skynyrd

the moog ball joints are pos i spent the money for them and mine are already starting to get loose. thinking i might go with these next time and forget about them forever. they are warrantied for the life of the truck.
http://www.thecarlisuspension.com/do...nts/index.html

skynyrd

oh and make sure you check your track bar bushings they tend to go around 60k miles if they are the rubber ones.

snAKes

Yes, Dynatrac ball joints are 565 shipped for all 4, and they should never need to be replaced again. If you need to rebuild them you can get the rebuild kit for $100 and you don't have to remove them. Supposedly no one has had to rebuild them yet. The uppers are built stronger and differently than a regular ball joint - more like a king pin. It sounds like a lot of $ but since my truck only has 35k I want to replace ball joints with a better solution. Moogs are still regular ball joints, and by reading lots of forums it seems that they used to be very good, but their quality has suffered a lot, and many guys have had to replace them too. If Dynatracs are over-rated I'd be interested in hearing some reviews from anyone who has worked with them. I was considering Carli's but they are back-ordered for weeks. I don't think they are necessarily better than the Dynatracs but they are guaranteed against wear, so are selling better.

dieselpowerproducts sells both and they seemed to really like the Dynatracs.

I still haven't ordered anything but I plan to sometime in the next few days.

snAKes

Update - I had the front drive shaft completely rebuilt and re-balanced at A-1 Drive Shafts in Baltimore. When I re-installed it my 70 MPH vibration returned. Not sure what to do next, I've isolated the problem to the front pinion through the transfer case.

Anyone know if the front pinion bearing can be changed without going into the pumpkin?

Grey Wolf

snAKes since you have the MY2003 truck I'm wondering if the original owner ever had this TSB taken care of? I have a friend that had this done when the truck was very new and it took away the vibration he felt?

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2003/19-008-03.htm

snAKes

Thanks Grey Wolf, I'll check that next time I go to the dealer. There are a couple of other recalls/TSB's that I plan to check on too, and I might try to get them to re-calibrate my speedo too if I haven't gotten a Smarty SR yet

Grey Wolf

You can also check this Dodge site under "RECALLS" (left column) enter your 17 digit Vin!

https://www.dodge.com/hostb/crossbra...&type=textLink

snAKes

I found that there is about .018" of wobble on the pinion yoke. I'm not sure if it is just the yoke or the actual pinion shaft that is crooked, but this is what is causing the vibration.

I noticed that the balance weights on the drive shaft were on the high side of the wobble, so I broke them off and attached them to the opposite side as a counter-balance, and the vibration has subsided almost completely. I really don't want to tear the differential apart so I am experimenting with different counter-balance weights.

It's nice to have my quiet smooth ride back (almost)!