As stated in another thread my 07 went into DPS today cause of a ceased u-joint.Truck has 90 easy Km on her,mostly highway.I managed to stop by after my 13hour day at work to have a look,not to bad getting it apart as the tech knew by how clean/well kept the ride it that things should come apart pretty easily---3 hour total both sides.SO-----driver u-joint completely ceased---torched to get that one out,passenger side was not to far behind.One hub felt like it was grinding a bit and had some play.Balljoints----bottoms basically came out by hand,upper starting to go as well,brakes/rotors had about 40% left and were in good shape.Front pinions seal dripping + lower return line for the trans oil cooler weeping---going to have those replace too.After all is said and done----NEW Carli Balljoints/Spicer U-Joints/Mopar hubs/Brake pads,new oil coller line+ pinion seal and while its on the hoist i had them upgrade to a 08 +steering set up with the larger tie rods/pitman arm/stabilizer plus alignment.Basically a new front end at just over 90Km,but probable could of came away with just replacing what was need but i have a 4500+Km tip in 7 weeks so let hope peace of mind for a bit.My MRS drives this ride to our vacation place mostly so i don't mind spending the coin if there is a little better reliability wise. My tough week.DW

 

Funny my 02 still have the original universal joints in the axles at 320000km's. One new hub, just cause the outer axle stub was frozen and got damaged during its removal. My lower ball joints where good, just needed new uppers. Replaced both hubs, upper/lower ball joints, long/short arms, seals and just regreased up the u-joints, about 150000km's ago. Did my own wheel alignment. Probably needs to be done again one day, sooner than later. I'm just going to do the kingpin/free spin off an older chevy. Less money and I get better rebuildable parts. Another plus is you get higher spline outer axle snubs in the process. The only trick is getting the front dodge dual calipers to work with the older chevy stuff.

I would have also checked out the front drive shaft for wear. They seem to have issues at the flex joint near the t-case. You could have also upgraded the brakes to the larger 4th gen size.

 

I feel bad, I'm just rolled over 360,000 kms on the factory front end, even my rotors are original..

Only thing that has ever been my issue is the front driveshaft, I'm on my third one now. The last 30,000 kms have been with out the shaft in and I gained 105 kms a tank distance averaged over 10 ten tanks.

Of course I know I'm on borrowed time but it just keeps going. Only gravel it sees is the 40 feet of it in my driveway so it does have an easy highway life.

Jeff

 

The ol 97 got ball joints and a drivers front hub bearing assembly at 350,000 Km (3 weeks ago). Some of the ball joints were still tight, but I replaced them all anyway. Drives like new now, didn't realize that little bit of slop would make it wander so much.

The wheel U joints were replaced at around 300 K.

 

Maybe the dana front end stuff last longer than the AAM stuff. Look at how long the first gen stuff can last. Nice thing about king pins, you typically just need to clean and re-lubricate, and you good to go.

 

I was wondering why they don't do that. You don't need ball joints to hold the knuckle and turn only.

 

Bingo, way better

 

Here some pics of the new front end-----

 

A few more

 

Sure is tight now,tracks straight,more responsive.The 08 steering is a must on the 3 genners as side by side of the parts the old OEM's look pretty small, almost like it was meant for a 1/2 ton.Carli balljoint are a work of art----(KUDOS TO THEM )Hopefully i wont't have to worry for a while while my bank account recovers---but i am putting my Buckstop bumpers on hold for a year until i finish the suspension(Glacier ladder bars,Carli Vari-rate front springs/Bilsteins 5100/trac bar/contol arms/end links are next on the list of must haves)---may also update to a Carli steering damper later on as the 08 steering upgrade came with a new OEM complete----CHEERS DW.PS if anyone is looking for these Carli Ball Joints----NADP in Edmonton is the only place in Canada that had any sitting on the shelve,all other had a month wait----"THANKYOU TO BARRY AT NADP" for getting these to me in one day when my options were looking slim.DPS tech says they are a tight mother to get them installed.

 

Looks awesome!

Carli stuff is a stocking item at Baja North in Kamloops also. Craig and the boys do a lot of 2nd Gens.

Jeff

 

NADP still has em in stock too... Very nice folks on the phone.. Thanks for the heads up that they stock em...

 

Not sure, but it would fix lots of dodge issues. The 1st gens had them, and a bet a few of them are still on the original king pins.

Alot of the chevy dana 60 stuff 1 ton stuff is priced decently. Makes for a nice free spin upgrade as well and you get the upgraded spline count outer axle snubs.

 

I'd turn that left hand side tie rod so that its sitting straight up and down. Theres been a few guys in the 3rd gen forum with the tie rods wearing prematurely and even snapping because of the angle/binding at full turn. The new steering setup is nice though hey? I did mine plus dynatrac balljoints and its a night and day difference!

 

will do.-------DW