Hi All,

Two potentially related questions:

1) The boot on my driver's side upper ball joint has a big crack in it. Been there for at least a year. I've checked, and continue to check, for play in the joint and all seems good. However, how long can this go on before dirt and water do their thing?

2) Since before the boot cracked, actually since I bought the thing 5 years ago, there is an odd sound coming from the front at low speeds. A metal-on-metal sound that is kind of like a cross between jumping on an old mattress and that annoying sound of a plastic straw in a drinking cup at McDonalds. I can feel it through the steering wheel, too. Thoughts?

I've got a 2WD, by the way.

Thanks!

 

Ball joints don`t like it when dirt and water get into them, so having a cracked boot on the ball joint is not a good thing. The boot also keeps the grease in the ball joint. So as it is now, its just a matter of time before the ball joint goes bad.


The front end noise could be anything from bad shocks to worn out a-arm bushings, or sway bar bushings. I would check the sway bar bushings first though. When I got my 2000 Ram 1500 the sway bar bushings were beyond worn out, but new bushings took care of that problem.

 

cracked boots don't matter just grease at oil changes, and the sound could be anything.

 

Soo...is there any way to replace the boot without replacing the entire ball joint? And how do I grease it...don't see a zerk fitting.

My A-Arm bushings are shot so mebbe that's the noise.

Thanks!

 

If your a-arm bushings are shot, they can make all kinds of strange noises, so that's probably what your hearing.


You can get replacement boots for the ball joints, but if you still have the factory installed ball joints, most if not all of them do not have zerk fittings, so you can`t grease them. If you ever replace the ball joints,you can get them with zerk fittings.

 

Replacing the boot is a half way job to changing the joint.
You still have to take it apart to change the boot. May as well pop anew joint in

 

if its not bad don't bother changing it. i have seen lots last a long time with missing or broken boots. it is common on chevys the boots blow on them al the time.

 

Doesn't changing the joint require drilling out the rivets on the A-Arms? Does a boot replacement require doing that too? Honestly, removing the rivets is what I would like to avoid for the time being.

 

I had the exact same noise, like a soda straw sliding back and forth just a little, just enough to be really irritating.

It was/is the crosslink where it goes through a bushing that's dry. It's a rod that's maybe 3/8's inch in diameter that goes to the gear shift on the automatic transmission, goes across from the tranny to the frame -- six to eight inches long, and connects to the shifter inside the truck. At first I sprayed it with WD40 just to see if it changed the noise. It went away for a bit so I greased it with axle lube. Anything will work as long as it will adhere just a bit.

Oh, I have a 2001 Ram with the 5.9 engine.

 

Well stop asking questions then and just drive the damn thing.
We dont care if it breaks on the highway and kills you. We dont live by you so its highly unlikely you'll crash into us or someone we know.