Ball Joint Replacement

[David Finkel]

Has anyone who has been told that their ball joints needs to be replaced able to share the rough mileage when this occurred? Between my 2500, my 3500 and my son in laws 2500 (2022, 2020, 2022) all with <50k road miles, I was surprised that all 3 were diagnosed as needing new ball joints when new tires necessitated an alignment. We were told the alignment could not be done until the upper and lower ball joints were replaced. Yes when we got home we jacked the trucks up and checked for ourselves and all agreed that there was very little play in the wheels.

So I’m seeking your thoughts on if I’m being a skeptic, or if the cdi HD trucks with the extra up front weight need ball joints sooner than I had expected or if the alignment shop is just being very conservative on pm.

Tia for any input.

 

[Hagar1]

Has anyone who has been told that their ball joints needs to be replaced able to share the rough mileage when this occurred? Between my 2500, my 3500 and my son in laws 2500 (2022, 2020, 2022) all with <50k road miles, I was surprised that all 3 were diagnosed as needing new ball joints when new tires necessitated an alignment. We were told the alignment could not be done until the upper and lower ball joints were replaced. Yes when we got home we jacked the trucks up and checked for ourselves and all agreed that there was very little play in the wheels.

So I’m seeking your thoughts on if I’m being a skeptic, or if the cdi HD trucks with the extra up front weight need ball joints sooner than I had expected or if the alignment shop is just being very conservative on pm.

Tia for any input.

First of all see if there is a spec for allowable free play in the joint. A .ot of chrysler products have a spec for it.
If there is some play allowed, the factory had a process of setting up a dial indicator to measure actual movement. Most techs were too lazy to do the procedure, they, instead called for new ball joints.

 

[Wild one]

Has anyone who has been told that their ball joints needs to be replaced able to share the rough mileage when this occurred? Between my 2500, my 3500 and my son in laws 2500 (2022, 2020, 2022) all with <50k road miles, I was surprised that all 3 were diagnosed as needing new ball joints when new tires necessitated an alignment. We were told the alignment could not be done until the upper and lower ball joints were replaced. Yes when we got home we jacked the trucks up and checked for ourselves and all agreed that there was very little play in the wheels.

So I’m seeking your thoughts on if I’m being a skeptic, or if the cdi HD trucks with the extra up front weight need ball joints sooner than I had expected or if the alignment shop is just being very conservative on pm.

Tia for any input.

Try a differant alignment shop,preferably one with a grizzled grumpy old time alignment guy,who's not interested in trying to upsell you

 

[Hagar1]

Try a differant alignment shop,preferably one with a grizzled grumpy old time alignment guy,who's not interested in trying to upsell you

I resembled that!

 

[BenchTest]

If you're able to detect balljoint movement by hand manipulation of the wheel, the balljoints are junk.

 

[rzr6-4]

First off, new wheels/tires don't dictate needing an alignment. A bad alignment could cause your tires to wear prematurely, but if you had good wear on the last set there's no need for an alignment on the new set. I digress.

I want to say the ball joint play spec is like .030 or something like that but off the top if my head that seems kind of crazy so definitely double check that. 50K does seem a little early to need them done but just depends how hard you beat them up.

 

[Hagar1]

If you're able to detect balljoint movement by hand manipulation of the wheel, the balljoints are junk.

Depends upon the vehicle, some Chrysler ball joints allow up to almost 1/8 inch axial play. Modern day trucks, I think are zero play.

 

[Hagar1]

First off, new wheels/tires don't dictate needing an alignment. A bad alignment could cause your tires to wear prematurely, but if you had good wear on the last set there's no need for an alignment on the new set. I digress.

I want to say the ball joint play spec is like .030 or something like that but off the top if my head that seems kind of crazy so definitely double check that. 50K does seem a little early to need them done but just depends how hard you beat them up.

The shop manual should have a spec on allowable play, if any.

 

[olyelr]

When i first rotated the wheels on my new ‘16 power wagon, around 2500 miles, i noticed a small amount of play in both the upper balljoints. And i mean small…but it was there nonetheless.

127k miles later, theres still a tiny little play, probly no more than there was when it was new.

 

[Grams]

I just went thru re-alignment hell with the Firestone Auto Car Care chain…and here’s what I’ve learned so-far.

