Ok well ive been putting it off for a long while but im going to replace my ball joints if not rebuild my front end.

I don't have a whole bunch of money to do it but i slowly started to get parts from autozone, got both upper ball joints and upper bushings. But then i was looking on here about rockauto.com and i gotta say i like their prices, ALOT. But are their parts of quality? Im not looking for performance parts but just oem.

Secondly, what exactly do i need? I know you would need both upper and lower ball joints, both upper and lower C.A. bushings, ??? i know very little about the front end, all ive ever done on my front end was shocks.

Ok say i get all the parts, what materials would you suggest? I know ima need a press, jack stands, tools, but other than that?

Tips/tricks from your exp.?

Thanks in advance, i really could use you guys help.

 

What year is your truck? Somewhere down the line they went from press in joints to rivot in joints.

 

Why are you replacing your control arm bushings? Are they bad? If not, leave 'em.

XRF balljoints seem to be about the best cost/quality wise. You can pay more for other brands, but, I don't think you get a similar increase in quality, mainly you are just paying for the name.

2wd, so, you don't have to worry about ujoints up front.

You should be able to rent the ball joint press from your local parts store.

 

Well on the control arm bushings, yes they are very rotted on the upper ones atleast. And thanks ill look into those ball joints, you think i should take the autozone ones back?

What about pitarms? Just read about them, again i have no clue how to deal with this lol

 

But guys ima be back later, got things i gotta get done but ill be back later.

 

For the control arm bushings, might just wanna drop the control arms, and take 'em to a shop to have new bushings pressed in...... They can be a right pain in the keester.

What brand are your autozone balljoints, and what is the warranty like? (I won't buy ANY parts from autozone, but, that's just me.)

Need to explore under your truck, and see just what parts are sloppy, and then replace them. Park a friend/wife/child/whomever in the drivers seat. Unlock the steering, do NOT start the engine. Have said helper gently rock the steering back and forth, just to the point of feeling a bit of resistance. While they are doing that, you start looking at your steering components, and see what moves that shouldn't. Those are the parts that need to go.

 

here is how did it,, i had a hard getting the spindle off the ball joint had to use the puller, most of the time just use a pickle fork,,,,, you dont need spring compressers

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...placement.html

 

just replaced my ball joints, used a harbor freight press-puller $40 and worked fine just take care to mantain the tool aligned with the ball joint and apply constant force to the wrench.

 

@heyyou i got duralast bushings and valuecraft ball joints, i know they are crap but im seriously short in mney, but now that i got a bit of money thinking of taking them back. Can you suggest something better that would be a reasonable price range? I mean the truck is getting hammered it seems like from all the worn parts.

@dodgeram07 yea i saw that a while back was actually lookin for it, thanks.


So what if i just took off the control arms and have someone press in the bushings and the ball joints? Wasnt really looking forward to it anyhow.

 

Also are tie rod ends are to replace and such? i think the bushings are bad on those too even though im not exactly sure what it does haha.

is rockauto a decent place to get all these parts?