Been awhile, did entire front end, upper,lowerball joints, tire rod ends, etc., bought parts from auto zone, bought the best life time warranty on all parts.... just over two,yrs ago....went for sticker...total failure on all ball joints tire rod ends. Before anyone says shame on you...bought the best, money was tight. Now the issue moog parts are supposed to be the amongst the best, research has shown different, alot of disappointment after 3 yrs and parts are made all over the world. Detroit axle was rated # 2 or 3.....better price and 10 yr ball joints. Parts made in USA. Has anyone used detroit axle parts and which is better? They want $900 for repair and who knows what you get. I have done most of the repairs on my durango over the past 20 yrs great vehicle. Just put new transmission in and i have to much invested to get rid of the truck. Runs great low miles. Look forward to input

 

tie rods are zero tolerance so any play there means nfg...but ball joints have allowable play spec of 0.060". Did the shop take a measurement or just see movement and call it?

 

If you have lifetime warranty on the parts, take them back to Autozone and exchange for new, then do the job yourself. The hard work of removing the riveted factory BJs was already done, so it shouldn't be too hard. Also, these things fail fast if you don't torque them properly, which the first shop might not have done. You'll also need an alignment.

I put some very cheap greasable Napa lowers on mine and junkyard uppers. Aside from the rubber boots cracking to hell on the lowers, they've held up well. I coated them with black Permatex, to reinforce them after they cracked.

 

Thanks for input, really appreciate it. Any experience with moog vs Detroit axle

 

No experience with Detroit axle but I'll never give Moog another dime. Biggest waste of money. They still label themselves as such a top notch company, they produce nothing but garbage anymore. For ball joints, it may be worth a call to your dealer and see if you can still get Mopars, they'll last the longest. Tierod ends, you won't be able to find through the dealer anymore sadly. I don't know what to buy anymore. Seems it's all rebadged cheap junk anymore. Just swap a solid axle under it and go full heim joint I guess

 

Bought Detroit Axle pressed hub assy's for my lincoln.....took them off after 2 days....junk....bought SKF, twice the money, quiet, no problem for a year now. Buy what you want but I will never buy anything made by Detroit axle, don't be fooled by name nothing about these guys is Detroit, even for Chinese parts these are bad. Buy Mopar or Carli Suspension, do it right first time....

 

The uppers on Durangos are a 5 minute job after the first ones, so I just replace them with the front brakes, there so inexpensive and usually there in need of replacement after a set of brakes.
I did something weird, and that was to buy the lower ball joints from JC Whitney, and they really looked super tough and have lasted over 100.000 miles now, and Colorado and Texas roads are super bad. I need to check them when the wind gives me a brake here in Amarillo, TX. The steering boxes wear on these also causing problems on wavy patchy roads. That's all we have here. Almost zero tow in is where my 99 tracks the best, with 10-50-15s.
Yokohama, was by far the best feeling and longest lasting by far tire I've lived with on this one. Stay away from Good Year, damn pencil eraser rubber.

 

After major argument with AutoZone, I got my money back due to life time warranty, every part had failed inners and, outers tire rods, upper and lower bjs In less than two years. The district rep said they expect them to fail to take advantage of backyard mechanics that know no better. That is outrageous, I expect I am the same as most that do there own repairs, we want the job done right and save a few bucks. So never again will AutoZone see not one penny from me. By the way I replaced the parts with Moog parts, the K series, built in the good old USA, got lucky. All is well, it sucked to do it all over, but we will see how long the parts last, keep you posted and thanks for all the input fellow D owners...

 

I'm 61 years old, and have been an auto tech all my working life. I found out that with GM or Ford trucks under harsh conditions will give you a stretched frame, and after straightening there flimsy frames enough times, you end out with a sponge sitting in the junk yard. Dodge trucks in most years have frames like dump trucks rather then a flex frame designed to ride smooth like Ford and GM. That's why Dodge tends to be rattly from the rougher design.
Many times I have replaced ball joints on a ford or GM , and found they had to go to the frame shop, or new control arms at least from being bent.
Dodge front ends to me are break away design, upon severe impact, which might cause one to be towed, however with much less work to get it back on the road then other trucks. I feel bad for your faulty front end parts, but I think your on the right track now by using quality aftermarket parts, rather then replacing stuff with already known soft parts. I suppose it's beneficial to have the big three building us trucks to fit what works for different needs.
Best of luck to you this time around..👽

 

Yeah Zipper, we knew that, Dodge makes good stuff, that's why we're all here!