ok my 98 Ram has my going down the freeway looking like if had drank a bottle of JD. i mean seriously i be driving straight and then truck go where it wants. i have replaced the wheel bearings 2x each on front within 6 months. my girl was driving it when the wheel bearing snapped which then busted the axle shaft u joint and bent the outer axle shaft. well coming out on lunch for work my co-worker asked me if my tires are suppose to be like that? well thats when i noticed my tires sitting all messed up. so i took it Les Schwab for free inspection and results were LF inner tie rod is bad,track bar at frame is bad,shock missing lower bushing and front has neg camber no factory adjustment. so they quoted me $1100 to do tie rod,center drag link instal,track bar instal,after market ball joints and align.

so not wanting to pay that for all this i researched and found the parts much cheaper than what they were trying to charge. or so i thought. after doing more research now this is where im confused. if my truck is lifted i have to get an after market track bar? also the guy at schwab said he would not be able to get the ball joints because he would have to wait until he did all the other work and align it before he would know which ones to get for my truck. he said but they will be same price no matter what so thats why he could quote me on the cost of ball joints now. well doing my research with the selection of ball joints they are not all the same price. so i need help figuring out which track bar and ball joints i will need? no supposably my truck has a lift but it really looks like to me anyway that it looks pretty level with many stock trucks i see of my generation. guy i got it from said 4inch lift but he got me on a couple things about the truck so it not surprised at all if it was stock height. any help would be great. just ask ill give you any info in order to help with getting me answer.

truck sits on dual front shock with 35s on 15s

 

Need pics of the front and rear suspension. Top of the coils in front, and springs/blocks in back, probably shackles in the rear as well.

 

In the past decade or so, I have really gotten tired of Schwab. They just want to replace everything. Tires, maybe. Anything else, nope.

 

Not even tires. They are way too pricey. Toyos aren't that great (had Nittos and hated them) but if they don't come with 14k gold lettering, I'm not paying those prices.

 

If the guy you got it from said 4" lift, out of pure stupidity and incompetence.

While a 4WD is just that much taller off the assembly line I also know that it is due to the needed clearance for components.
I have noticed a while back that ALL 4wD Ram 1500's do look lifted when sitting beside their exact year and body config 2WD counterpart.

As far as the question of the track bar and ball joints, I would not imagine them being anything special or made that different from stock, but an aftermarket adjustable trac bar would come with multiple advantages of it own for obvious reasons.
I'ma gonna call it like I see it...... Schwab is just trying to put you over a barrel and take advantage of the situation.

 

thanks for the replies guys. ill get pics today and post. sorry taken so long to get back its been 12+ hours a day work week and i am beat up from the feet up. does the track bar have anything to do with the camber? Schwab said i needed off set ball joints in order for my tires not to sit funny. they quoted me $121.50 for one kind and needs two of those so total of $243 and quoted me $110.17 for another type which are the off set ones so total of $221.34 with tax it was $507 just for parts

 

Track bar just centers the axle under the truck, and controls lateral movement. Nothing to do with camber. On a 4x4, its the axle itself, or, if the difference is small enough, ball joints can correct it. Did they check to see if your axle was bent?? (housing itself.)

 

Shouldn't need off-set bjs. These axles didn't come with them and should not need them. 35s are sure hurting your steering but aren't that big either. First, make sure all parts are new/tight/replaced. This includes the steering gear. Also lower your psi to about 40 max. Anything higher will wander.

Then, and only then, do your own alignment. Use string and tape measures like the old days. All you need is to have the toe to near 0 or slightly in. That's it. No caster, camber, etc. These are simple solid axle trucks and should need nothing fancy. They actually drove straight and tight from the factory so I know you can get there again.

 

idk if they checked for bent axle or not. ok here is few pics of truck and shocks. i know it looks like crap under the truck. keep in mind i have had it less than a year and have had to dump a lot of money into it so have not been able to get around to cleaning it up and getting some undercoating and all the good stuff. this summer though. im sure its not big deal to anyone but it is to me. nothing worse than a truck thats all BAMMER underneath.

 

That doesn't look bad at all. Very little rust and things look solid. But I have some concerns:

First off, that is a 97 model, not 98. (Mirrors, body trim, dash, and sway bar links give it away).

Secondly, that looks like a 3" lift, not 5". You can stuff 35s on 15s with just a 3". The control arms are replaced and there's just an AAL out back which looks like my setup. Not sure why dual shocks up front. I also don't see a track bar bracket which is required for 5".

The alignment looks fine. How are your tires wearing? Start with a new track bar (moog will get you by for now) and the other TREs they told you about. Then get under and have your GF slowly turn the wheel back and forth to check for other loose parts. Then align it. If the steering gear has play, replace that too. I didn't notice a bent axle but the pics didn't show that. How about a pic from the front dead on?

If you went through bearings in less than 100k then they weren't installed properly. Hubs should be torqued to 175 lb/ft and should be Timken only. Rock auto has them cheap.