Ok so I have a 1999 Durango with 240,000 Miles, when i go over big bumps i hear a clunking sound on the drivers side...I started doing research on the ball joints and from what I have read the original upper ball joints are held on with rivets and when you replace them you install them with bolts. Well both my uppers are held on with bolts. We bought the D with 70,000 miles on it and have never replaced them. Are the originals ALWAYS held on with rivets? Or is it possible that it came off the assembly line with bolts?

Do you think the clunking could be the upper bj's? Or the lower bj's? Or something else entirely, like bushings or something. Remember this D has 240,000 MILES on it.
Mechaniczman

 

Come on now, anyone know what the clunking sound on the drivers side could be? Do you think my upper ball joints were replaced before/need done again? I cant tell about the bottom ones without taking the tire off, and really cleaning all the CRUD.

The tires wear on the inside, worse on the drivers side, it needs an allignement but not guna do it till i get the clunking fixed.

 

1) 12 hours and you expected a response? we dont sit around waiting to help people, we help out when we have time to get on, you need to allow more time before posting again in the same thread, especially on the weekends when most of us are out and away from our computers

2) yes the factory ball joints are ALWAYS held on by rivets yours have been changed if they are bolted on

3) based on the clunking, tire wear pattern and mileage on the truck, i would say all 4 balljoints are shot (upper and lower on both sides) also any good alignment shop will turn you away if you show up with badly worn tires on the truck because they cant get a good adjustment with them unless they are worn easily.

 

+2 sharps sounds like Ball Joints to me. With that said I highly recommend with that kind of mileage getting all four replaced. If you havent replaced them that means there are about 170K on them which is well above what is reasonably expected. I would go to shop prefereably one that can do all four joints, alignment and if possible tires but definitely the ball joints and alignment. Ask for MOOG Greaseable, they are the favorite of forum members and last. Sears was carrying MOOG as their primary vendor as of Jan 2011 hopefully still the same now, be sure to ask before you have the work done.

Prices as of JAN 2011 plan to spend approx $700 for UPPER/LOWER Ball Joints both sides and alignment. Depending on the condition of tires I would also get those replaced, all four. Michelin X-RADIAL GEN 2 are my preferred brand.

Wherever you go, make sure you get the ball joints and alignment at the same time.

And Yes, the factory ball joints are riveted, if they are bolted then they were replaced.

 

+3, sounds like the typical ball joint(s) gone bad scenario.

 

Sorry Sharps i guess the other forums i use never sleep. Ok so i found out that my dad had somebody replace the upper ball joints a few years back, i had no idea.

The last set of tires wore badly on the insides, it has 4 new tires on it right now but if something isnt done soon they will be junk.

I will be doing all the work on it myself. I found a set of greasable upper and lower ball joints, and inner and outer tie rods on ebay for $75. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SET-T...item4cebbe0610 I know moog is one if the best brands but i cant afford that. I will also be replacing the outer cv joint boots that i still have to find on ebay or somewere because one is cracked almost all the way around and has no grease in it (its all over the wheel well)..have no idea how long its had no grease in it, and drivers side brake pads. When its all done i will be taking it to get a 4-wheel allignment.

 

chances are you will need to replace that cv shaft if the boot is torn, bc once the dirt gets in there (especially if all the grease is out) it will start to chew up the joint

 

You may want to explore your options on the CV shafts, I had a boot tear and you might find that for the time spent removing the axle shaft and then tearing the axle apart to r/r the dust boot, it might be easier and in the long run cheaper to just replace the whole axle as one. Definitely easier especially since you have to remove the axle either way. I believe my entire axle assembly was about $75 plus another $75 to have local shop remove and replace.

 

Be careful with these. I originally ordered a set & returned them because the quality (IMHO) was VERY substandard. There is a lot of labor involved in getting the lowers out, doing them a second time would stink!

Bob

 

All those parts for $75? Big red flag. Come on, those have got to be made of the cheapest Chinese metal they could find. If you use those, more than likely you will have to get the work done again soon when they inevitably fail on you.

From what I have read, the 1st gen Ds are very harsh on their balljoints. Worn or inadequate ball joints and tierods are a safety issue as well because they are what connects your wheels to the suspension and stabilizes them.

I have a 98 D with 125k that I am getting ready to replace the BJs on. I was going to go with Moog. But there are a lot of recent reports on the internet of even the new Moog BJs failing prematurely. Moog are not made as well as they used to be.

That does not leave a lot of options for us. After a lot of research I found out about a chassis parts manufacturer called XRF. They make BJs and TREs for our vehicle and they have gotten nothing but positive reviews from what I have found. I ended up ordering all four of each BJs and TREs made by XRF. I got them from thetireclub.com for $346.24 shipped. You can get a $10 discount for mentioning you are a member of dodgeforum. I received them and I can tell you that they are very well made, heavy duty parts.

I will take pictures of them a little later. I feel that there are certain parts on a car that because of their importance to your safety, it is stupid to go cheap on. Things like suspension, tires, brakes etc. The high initial cost of quality parts usually will pay off because they will last twice as long as a cheaper part. At the very least, use the Moog parts.

ETA: Then again, with that amount of mileage, I would just go with the moog, napa or duralast.