So im in the midst of reviving my truck from the last person who took ZERO care of this GREAT runner.

98 4x4 with 5.2, ac works great 5 speed manual 166k miles, completly rebuilt the motor down to the nuts and bolts, and rebuilt the 5 speed and new clutch.

New rancho shocks and front stabilizer, replaced rear wheel cylinders, front brakes, rotors, calibers. DUst covers just cant find these,.

So I moved on to the suspension as when I would take a bend at various speeds it would feel like the wheels where about to fly off and almost lost control once.

So I did an inspection and found that the right side outer and inner rods and joints where so bad that when i lift them they fell right back down. OK

SO I started taking the whole thing apart to replace everything.


I went with MOOG Problem solver for everything.

Upper lower ball joints, tie rods inner/outer both sides, sway bar endlinks "L" shape style, Drag link bar, Pitman arm, idler arm, sleeves, sway bar bushings, lower control arms as I cant find the uppers,

debating on doing the bearings while im there, and U joints for the front axles while im there.

Issue that Im affraid of is i have everything off and I started putting the swaybar endlinks on and there is a gap of open space between the rubber moog grease boot and the back of the spindle.....I thought maybe I bought the wrong ones but I got the same part number endlinks from 2 different stores....


Next issue is how do I take apart the front axle u joint and is it worth doing do they go bad.

Also, I cant find the front brake dust covers,


AND finally im looking for a new 8ft bed if anyone knows of a rust free great condition one.

Thank you

 

Can't quite tell what you mean by "gap" without seeing it. Can you post a picture of the end link? Dodge changed the mount for the links between 97 and 98 but I think the part is the same. Might check it though. Also, definitely replace the hubs with Timken and the u-joints with Spicer 5-760x joints. There are R&R sites and videos all over the web for those.

Kind of too bad the truck was that neglected but considering I'm at almost 180k and only thing original is the drivetrain, I guess it makes sense.

 

The condition of your truck was just like mine when I got it. The previous owner did absolutely nothing to take care of it, so when I got it everything was worn out, from the suspension on up.


So far I have had the brakes done front and rear, all new shocks, tie rods, track bar, u-joints, still need to replace the ball joints, hubs, and steering box.


I also had to restore the interior. New carpet, new door seals, replaced missing cup holder, replaced glove box door, replaced trim around the gauge cluster, replace broken light switch in over head console.


With a lot more work still to come.

 

If you are looking for the front disc brake splash shields, I got my replacements from the dealer via mail order. As for the upper control arms, I replaced mine with Spohn units - http://www.spohn.net/shop/1994-1999-...2500-3500.html


As for replacing the front U-joints, if the rest of the front suspension is worn out, chances are the U-joints are too. I replaced mine, along with the inner grease seal on the passenger side of the unit, which is famous for leaking.


I'm also looking for a good used 8 foot bed before I have my truck painted - they are not easy to find.

 

Ya just sucks if someone would have taken some time on this ruck. anyways.

I have since tried replacing the u joints in the front axles and ran into a few problems, I broke the outer stub on the right axle "ear" of the stub cracked and bent the inner part so I had to order a new one, took apart the left one and installed the moog 377 greaseable joint.

I need to get the pitman arm off which wont come off. I already broke one pitman arm puller.

one shield came in the other im still waiting on plus the spacers.

I gap I speak of is a space between the grease boot and the part that the end link mounts to. it seems like the link isnt pressing in all the way.

I also had this issue with getting the upper ball joints in. i seems like i needed the press to press the spindle up the ball joint shaft until it met the bottom of the boot.

I am concerned that when I tightened the castle nuts on the ball joints the the safty pin cotter pin seems to be way up from the nut is this ok as long as its in or is there only so much you should allow to come through.

 

 

Did you clean the holes out really well before you installed those?

 

Are those loose in the bore? It doesn't even look like they're tightened all the way in the images.

 

Holy RUST Batman!!

I can't say they look wrong, mine stick out stupid like that too. In fact, one of these days, I'm ordering these https://www.suspensionmaxx.com/store/product/SMX-122355 or whatever they recommend for my 3" lift.

 

Yes they are tightened down as much as a rachet and 3 ft leverage pipe will allow. I rented a ball joint press to see if I can get these in more. I just dont like that they are sticking out like this.

Yes I cleaned and wd-40 the hole before install.

Does anyone know what the extra bracket that attaches to the center link sleeve is called. My old one was so bad it fell off.