Suspension Question -Need advise

Basically My truck 1997 5.2L 4x4 CC. Truck pulls to the right.. had an alignment done but even though taking right back to the shop in 2 mins they claimed it was radial pull (Winch i told them was bull****, then on to the slope of the pavement- more bull****)

The truck walks a lot.. side to side.. always pulling to the right.. coming to a stop damn there is a lot of slop... so this is a low speed and high speed issue.. so i know its not just those things listed and I have new tires now installed and balanced by Discount and I know they do awesome work..

The truck leans to the right.. as well no matter what.. level surface or inclined alway leans to the right. So i was thinking the upper ball joint?

I just want several opinion's on what you think the problem might be and yes the upper ball joint's boot is busted but that is not always an indication it's "Bad" but it sure can a good indication and even if its not bad you want to replace it so you can keep it with good grease and keep water and stuff from causing rust and other damage. Just want your oppionins upper/lower ball joint, what can i look for and could it be the shock, torsion bar?

When i take this back in after doing the upper ball joint i want to really be armed with as much insight as i can to make sure this is done properly and if i'm even barking up the right tree.

Thanks guys!

 

How old are the tires? Do a tire rotation. Check and see if you have a broken leaf spring in the rear.

 

Rear end seems fine, tires are Bran new less than 500 miles on them.. this problem has been like this since i got the truck a year ago and still today.. the alignment did nothing but I don't trust FireStone where i got it done. If you look at the truck from the front it looks like the tires are slightly what i would call pigeon toed. But might be an optical illusion. I know its something with the alignment something causing the truck to lean in that direction.. that's why I'm thinking about the upper ball joint being the boot is broke but just trying to get confirmation of my suspicion and or other sight.

Sorry let me rephrase; I feel its a combination of; what ever is causing the truck to lean is also causing the alignment to be off.. why I'm thinking ball joint..

 

Here's my 2 cents, and bear in mind, I am not a mechanic and have very little mechanical skills - I would maybe replace the whole front end - Balljoints upper and lower, tie rod ends, control arm bushings and shocks. I think (not sure) that you could probably replace all of it for about $500.00 if you did it yourself. May even just get new control arms of EBay.
I am pretty sure though that if any of the ball joints or tie rods were bad, the alignment shop should have known that and told you. They shouldn't do an alignment with bad parts on there, the alignment would have been pointless. Anyway, just my thoughts. Good Luck

 

You need to find another shop to align and do a better inspection of the front and take it for a test drive. Do you know if the the ball joints have been replaced? Good shop should be able to show you a bad ball joint. Steering shaft joints,rack and pinion bushings,inner and outer tie rod ends all these are what can be seen when on the rack.

 

I agree and that is what they were supposed to do but I think they went ahead and aligned it anyways to make a quick buck.. and when i called them out on it and said the problem is still there (Pulling to the right) they wanted to make every excuse in the book.

My next paycheck I'm going to drop a little more cash into the truck.. and try and get this alignment right.. my main focus is i dont want to eat up these new tires..

Plus I don't like the constant back and forth action.. I know part of it is the stearing box; these old styles always had an issue like that.. walking back and forth as driving.. and can be over came with one of those shocks you commanly find on 4x4 stearing.. to help it from jaring out.. not sure how to describe or what to call it.. steering stablizer shock? IDK> but the constant pulling to the right and the truck leaning to the right.. that's my main focus right now.. get it to stop pulling to the right and to avoid eating up tries.

 

Sounds like your idler arm. Check it out.

 

I don’t know the 4X4 so I’m guessing

1. if the ball joints were bad they will not do the alignment this is very common with any shop.

2. The Dakota is hard to align correctly so I was told only a dealer can do it correctly most shops hate the Dakota, so I was told

3. Firestone I don’t trust those idiots in my opinion.

 

I had replaced a passenger side balljoint and a driverside tie rod end in August and after I took it to get it aligned. Prior, I had not rotated the tires and they were wearing evenly - unbelievable on a truck (as far as I have ever known).The mechanic that did my balljoint said it was pretty much all but welded in there from rust etc. Before the new parts - the wheel was as straight as can be, after the wheel was way off. I took it to a Joe Shmoe shop for an alignment. They called me and told me that the alignment was out so bad that they suggested that I pay them to basically loosen the whole front end to tweak everything to get the proper alignment. I said no because I am eerie of shops I don't know, plus I was planning to sell the truck so I wasn't tooo worried about it. The wheel might be slightly off now but overall it still steers straight and tires are wearing evenly. I think I will be redoing the whole front end - like I mentioned above - in the spring - upgrade the shocks, and all the other.

 

Agree- I understand it's standard practice; but normally most shops will say to replace the ball joint if the boot is busted.. funny how they did not mention it.

I think they went ahead and did the alignment to make a quick buck.. but any ways here is the print out and as you can see I think it explains why it appears my left and right look pigeon toed from each other..