies-so i installed the dyna-trac lock out hubs and threw a front set of pads on her-since i had everything torn apart. the only things left to install is the don thuren trac bar and the dss stabilizer bar and i'll be good to go!!. also, mileage is up 1.25 mpg with the lock out hubs-that is with 60% city driving!
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06-16-2007, 10:35 PM
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I don't understand why some trucks have trouble and some don't. I would say that 1/3 of my miles are off Road and I have never had any trouble. I have on 20 bales on my 34 foot flatbed hiting irrigation ruts head on. Or hauling cattle out to pasture not exactley smooth. This is some serious hard use. Yet the next guy driving all highway has trouble, I don't get it?
06-16-2007, 10:36 PM
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I have 63,500 on my truck and the front end is trash. I started to replace the left axel u-joint , and found hub bearings , ball joints and the u- joints to be bad. I checked the other side and found the same thing. I don't beat my truck, i drive 120 mi. a day round trip to work, on good roads. I would think this thing would last a little longer than this.
It's frustrating to me that, once again, Dodge seems to have designed the front-end of thier trucks to handle only the gas V-8 engines. Even with considerabley less weigth as my 2wd unit has, I still put on brake rotors about every 50k, and wheel bearings nearly as often. I really like the Cummins engine, but I'm beginning to wonder about the build quality of the rest of the truck!
06-16-2007, 10:54 PM
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the front end of these trucks, along with other manufacturers use the cheapest parts they can (this is the main reason these trucks no longer come with lock out hubs!) from the factory the only thing you can grease up front are the outer tie rods! since i replaced everything- i can still grease the outer tie rods, but i can now grease the upper and lower ball joints and the axle u-joints. common sense- if i keep everything greased- i'll get more mileage out of them. plus, all the moog parts i used have a lifetime warranty- they go bad- i get new parts free. sure, i have to go through the hassle of putting them in,etc-but at least the parts won't cost me.
06-16-2007, 11:22 PM
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Many who are complaining about worn out ball joints on 3rd gen trucks don't realize that there is a spec for play in these parts. Just because there is some movement in the joint doesn't necessarily mean it's no good. Many aftermarket shops don't realize this either, it seems. If you feel play in your ball joints, measure it. I don't recall the spec but it's in the manual.
06-16-2007, 11:34 PM
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Well my truck has 154,000 miles on it and last week I noticed that the driver side front axle u-joint was going bad. I dont have all the tools to do the work so I took it to the shop to get it done. After they got it up on the lift and took the tire off we noticed that the ball joints were shot on the driver side and the passenger side. So instead of just changing the u-joint I ended up changing all of the ball joints, both u-joints and one tie rod end, because it broke when it was removed. I love my dodge diesel, but everytime I have to do any work on it I seem to run into problem after problem. I dont remeber having this many problems with my other rams. Maybe its just the fact that this was the first year for the new body style. Maybe its just me who knows.
06-16-2007, 11:38 PM
#15
Many who are complaining about worn out ball joints on 3rd gen trucks don't realize that there is a spec for play in these parts. Just because there is some movement in the joint doesn't necessarily mean it's no good. Many aftermarket shops don't realize this either, it seems. If you feel play in your ball joints, measure it. I don't recall the spec but it's in the manual.
LOWER AND UPPER BALL JOINT
To properly diagnose the lower and upper ball joint two readings from the dial indicator are necessary, The two readings must be added together to find a total ball joint movement.
If this reading is above 2.29 mm (0.090 inch) then replacement of the lower ball joint is necessary.
If this reading is above 1.52 mm (0.060 inch) then replacement of the upper ball joint is necessary.
from the Manual
