2022 Ram 3500 Ball Joints

[de_hokie_farmer]

Have a 2022 Ram 3500 SRW w/ Cummins 6.7 in it; bought new and just turned 22,000 miles. Took it to tire shop to check alignment and get tires rotated and they said both upper and lower ball joints on both sides are worn to the point they can't align it. We work with this shop often and they have never told me something just to sell parts (we always bring it back and do the work ourselves or have our normal mechanic do it), so I'm believing that when they say the joints are bad.

Is this a common problem with HD rams? I'm not overloading it, some offroad with it (it's a farm truck) but I would not call it severe duty use. Our GM trucks (this is the first Ram on the farm) do not have issues like this at all.

It's going to get warrantied but I didn't know if guys have had to switch to aftermarket parts to solve this problem.

 

[mtnrider]

Tire/alignment shops always say that about Ram trucks. While they could be worn I highly doubt it unless you spend all your drive time on un-improved roads given your mileage. There is vertical play in them by design and they always confuse that as being "worn out". I don't recall the exact specs but have the dealership check, you are still under warranty.

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[MTDewX8]

Ive got a 22 3500 dually and the front tires wore the outer edge fast. then I got truck aligned for the second set this summer and it seemed to have helped after 69k. was told they come "toe in" from factory but that is all hear say.

 

[nlambert182]

Ive got a 22 3500 dually and the front tires wore the outer edge fast. then I got truck aligned for the second set this summer and it seemed to have helped after 69k. was told they come "toe in" from factory but that is all hear say.

There may be some truth to that.... When I got my 2016 3500 aligned two different times at two different shops (one dealership and one independent) both told me the same thing.

 

[MTDewX8]

There may be some truth to that.... When I got my 2016 3500 aligned two different times at two different shops (one dealership and one independent) both told me the same thing.

I was told that which is why I passed it on. first dually and Ram for me and have noticed less edge wear on the fronts since I got it aligned. dont get me wrong there is still wear, but its not as drastic.

 

[Travelin Ram]

I had a similar experience decades ago. Tire shop gave me a laundry list of new parts needed to align my work truck. “Let’s walk out and look at it” says I.

They were all brand new shiny parts our own mechanic had installed.

We used those guys on a weekly basis. It only takes one bad apple to ruin the barrel.

Trust but verify. I expect a second opinion will find nothing wrong.

 

[Dinky]

Take it to a real agliment shop for a second opinion. Have the do the agliment to Thuren specs https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0510/0529/2724/files/13-22_2500_3500_PW.pdf?v=1638206406


My 22' 3500 is at 40k miles on it. 35in tires since the first week and had agliment done as well. Not one issue at all and drives great. Ram is known to have a lot of toe in and ive heard of a few other trucks way out of spec from show room floor.

 

[nlambert182]

I was told that they do this on purpose and at the time when they explained it, it made sense but I've slept since then and now I cannot for the life of me remember why... I was complaining about a bit of loose feeling steering and when they did the alignment it felt tight again.

 

[Chuckwagon7756]

Ram front tires are notorious for wearing out rather quickly.
On my 3500 I installed aftermarket ball joints. I ordered moog 1/2 degree off-set. Once those were installed I took to alignment shop (dealer) , had them print out factory specs. Requested they adjust front end alignment to the limit of factory settings. Depending on which side tires wore have alignment shop adjust according..

 

[jettrink]

Have a 2022 Ram 3500 SRW w/ Cummins 6.7 in it; bought new and just turned 22,000 miles. Took it to tire shop to check alignment and get tires rotated and they said both upper and lower ball joints on both sides are worn to the point they can't align it. We work with this shop often and they have never told me something just to sell parts (we always bring it back and do the work ourselves or have our normal mechanic do it), so I'm believing that when they say the joints are bad.

Is this a common problem with HD rams? I'm not overloading it, some offroad with it (it's a farm truck) but I would not call it severe duty use. Our GM trucks (this is the first Ram on the farm) do not have issues like this at all.

It's going to get warrantied but I didn't know if guys have had to switch to aftermarket parts to solve this problem.

I had a 2005 Ram 3500 SRW w/ Cummins. Purchased new, I had 166,000 miles on it when the right front ball joint failed and let the front end down on the street. I was backing out of the driveway to go have the tires rotated,Ha! I went ahead and rebuilt the entore front end. Up to that point I had no front end trouble and kept it aligned. The shop that rebuilt the front end also said that was a weak point on the RAM. I had the truck 18 years and 166k miles before I had any trouble with ball joints.