Upper ball joints are shot at 25K miles

[Thorny]

2018 2500 4x4 CTD with 25K miles. I installed a Thuren 2" leveling kit last weekend and took the truck to to shop for an alignment and the tech calls me back where my truck is sitting on the rack and he says, "I can't align this in the state it's in". With the front axle holding the weight of the truck and the front wheels in the air I grabbed the top of the front tires and I could rock them back and forth (in and out). Both sides. I don't abuse my truck. It tows a light (500#) trailer every now and then, but mostly it's just used to haul dirtbikes to the track and trail.

I'm headed to the dealer next week to have them evaluate the ball joints for replacement under warranty. It's iritating that RAM didn't spec this truck with heavier duty parts. Even the OEM tires are lasting longer than the ball joints, and THAT's a sad statement.

 

[chri5k]

Hopefully your dealer won't carp about the lift kit causing the ball joints to go bad. Also, could be the hub bearings. If they are bad the wheel will rock like that as well. Definitely make sure the dealer checks both items.

 

[Thorny]

I talked to the dealer about warranty work before installing the lift. He said 3"+ voids the warranty. I went 2" so well within allowable. Also, I took it in before and after the install to open a case for replacing the adjustable drag link that they welded as part of a earlier service bulletin, so they've seen the truck a few times in the last few weeks.

Thanks for the heads up on the wheel bearing. I'll keep an eye on that. This issue is for sure the upper ball joints. I could see the parts moving when rocking the wheel in and out.

 

[SouthTexan]

Technically, anything installed outside of factory equipment or factory spec can void warranty if it is determined cause the issue even a 2" lift or larger/heavier tires. They can even refuse to work on something if a mod hinders them from replacing the warrantied item.

Had one of our dealers refuse to replace a lower engine part because the lift kit the owner installed covered the part. They told the owner to remove the lift and then come back because they didn't want to be responsible for any damage to the lift. This is perfectly legal to do per the Magnuson Moss Act.

 

[Burla]

I don't have any info other then to say it is very sad the industry went away from the king pin no ball joint axles, I have zero clue why they would do that. I seriously doubt anyone would chose a ball joint axle if given the choice, or even an extra charge just to have a king pin as an option. That is a bad deal, there has to be a reason, hopefully it reveals itself without too much effort.

 

[crazy jerry]

i wonder if this is a case of: alignment guy hasnt a clue what hes talking about and vehicle owner is none the wiser

 

[SouthTexan]

i wonder if this is a case of: alignment guy hasnt a clue what hes talking about and vehicle owner is none the wiser

I have over 100k miles on my 2014 with a Thuren 2" level (coils, shocks, track bar) and still on original ball joints.

 

[Thorny]

i wonder if this is a case of: alignment guy hasnt a clue what hes talking about and vehicle owner is none the wiser

I'm pretty sharp when it comes to mechanical stuff. And the alignment guy invited me into the service bay to show me exactly why doing an alignment was going to be a waste of money. I'll report back after my trip to the dealer, but I'm pretty sure this is a case of ball joint failure.

 

[GsRAM]

I don't have any info other then to say it is very sad the industry went away from the king pin no ball joint axles, I have zero clue why they would do that. I seriously doubt anyone would chose a ball joint axle if given the choice, or even an extra charge just to have a king pin as an option. That is a bad deal, there has to be a reason, hopefully it reveals itself without too much effort.

True, but king pins wear out also and when shot are a colossal pita to change, I've done them on medium duty and semi trucks. (Oxy-acetelene torches involved and tons of beating. Not fun)

 

[GsRAM]

2018 2500 4x4 CTD with 25K miles. I installed a Thuren 2" leveling kit last weekend and took the truck to to shop for an alignment and the tech calls me back where my truck is sitting on the rack and he says, "I can't align this in the state it's in". With the front axle holding the weight of the truck and the front wheels in the air I grabbed the top of the front tires and I could rock them back and forth (in and out). Both sides. I don't abuse my truck. It tows a light (500#) trailer every now and then, but mostly it's just used to haul dirtbikes to the track and trail.

I'm headed to the dealer next week to have them evaluate the ball joints for replacement under warranty. It's iritating that RAM didn't spec this truck with heavier duty parts. Even the OEM tires are lasting longer than the ball joints, and THAT's a sad statement.

Sorry to hear of your front end issues.

Do you run on poor road surfaces? Could be the extra weight of that Cummins contributing also.

My 2017 2500 has 15,400 miles on it, so roughly only 10k less than yours and my front end components are as tight as the day i drove the truck home.

For some reason, it's always had just a slight amount of play in the right or left front either wheel bearing or ball joints. Very slight and hasent increased at all so I'm not worried about it.

Something seems off/some other issue going on for yours to be wiped at 25k.

Hope you get to the bottom of it. Good luck.

 

[Thorny]

Do you run on poor road surfaces? Could be the extra weight of that Cummins contributing also.

I live 1/2 mile down a dirt road that gets some washboard every now and then, but it's not a bad road by local standards. The only thing I can think of that might have contributed is the way the dealer aligned the truck after welding the stock track bar and sending me home on day 1. They set my caster at .04 and .05. Spec is somewhere north of 4.0 for caster. But the ball joints started to go maybe 5-10K miles ago. I could feel it when driving around long sweeping turns on the interstate. The steering wheel would feel like it got loose and then the truck would oversteer. Then that would stop and the wheel and the track around the corner would be back to normal. I believe this is one or the other ball joints rocking in their seat and changing the steer angle.

Anyways, I'll find out more tomorrow when the dealer takes a look at it.

 

[crazy jerry]

what?????? the dealer put your caster at .4
ya i bet the front end is all screwed up now. otherwise theres no possible way the ball joints could be shot at 25k. i knew there was more to this story than what you first told us

 

[Thorny]

Whelp, just finished at the dealer. They replaced the upper and lower ball joints on both side. All 4 joints were bad. Replaced under warranty.

 

[Thorny]

And, the saga continues. One of the ball joints the dealer installed was bad, right out of the box. I took it back, they replaced it again and now it seems solid. Headed back the the alignment shop (for the 3rd time) to have them align it to Thuren's specifications and hopefully thats the end of this for a while.

 

[BolletuH]

I HIGHLY doubt all 4 joints were bad. Been running 2" Thuren coils with BDS radius arms and caster around 4.5-5 degrees with factory ball joints (30K+ miles). They just keep going. Sounds like a money grab from your dealership brother.