My 2012 Ram 1500 with 220K miles had no ball-joint or tie-rod looseness. None. They were OEM, non-grease-able types.

My 2015 Ram 1500 (bought used at 181K miles)was diagnosed by a 2nd Firestone shop as needing “upper and lower control arms, ball-joints, and tie-rods”….50 miles after the 1st Firestone shop had inspected them and only faulted the tie-rods as “OK…but will need replacement before too long. We suggest the grease-able types when you finally do it.”
The THIRD Firestone shop said the control-arms and ball joints are “Fine” but “the tie-rods are worn out.”..and demonstrated their findings to me.
This all occurred within the same month.
I personally could not create any caster/camber looseness, but could detect “minor play” in the tie-rods….so I replaced the tie rods (inner and outer) and then took it in for a re-alignment…and, according to their print-out…they corrected the left-front tie rod .01-degree from what I had it. ( Yes…. Point-Zero-One-degree.)
They reported the caster, camber, and upper/lower control arms and ball-joints fine.

Why one truck went over 200K and the other 181K without needing serious ball joint replacement …should give an idea as to what ball joint longevity might be on trucks that spend their lives primarily on paved raods.

 

[MrBonez]

Before too long I'll have to replace the tie rods in mine because the grease bags are bad, and since it has 210K on it now it's not a bad idea to fix it that way.
Not to mention I don't know if they have ever been replaced before or not so at least once it's done I'll know for sure where I stand with it.

If you are in your yard or just taking it easy over a bumpy patch of "Wherever" and you hear popping going on from the front end, that's a ball joint issue that should be fixed ASAP.
I've already dealt with that before when the top left ball joint on my S10 broke going down the interstate back in 03.
The problem showed itself suddenly/quickly over the course of just a few days of driving it and when it went, there was no doubt about what the source of the popping was.

When it happend, thankfully I still had some measure of control with the front tire almost rolling dead on it's sidewall and was able to get it off the roadway without wrecking or anything.
I didn't hit the brakes, instead I downshifted to provide a braking effect mainly from the rear and gently eased on the brakes as required to help out with it. The reason why it didn't just completely fold over was my S10 is a 4x4 and the axle shaft "Held" it together and up just enough the tire was still turning mostly on it's sidewall, while the tire's trim ring put on a real spark-show from all the grinding it took from it.

Got it towed, replaced the ball joint and made sure to replace the others whether they seemed to need it or not and drove on.

Now, over 20+ years later it's about time again to give it some attention (Making some slight popping noises again) and since it has a torsion bar instead of a coil spring, it's a snap to do vs dealing with a coil spring setup.
In my case I hardly drive it these days so it's not a big deal and no real rush to get it done TBH since I'm not driving it around as my daily anymore, just as needed.

So yeah - If there is any popping or indication of a problem with ball joints (Esp if there is evidence of it) get it fixed before you'll be fixing alot more or even need some repairs to yourself (Or others) over it.

 

[TowerMonkey]

Has anyone who has been told that their ball joints needs to be replaced able to share the rough mileage when this occurred? Between my 2500, my 3500 and my son in laws 2500 (2022, 2020, 2022) all with <50k road miles, I was surprised that all 3 were diagnosed as needing new ball joints when new tires necessitated an alignment. We were told the alignment could not be done until the upper and lower ball joints were replaced. Yes when we got home we jacked the trucks up and checked for ourselves and all agreed that there was very little play in the wheels.

So I’m seeking your thoughts on if I’m being a skeptic, or if the cdi HD trucks with the extra up front weight need ball joints sooner than I had expected or if the alignment shop is just being very conservative on pm.

Tia for any input.

I have a 2022 diesel 3500 that I tow a 15k 5th wheel. At 12k miles I was getting violent death wobble. Replaced ball joints under warranty. That set lasted 6k miles before I started to get death wobble again.
Dealer wanted to replace those under warranty, also. BTW the lateral axle support rod also had some play in the bushings.
I got tired of the poor quality of factory parts and replaced all four ball joints and lateral axle rod with Carli suspension parts.
The steering got lighter and I have no death wobble and it has been now 12k miles on the Carli parts.
Factory ball joints have plastic inserts and the Carli parts are machined and case hardened, like the good old days.
Hope that helps.
BTW, I have never over loaded the front suspension as I weigh the truck and trailer before every trip.