I recently bought a used 2005 ram 1500 with the 5.7L hemi and I'm not a truck person by any means, I just enjoy hunting and needed something to haul my gear in. This truck is my daily driver so I decided to take it to a local mechanic shop that my dad used when I was a little kid. They told me I need new lower ball joints, upper control arms, outer tie rod ends, rack-n-pinion, and an extension housing seal. I know the seal will fix the slight Tcase leak, but they flushed my Tcase, and it messed up my 4x4 and yesterday the linkage arm fell off going down the interstate. Luckily I recovered it.

My first question is will a lift kit come with all the pieces needed in the front end?

My second question is should the mechanic shop be responsible for fixing my 4x4 since I have no proof it's their fault?

If you have any help either comment on here or email me at andybyrd23@gmail.com. I'll probably see my email before this but any help would be great! Thanks in advance.

 

T case linkage falling off, there are a few threads about that on here. IMO not related to the flush. No a lift kit will not come with front end parts. Depending on mileage, these are wear items. Some last longer than others.

 

Shops will tell you you need all sorts of things. I would get another opinion or have a trusted friend familiar with this kind of thing inspect the front suspension. Ball joints and outer tie rod ends are easy to replace yourself. Rack and pinion and upper control arms? Did they show or tell you why they recommended replacement of these items?

 

Most if not all they "found" wrong would be pretty normal on a 10 year old truck IF they've never been done before.

I've had the linkage fall off (search for my post). It's a pretty crappie design, but the rubber bushings to put it back on are a couple bucks from the dealer. They were shot and just touching anything in the area when the shop had it probably was enough. If not been at the shop, they'd have failed in the next few weeks or a month anyway. There are also links where guys have modified the linkage so as not to use rubber grommets that will dry rot and fail (again use the search feature). Me, I just replaced the bushings and attached a tether to the rod so I wouldn't lose it if it happened to fail again.

A cheap suspension lift kit wouldn't have any parts you listed and even top of the line (Rancho & Skyjacker) would only supply bigger/beefier tie rod ends. You can lift the vehicle and check tie rod ends, upper & lower ball joints for excessive play by hand. If you see any cracked rubber they are toast. Stock upper ball joints require the entire control arm be replaced.

As for the rack, if it's leaking, it needs to be replaced.

If planning a lift, you really need to address all these issues as the lift plus bigger tires will dramatically increase stress on all those listed components plus the CV axles.

Go with Moog, uppers & lowers - unlike stock they have zircs so they are greasable plus with the Moog uppers you can replace just the ball joints without having to buy the whole control arms in the future...

 

I just did everything you listed, save for the steering rack. It's pretty easy stuff, to be honest. The hardest bit might be the LBJs, since those need to be pressed both out and in. The UCA comes with the ball joint integrated. Do some YouTube research, and get familiar with it. A few hours, a can or two of PB Blaster, and some basic tools will get you through it (again, save for the LBJ).

As for the rack and pinion, try putting a sealer in there, first, before doing the whole thing. I think Lucas Oil makes a good one. These trucks weep from there, so it's not just yours. I put the sealer in mine several years ago, and the power steering fluid hasn't leaked a drop since. Granted, I'm probably overdue for a flush and change, but I figure that if it isn't leaking, I'm not messing with it.

I had the 4WD linkage fail before, too. Common problem, so fix it and forget it.

You may want to pay attention to your wheel bearings, as well. If they haven't been changed in the life of the truck, it might be something to think about preventatively since you have everything off the truck in that department, anyway.

Good luck.

 

Thanks all of y'all. I'll be sure to do my research and see what I can do myself. Im currently a college student so both time and money are tight. Which ever costs the less I guess I'll do.

 

If you are talking lift kits, you can afford to fix those parts! :P

Even still, I understand the money struggle. My advice would be to figure out which parts are in danger of imminent failure, and take care of those as soon as possible. Then, start working on parts as you can. Work as symmetrically as possible, though. If you do one side, do the other, as well.

I went with all Moog parts, and if you want I can try and figure out where I sourced them all from and how much they were. You can do it much cheaper than Moog parts, for sure, but then again you can do it over again soon, too. Nah, you can find cheaper parts that are sufficient for now, but keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Also, you will need an alignment after you do the UCA and OTRE, so I'd do those two sets of parts together, so you only have to worry about the alignment one time. Again, not hard to do yourself, at all, with basic tools, and even easier if you have access to a decent garage setup.

 

Hit Amazon too. They have great prices.


SJ03

 

That's where I got my UCAs and some other parts. In fact, I think just about all the Moog parts I got came from Amazon, except for the wheel hubs, which came from RockAuto.

 

Just an update. I first replaced the hub bearings which I got from RockAuto. I did get a Rough Country 5" lift so that's all taken care of now. I have a friend who is head over heels for dodge and he sent me to his mechanic who also does work on the side and he said the only thing I needed was the hub bearings. I appreciate all the advice!