Same here 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD just bought new NAPA ball joints for a little extra they have a lifetime warranty so I wont have to purchase them again at least until NAPA goes out of buisness.

 

Same problem you guys are having! I got on the net to search it and found this site. Mine went at 30,000. I noticed my truck was out of line so i took it to the shop. They said they couldn't align it because the ball joints where bad. Not one joint all the joints. The mechanic also said that there is no excuse for them being out at such low mileage. I have never had my truck off-road either. TOYOTA has my buisness after i wreck this piece.

 

JFamous, your not alone. Gotta 06 Ram 4x4, I've had to replace Lower Ball Joint, sway bar links, Tie Rod, and Hub Assembly. Your mechanic was right on the Upper, one piece with control arm. Not sure about upper being dealer only but I'm about to find out. I now have an upper out and the other tie rod. The lower ball joint was not dealer item, got mine at Auto Zone. Don't know what the problem is with Dodge front suspention, but had problems with last Ram 04 2wd also. Had to replace Tie Rod and sway links on it also. I did however replace my sway links on this truck with replacements from a 3500 Chevy- GMC. Factory ones have a swival assembly and is a dealer only at $85 each side. I was able to retro with new ones for the chevy that don't have the weak swival ball for $20 both sides and never had another problem there. Hope this helps. Also hope dodge fixes this suspension problems. I like the Mopars.

 

UCAs can be bought lots of places. Im at 72k on my 04 2wd and a big susp lift and still using all OEM front end parts. Some rigs just happen to have issues while others do not.

 

Every 4 x 4 is alot harder on balljoints, no matter the make. For you guys talking about toyota, well they have their troubles also. I have a couple friends with them and don't worry, the balljoints go also and usually are really expensive to replace. I love the trucks though. I had a 2008 tundra 5.7 for 4 days when my truck was getting fixed after a parking lot incident and i loved the truck. It didnt' drive as good as my truck but handled alot better and it had crazy power. I tortured the crap out of it and still got 15 mpg, which was awesome becuase of the way it was drove.

 

Hi all, new to the site and hoping this thread is still active. The ball joints on my 06 2500 4x4 are going out. Has anyone had any luck on getting dodge to admit a problem? I only have 46000 miles on the truck, never off road, pampered, minimal winter use. If this is as common as everyone is suggesting, what are the recommendations? Aftermarket replacement? Trade it in? No more dodges?
I bought this 06 because my 97 had 160k plus before the ball joints went out, and it was abused! And the only reason i changed them out was becasue i put a lift on it. The 06 is stock and the joints are going out at less than 50k? Unacceptable.

 

No recalls that I am aware of, but all the truck makers are having problems with ball joints and tie rod ends (technically just another ball joint) and I think it correlates with a concentrated move by the big three to non-greasable joints over the past 10 years or so. My buddy with an F250 diesel is on his third set and he doesn't have 75k miles on his truck.

Don't replace it with another non-greasable unit, get you one you can grease.