It's about time for new tires and I noticed that the outside edges of
the front 2 are cupped or "scalloped" looking and I've known for a
while that there's something not 100% up there, a few more clunks
and rattles than usual. Problem is I live in an apartment and don't
have access to a garage to get it up and really look around down
there to figure out exactly what's wrong. However in a few weeks I
will have access to a garage and a lift but only for a few days, so if
you had to pre-purchase parts for a front end suspension "rebuild"
what would you get? Axle's and wheel bearings have already been
done so I'm thinking more about struts, bushings, ball joints, etc..
It's an '05 Laramie Quad Cab 4.7L 4x4.

Thanks!

JR

 

A front suspension rebuild can be fairly straight forward or a real pain. I had one that was a real pain, you can read about some of my problems/solutions here:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...ntrol-arm.html

There are quite a few posts on this forum that give recommendations on parts as well as how to get the job done, so before you commit to really doing it yourself, you should read them all. The final decision should be based on your experience, available tools, and available cash for parts.

One area in particular that you should check out relates to how seized your lower control arms are and whether you want to change the bolts & bushings or the whole thing. If you choose to go with bolts & bushings, keep in mind that there is a lot of confusion on the real part numbers for these items and that there are a couple of posts on this forum that give you part numbers (I think they're NAPA numbers) that actually work (unless you're in Canada).

 

Thanks for the info and the write up, sounds like every job I've ever done, starts off as something that should be relatively simple and turns into something completely else... I feel fairly confident in my abilities and availability of tools/equipment and help, I'll have a lift, air tools, torches and cutters (should the need arise...) I'm just hoping I can get it all done in one weekend if I prepare for all possible worst case scenarios. With my tax refund on the way money is also not too big an issue. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and just buy both upper and lower control arms complete with bushings and ball joints, shocks with the strut mounting hardware plus the stabilizer bar and link bushings and just do it all.

Looking at Rock Auto though I'm curious, some manufactures specify between L and R on the upper arms and some don't, are the uppers interchangeable? I also see Moog has uppers with grease fittings which should solve the seizing problem, but not lowers. Interestingly the Moog "R-series" lowers that Rock offers are more expensive than the Raybestos "Professionals" even though the "R-series" are "budget minded" and come with a 12 month warranty vs the Raybestos 2 year warranty. Any opinions or experiences with the 2? Any other lower choices out there? Preferably ones with serviceable grease fittings?

 

Moog, with grease fittings is the way to go for the control arms. I believe that both are L & R critical, the lower arms for sure. If you get the whole lower arm, it will probably come with a ball joint without a nipple. The lower arms are also critical for alignment and some people have had difficulties with the bolts & nuts (they've stripped them) when torquing them to spec. What I did was pulled them to about 120 - 130 before taking the truck in for alignment and left the rest to the alignment shop to pull tight after the set the alignment properly. The seizing problem is usually the bolts that go through the bushings and none of them come with a fitting - I put a bunch of anti-seize compound on the bolt and in the bushing to help keep the moisture out and away from the bolt. If you need to cut the lower control arm bolts, keep the nuts and cam washers that go on the nut end of the bolt. They're a special configuration and some dealerships have their part numbers all screwed up and won't be able to replace them. I ended up re-using the old stand-off nuts and old cam washers to slide on the threaded end of the new bolts.

If you want less work, get Munroe replacement struts - these come fully assembled with springs etc. If you want to save some cash, just get the Munroe shocks and take them old struts apart. If you have access to a strut compressor, save yourself the cash and just get the shocks. If you plan to lift/level your truck, add the leveling kit now and save yourself the disassembly pain later on.

The stabilizer bar bushings are easy to put in & can be done at any time.

 

Thanks Alfons, you've been a big help. So here's my parts list so far:

Moog outer tie rod ends ES3571 - 2@$33.79
Moog upper control arms (w serviceable ball joint) K62006 - 2@88.89
Moog left lower control arm RK620478 - 1@201.79
Moog right lower control arm RK620479 - 1@178.79
Moog lower ball joints K80605 - 2@32.79
Moog stabilizer bar link K750263 - 2@15.68
Monroe Quick Struts 171100 - 2@150.99
Power Stop Pads and Rotors K2193 - 1@193.79

I'll be trying my best to preserve the LCA bolt cam washers and nuts, any other weird hardware items like that I should plan ahead for?

 

That looks pretty good, have a close look at the calipers while you have everything apart - mine were shot, but then my Dak had been sitting idle outside for quite a while & that makes things really seize up. Keep your receipts for the stabilizer bar link kit - the ones I got were made of fairly poor quality. The nuts stripped with very little effort.

As far as any weird items, since you're getting the whole lower control arms, you won't need to go through the order & return process of the bushings which also had bad part numbers in the local dealerships. Other than that, you should be good to go with all those parts. I tend to use good penetrating oil (not WD-40) on all the nuts & exposed threads a few days in advance of wrenching. With several applications, I can usually tell which ones I'll need to cut without wasting a whole bunch of time. Have a couple of good impact wrenches available - I normally have my 1/2" that gives me close to 600 ft. lb. and my 3/4" that gives me around 1200. If these don't work, I then go for a thin blade on an angle grinder or an oxy acetylene torch, depending on what will destroy the least of what I need to remain.

Check the hubs as well, if they're bad, you'll feel the problem with the weight off the wheel.

 

The bearing/hubs were done like 15K ago, if they're bad again already I'll have a stroke...

Thanks again for all your help, hoping to get to this in the next week or two, I'll post updates after it's all done.

 

JR6424:

Doing the whole thing is almost easier than just doing some parts and trying not to screw everything else up!

On those TV shows they get both sides, plus a rear lift and helpers and a body kit done in half an hour! (LOL)

Start the timer when you lift the truck and let us know!

 

Update:

It took us 6 hours to get everything off... The rear cam bolts on both the left and right lower control arms were completely seized inside the bushing and wouldn't budge despite soaking in penetrating oil, impact wrench, 10lb sledge, etc... We finally cut the bolts out with a Sawzall, thankfully we were able to salvage those "castle" nuts for the cam bolt in case my dealers have the parts screwy like they did with yours. Also the driver side lower strut bolt was completely seized, even with the LCA off the car we couldn't press the bolt out on the bench. So I'm off to 3 dealerships tomorrow to chase down those bolts and then it should hopefully be a pretty straight forward reassembly, with plenty of anti-seize... Thanks again for all your help! I'll post again when we're finally done but I'm estimating another 3 hours or so, figure the final total will probably end up in the 8-10 hour range.

 

There isn't anything special with the strut bolts other than they're metric. If you have a fastener shop anywhere near you, you can get a replacement easily and probably cheaper than a dealership would charge. If you use a non-OEM bolt, remember to get a "strong" bolt, grade 8 for SAE would work or strength 10.9 for metric. Take a good bolt with you to either the fastener shop or dealership to check what you get.