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Dodge Ball Joints on 2003 Dodge Ram, 2500 w/CTD

cruiseroutfit

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
My brothers Dodge failed the safety inspection, they said his ball joints have some play.

What brand joints do you suggest? Any good local sources?

How bad are they to swap out? I've done little with ball-joints over the years and zero on the AGM 9.5". Something I want to shy away from?

The shop (Gis quoting ~ $800 w/parts, fair deal?
 
cruiseroutfit

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
Greg

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
Yeah, they may be a bit over the top if you're not hammering your Cummins Dodge on 37's thru the whoops on a weekly basis. :greg:
 
RockMonkey

RockMonkey

Suddenly Enthusiastic
So has anyone replaced them on this truck themselves? I have a 20 ton press, I should be able to swap these myself, right?
 
Herzog

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wyoming
RockMonkey said:
So has anyone replaced them on this truck themselves? I have a 20 ton press, I should be able to swap these myself, right?
Click to expand...

Take a look at knuckles. The joints are pressed into the inner C's and it sucks. You also have to be careful not to separate the wheel bearing during removal. It can be a ***** to get out.
 
skippy

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
I did my own ball joints on my dodge 3500. It took me probably an hour a side to tear it down and get it back together. To get the bearing out without destroying it and in a timely manner loosen the 4 bolts that hold it in and then I used a piece of 1inch solid stock (from the scrap pile. anything will work as long as its long enough to hit the head of the bolts you loosened and the inner C on the axle) having a buddy here helps. have someone sitting in the truck turning the wheel slowly while you line up the piece of solid stock in place. once the solid stock is in place pop the steering wheel one good time in each direction and the bearing will fall right out (you might have to work it each way 2-3 times) might as well let the power steering do the work. this part takes longer to type than to actually perform. :)

I hope that makes sense if not i will try to clarify

As far as the ball joints I have a ball joint press and it makes it super easy if you dont Just use the checker rent a tool service its free once you take the tool back.
 
bryson

bryson

RME Resident Ninja
Supporting Member
Location
West Jordan
Can be a pain, but the job isn't too tough. You need a c-clamp style ball joint tool - shop press is useless on this job. Certainly nothing you can't do in your shop. x2 on the MOOG parts.

I have done a few, and schedule permitting, I'd be happy to help you out. :)

Oh, and have your bro start hitting it with penetrating oil now (where the ball joints press in, and where the wheel bearing presses in to the knuckle,) so it has some time to work. That will help a lot.
 
Gravy

Gravy

Ant Anstead of Dirtbikes
Supporting Member
Location
The Land Northward (Bountiful), Utah
like Marc said: ball joint press and pb blaster on it for a few days. easy peesy. you don't even have to pull the axle shaft, it comes out with the unit bearing. just be careful to unbolt the abs sensor off the unit bearing first.
 
cruiseroutfit

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
bryson said:
Can be a pain, but the job isn't too tough. You need a c-clamp style ball joint tool - shop press is useless on this job. Certainly nothing you can't do in your shop. x2 on the MOOG parts.

I have done a few, and schedule permitting, I'd be happy to help you out. :)

Oh, and have your bro start hitting it with penetrating oil now (where the ball joints press in, and where the wheel bearing presses in to the knuckle,) so it has some time to work. That will help a lot.
Click to expand...

Right on, I'll pass that along to him and I may take you up on that.

Bear Taylor said:
PM SENT
Click to expand...

Thanks Bear, I'll pass that along to him as well. Let me know on the MOOG too if you would.




Thanks for all the other suggestions guys!
 
mesha

mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
This might be late, but I bet the ball joints do pass inspection.

Mine(2004) didn't pass either and the wheel wiggled like crazy so they failed it. I took it to my friend who is a mechanic to get them fixed and he checked them with the dial indicators and they actually did pass, by quite a bit. The aam axles on dodges have a huge play and can still be within spec. Check with alldata I think it was like 3 times what a dana 60 front can have. The shops usually don't use indicators on them and just guess by wiggling the wheel. If he doesn't have the money to fix then that is an option.
 
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