how interesting! “Today I learned” Hahaha

ok so the ball joints don’t move at all it’s visibly moving at the hub assembly so wheel bearing confirmed. There’s about 1/4 inch play when I push/pull the wheel. The salvage yard has like 5 of my models and it’s only $14 to pull one compared to like $120 from auto zone so now my only decision is can I make the 52 mile round trip (26 miles each way) to pull one or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new one? I have a hairline crack in my rear extension housing on my transfer case so I’ve been looking for a reason to hit the yard anyway... LoL decisions decisions...

 

The way I see it it's $14 plus $10 in gas, 1.5-2 hrs of your time, probably lots of cursing trying to get a used one removed and you still don't know how long that one is going to last.

 

Go with new wheel hubs. Never used for that part.

Best way to check front end components is to place the jack on the lower control arm. This way the spring will compress, then grab the wheels and rock as u did before.

 

thanks I’ll give that a try today

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone I went ahead and bought a new one!

 

I was thinking this one?

https://www.autozone.com/powertrain/...1303_4222_5247

 

Spicer sealed is your best bet if you can get it. Moog would be my second choice. Part store brands I would avoid personally.

 

Spicer 5-760x is the only joint that will last.
Timken bearings only.
The worst thing you can do is coat the underside in something that will trap moisture like a rubberized spray. Douse the underside in wd-40 every fall and keep fresh paint for touch ups. The best is the kind with rust inhibitors that is meant to spray directly on surface rust.

Funny story, I've lived in WA since 01 but take road trips twice a year back east where there's salt in the winter. My underside looks nearly new. Just last week, I checked out a "cherry" 2500 cummins on craigslist that the owner claimed was bought new in seattle area and he owned since 01. First thing I did was crawl underneath. Holy rust, batman! I tapped the bottom of the nv5600 and a huge chunk of rust fell off. There was deep rust under everything. There was no way in he!! it was owned out here. After crawling around under it for 20 mins, I popped up and said I'm gonna pass (there were several other red flags). He just said, "I figured you would" and sped away. He was a total scammer. Probably sat in water or lived out east and he got it salvaged or even stolen.

 

As far as undercoatings go, Ramman18 is correct. If the underlying metal has even a HINT of corrosion, that rubberized undercoating will trap and hold moisture to it and the cancer will spread faster than ever.

Heyyou mentioned Fluid Film, which is an excellent product. However, I ended up going with Woolwax which is very similar in that it's also Lanolin based, and has similar properties to Fluid Film, the only difference being that it is thicker and more resistant to being washed off. I ordered a kit from Kellsport Products including their fancy applicator gun. I was very pleased with the result. I applied it last year, and last time I was under the truck (last week) there's still plenty of it on there, so it might last 2 seasons, and I went through the carwash with underbody spray quite a bit. https://www.kellsportproducts.com/

 

Ok so I replaced my wheel bearing which was loose and replaced my ujoint which had play in it. The vibration is noticeably lighter and only happens after speeds of like 50-55 what else could it be?

i would say it’s easily 50% better than it was though so I definitely addressed (some) of the issue. But there is still something else...

someone said maybe ball joints?