First Lifted Ram Truck

[John Muehlhausen]

Hey everyone, I just bought my first Lifted Ram 1500 and it squeaks at every turn and bump...Its an RC lift kit and I noticed no grease fittings on any of the rod ends or ball joints and they are blown out... My question is do i need special rod ends and ball joints with a lifted truck or will the oem parts fit?

 

[kurek]

Does it have aftermarket upper control arms in front? If so, and if they have urethane bushings those can squeak. You may be able to "wd40" them for a couple days of relief but the real fix is to remove the upper control arm and properly grease the urethane bushings.

Or does the front lift include spacers that mount above the strut? If the front lift uses spacers on top of the front strut and those spacers have too large a hole in the center, the upper strut mount bushing can punch through and when it does that handling will be adversely affected and it will make a lot of squeaking as the top of the strut's shaft grinds away at the spacer.

All of the lifts I'm aware of use OE steering components and ball joints, with the exception of some aftermarket upper control arms that use their own unique ball joints.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

Hey everyone, I just bought my first Lifted Ram 1500 and it squeaks at every turn and bump...Its an RC lift kit and I noticed no grease fittings on any of the rod ends or ball joints and they are blown out... My question is do i need special rod ends and ball joints with a lifted truck or will the oem parts fit?

Is it more like birds chirping? And on small bumps not big bumps?

 

[DILLIGAF]

Take it all apart and check.

 

[John Muehlhausen]

Is it more like birds chirping? And on small bumps not big bumps?

Yes the slightest little bump makes a chirp noise... Even when i step up to get in it squeaks...

 

[John Muehlhausen]

Take it all apart and check.

I'm trying to get all my parts together before i take it apart...

 

[John Muehlhausen]

Does it have aftermarket upper control arms in front? If so, and if they have urethane bushings those can squeak. You may be able to "wd40" them for a couple days of relief but the real fix is to remove the upper control arm and properly grease the urethane bushings.

Or does the front lift include spacers that mount above the strut? If the front lift uses spacers on top of the front strut and those spacers have too large a hole in the center, the upper strut mount bushing can punch through and when it does that handling will be adversely affected and it will make a lot of squeaking as the top of the strut's shaft grinds away at the spacer.

All of the lifts I'm aware of use OE steering components and ball joints, with the exception of some aftermarket upper control arms that use their own unique ball joints.

Thanks for the info, the rubber on the control arm joint is ripped and smashed on both sides, no grease fittings anywhere to be found...i don't know if it's aftermarket or not... I'm just trying to avoid getting new ones, taking it all apart to find out they won't fit... Im pretty good at doing the work, only if i have the right parts tho...

 

[VelocityC6Z]

Toss some pics in here of all the suspension parts, control arms, end links, etc.... there's a wealth of info and experience in here... weekend warriors and lift shops. We'll get you an answer, or at least help identify something that may be an issue.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Just so you know factory suspension parts do not have grease fittings in the 1500 application.