I've noticed that the mid 90's Dodge Rams' lower balljoints are the ones to go,...not the tops. On 3 of my Dodges, I ended up changing uppers and lowers...but the only ones gone were the lowers, (+ they were very worn/loose).

 

i went 4x4ing today and i had no problems with my front end, no rattles, hopping, nothing. it was weird, then when i got home pulle in the driveway, it hopped again, but 65% less then what it was before, if you understnd its weird. ill check the u-joints when i try to get my gas guage workng again tomorrow.

 

Yeah..good idea, check U-joints, wheel bearings are greased, etc. *did you grease your new ball joints?..they're sold with minimal grease inside them..when I did mine I took the rubber boot off and greased them good. Always good to check transfer case fluid level... (That's another place where I put Lucas.. transfer case, front+rear ends...) Also..after changing out your DS balljoints,..you know the old saying...you replace one or 2 parts,..other,..older parts are out of whack/alignment..or fail soon after...know what I mean?

 

my high school shop teacher always said "ball joints are like socks, if youre gonna do 1, do them all."

 

yea... i didnt have the money at the time to do both...sucks, but i figure the pass. side is gone, but that wouldnt make the drivers side hop would it? turning right, theres no problems, and its doing the same thing before i got the ball joints. then they got replaced i got an alignment, ad was fine till a old lady made me jump a curb...but the Pass. side tire is the one that went over the curb. and after that its doing the hoppin again.

If it stops raining, im gunna scope the entire front end.

also its chewing up the outside edge of the tire...the rest of it is fine.

 

which tire is it chewing up?

 

left tire

and is this everything ill need to do the front end?

1 Tie Rod end. 1 Drag Link.
1 Outer Tie Rod End. 1 Inner Tie Rod End.
2 Lower Ball Joints. 2 Upper Ball Joints.
2 Adjusting Sleeves. 1 Track Bar.
2 Sway Bar links Front.

 

Mine always said ball joints are like hot woman, dont just do one, do them all. To the male species that makes more sense.LOL

 

i would start with the ball joins as thats a direct link to your alignment. if the hub assy hasnet been done, it wouldnt be a bad idea.

and those sleeves yorue talking about adjusting on the tie rods is your toe adjustment, DO NOT adjust those unless you know how to properly set your toe adjustment.

your tires should be like this |-0- -| is the toe is properly set.

however if it is like this |-0- -/ (exagerated) the inner side of your tire will be chewed up.

if it is like this |-0- -\ (exagerated) the outer edge of the tire will be chewed up.

if you dont know how to set toe, i would recommend taking it to an alightment shop, or a place that does alignments. (dont use places such as tires plus, or other places like that, as they will tell you anything to make money)

youre better off taking it to a place that specializes in alignments.


tie rod ends have little to do with a tire being chewed up on the inner or outer edge. i would check out the ball joints, hub assy, and get an alignment as well.

sway bar end links will only decrease the amount of body roll in a turn, as they give less than ones that are worn out.

track bar just centers the axle under the truck, and frame.

the drag link just connects the right side to the left side, and is used for steering purposes only. tie rod ends are typically what goes bad in the steering, unless the drag link is bent, i wouldnt replace it.

your hob leads me to believe that your hub assy could be wearing out, and your ball joints are bad. i would check out those ball joints before going anywhere else.

i know i repeated myself, but you know, im just tryin to help.



haha, ya that makes sense too. sounds better as well, as long as she dont have gonnasypthaherpilies.

 

95RAM360, knows all that...in an earlier post he was talking about changing his whole front steering linkage to all new,...including stabalizer shock + pitman arm. *(list= 1-right tie rod, 1-drag link, 1-left outer tie rod end, 2-sleeves(get ones for thier respective places), 1-steering stabalizer shock(I got a Rancho RS-5000). ***if you're doing more,...not really necessary: 1-pitman arm, and finally: 1-pitman arm to drag link rod (connects pitman arm to drag link by way of that 2nd "sleeve") good luck/have fun.