I've got front end noise on the passenger wheel of my truck, I got a heavy duty mechanic friend to take it for a drive, and a quick crawl under the truck and he said its my lower control arm bushings that are worn out.
Do RAM 1500 bushings also work for this?
I have yet to try replacing the sway bar end link, as that side was replaced a year ago, but for 40 bucks or whatever it was, I'll definitely start with the link, then I also noticed I can see right through my sway bar bushings, so I'll probably replace those as well.

 

Okay, so I posted in a few threads, but I decided I'll just make a new one, you're all so helpful.

Alright, so the noise is coming from the front passenger wheel. its a clunking while going over bumps. I had a heavy duty mechanic friend take it for a drive and after a quick crawl underneath he suspects its the lower control arm bushings.

I read in a few other threads that RAM1500 bushings work for the lower strut bushing or something along those lines, do they work for all the bushings associated with the lower control arm??

I have yet to replace the sway bar end link, as I did it last year, but for 40 bucks or whatever it was, I'll change it before anything else.

My last question, is how, how can I tell when sway bar bushings are bad, I can see through them, and I'm fairly sure I shouldn't be able to haha.
So how can I diagnose bad bushings, I'd like to check them all while I'm working on the front end.

 

Okay, so I posted in a few threads, but I decided I'll just make a new one, you're all so helpful.

Alright, so the noise is coming from the front passenger wheel. its a clunking while going over bumps. I had a heavy duty mechanic friend take it for a drive and after a quick crawl underneath he suspects its the lower control arm bushings.

I read in a few other threads that RAM1500 bushings work for the lower strut bushing or something along those lines, do they work for all the bushings associated with the lower control arm??

I have yet to replace the sway bar end link, as I did it last year, but for 40 bucks or whatever it was, I'll change it before anything else.

My last question, is how, how can I tell when sway bar bushings are bad, I can see through them, and I'm fairly sure I shouldn't be able to haha.
So how can I diagnose bad bushings, I'd like to check them all while I'm working on the front end.

 

Since you asked the same questions several different times, then decided to create a whole new thread with the same question, I merged all your questions into your new thread.

The clunk could be from the worn sway bar bushings. No, you should not be able to "see through them". Keep is simple and replace those bushings first along with the links

 

Alright, I'm ordering my sway bar bushings and end link tomorrow, as well as a new water pump since I development belt noise and pulled the belt then inspected all the pulleys and found play in the pump shaft.

My question still remains, what bushings can the 1500 bushings replace?

 

I don't remember anyone using Ram bushings on their Dakota. And a lot of parts compatibility questions have come up already.

Also don't go with OEM parts, if you don't already know this. There are quality aftermarket parts that are available.

 

i thought i'd read in another thread that the lower strut bushing was the same as the 1500 and wondering if others are compatible as well.

ANYWAY, I bought a rebuilt water pump, sway bar end links and sway bar bushings, since I needed to remove the whole assembly anyway to replace the bushings, I took if for a test drive with the sway bar and obviously end links off, and the same noise is still present so I eliminated all that as possible causes.

I'll be changing my water pump (unrelated) so hopefully you guys can she some insight as to what to check next while I'm doing that

 

did you replace the control arm bushings your friend saw that were bad? Any bad bushing can cause a clunk

 

Lower control arm bushings aren't easy to change & they also used to be very hard to find. When I needed them for my truck (2 to 3 years ago), there were no after market bushings available - Moog was indicating that they were about to bring some to the market, but I don't know if they ever did. I ended up getting OEM lower control arms with bushings as the only available alternative.

If you decide you want/need to do this, you should read the threads on this forum that discuss the process - the cam bolts are usually seized into the bushing and need to be cut out without damaging the mounting points. These points and the cam bolts are critical to being able to perform a front end alignment.

 

Krazyistkarl - Can you mention what year and what model your Dakota is (2003 Crew Cab, 1997 Regular Cab Long bed, etc.)? Also the motor size in case that makes a difference?

RwP