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Ok thanks for the heads up. My thought was let the ball joint kick the bucket and then replace them lol, but now that you mention alignment I guess it would make more sense to do it all at once and only pay for 1 alignment.
I second @crazykid1994 on not using zone UCAs. I tried for months to get a good alignment and was not able to with my setup. Switched to JBA and it has been dead on for 30k miles now
I went with Bilstein 6112 set at 2.8 gave me close to 3" and put icon UCAs with the Delta joint at the same time. 5k later still driving straight. Alignment is perfect.
So the 5th gen parts do net more height however 4th gens dont like that 3" mark. There is a reason why only the big 2.5 coilovers with flex mounting heads go that high. What i recommend is doing a 2 1/2" leveling kit or go to a 4" bracket kit. The guys that try and cheap out are the same one buying CV axles and front end components regularly. Bilstein's set at 2.8 are all over the place and a lot of folks run that setup and that is perfectly fine with the right UCA. Although in your case you'll only be gaining less than 2" because your outdoorsman package I would do the Zone or BDS 4" kit and enjoy the better ride that you will get over a leveling kit. Rams are picky where they like to ride at and the 3" height variations from the factory is why there are so many different experiences with different set ups. Some trucks are really low and maxing out bilsteins puts them in a great spot but for the trucks that come higher than normal the maxed out struts ride like wooden wagon wheels because nothing in the geometry is happy. I see it everyday and regularly to owners across the US helping them, calculating measurements, and diagnosing problems. 90% of most issues is a bad installation so do your research on the shop just as you are coming on the forums where we are all here to help
