My truck just failed inspection as the passenger side ball joint has movement.

2006, Diesel 2500 4X4 with 76K miles

I can't get it repaired until next week, but i need to haul a trailer 400 miles round trip this weekend.

If I hadn't gone for the inspection I would never know there was a problem. No vibration, no clunking. Truck rides fine. I just returned from a 2000 mile haul with no issues.

Will I die is I drive this truck 400 miles?...................

 

Yes................now that the Legal baloney is out of the way, I have a couple of thousand miles on my loose joint, I am waiting until I get my free spin kit. Mine is like yours, I never knew until I had the front end off the ground changing tires, gave it a good wiggle, and there she was.

 

As I read more about this subject, how can you tell if it's ball joints and not wheel bearings, or visa versa...........

I'm not sure the fellow doing the inspection knew what he was talking about. There is side to side wiggle (9 and 3 o-clock) but no up down (12 and 6 o-clock)

 

You are due a set of ball joints. I'm on my second set with 137,000 on the odometer. Also, you should have up and down movement if the joints are bad. Wheel bearings will usually make some noise when they get bad but not always. I'd get someone else to look at it too. Both repairs are not cheap. You can get greasable joint now at NAPA and Carquest. one has the uppers and the other has the lowers but I cant remember which was which.

 

Thanks...........

There are excellent threads on this forum for doing the work myself. I've done a few cars in my past, but never a large 4WD truck. Looks like I just need a few bigger tools and a BFH...............

 

You'll need a ball joint removal tool for sure.

 

I pulled the wheel last night and it is certainly the upper ball joint. About a 1/16" movement. Bottom joint is tight. I ordered upper and lower MOOG products from RockAuto.com ($131.22 delivered)

I'll order the other side and do it this fall.......When it's cooler.

I'm going to take a chance and do my trip this weekend. About 400 miles total. Like I said, I wouldn't have known there was an issue had it not been caught during the inspection.

 

I was down in Key West, Fl when I started hearing a strange sound from my front end. I found that it was the ball joints on the drivers side. Not wanting to mess with it there, I drove the truck home and replaced them in Texas. I purchased a Harbor Freight ball joint tool (can be rented from Autozone) and also went with MOOG I did have to cut a piece of pipe to add to the tool kit. It was my first time doing this repair. The job was relatively easy. My truck is 2WD.

 

ET Ram - Nice rig,,,pretty similar except extended cab....

And NO - you should not die if you drive it 400 miles. I went about a month on mine and it was making some pretty awful noises, I don't reccommend it, but it was the last month I was in grad school, I didn't drive all that much, so I just was careful and tried not to drive it a whole lot especially then.

Anyone have a procedure for changing these out? I would like to do it myself the next time. Thanks...

 

Just do a search on "ball joints" there are fantastic How Tos with pictures and everything you need to know.......This DTR is a fantastic resource (Just like the title implies!)

 

i looked at mine this weekend and mine are shot also. do you have to take the spring out or does it even get in the way? i replaced the tie rods but wasn't sure about the ball joints. i get a hell of a front end wobble at times and have to come to a complete stop for it to stop. what couses that?

 

That condition is called Death Wobble, and if you search this site, there have been a lot of posts lately on the subject, or you can do a google search. It can be a bugger tracing it down, because it is usually a combination of worn parts that allowing the wobble to happen.