New to this forum thing so please forgive any missteps. I am a first time Dodge owner and purchased a 2007 Laramie 4x4 45k miles, three weeks ago. Once home noticed I had a front end clank/clunk over minor road imperfections. i have read much on this and under inspection the passenger outer tie rod can be moved and makes a clanking sound. The movement and clank are minor, but the drivers side has no play or noise. So assuming this is the source of my clanking front end noise, can I just replace the passenger side and if so do I need an alignment if I do one side only? Also truck has front level done. Appears to be spacer style. Does this cause any premature wear on stock sway bar bushings. Mine look really swished, no movement though. Also any Video links for plug change in this year.
Thanks for any replies...

 

I have a bit over 100k on my Ram and i too had a slight clunk with a bit of play in the steering. Turned out to be the same thing as you found. I had the one Tie Rod end replaced and yes, you will want an alignment. Steering is now tight again.

A few months later i was hearing a new clunk but the steering seemed fine. It turned out to be a Sway Bar end link broken. Another easy and fairly cheap fix.

 

Personally, I'd do both and keep the good, used one as a spare. You'll need an alignment anyway and if one is gone, the other probably won't be too far behind and you'd have to get an alignment all over again...

 

Thanks for the responses. I'll go ahead and replace both and get an alignment. Does a particular part manufacturer make a difference in how long new outers will last?

 

I like Moog myself but whatever you use, make sure it's got a zirc so you can lube the damn thing...

 

I agree with hammer, buy Moog and never deal with the issue again. I will never understand why they make oem components without the abilty to grease them. If you have a few hundred bucks it might be worth it to buy the Moog kit that has inner and outer tie rods as well as upper and lower ball joints, then you can have high quality parts that you can grease and only pay for one alignment.

 

I agree that greasable front end parts are great. But on the same note, i am over 100k on my Ram and other then the broken sway bar link and the one Tie Rod end, my front end is rock solid. So the factory greased parts do pretty well. My 01.5' 2500 Turbo Diesel Ram needed half the front end replaced at 70k miles and all those parts DID have grease fittings. I never plowed or went 4 wheeling. I know it's a heavier truck, but still seems silly.

I will be replacing any other parts with Moog as needed.

 

Most consumers cannot even do oil changes on time, let alone climb under the truck to grease ball joints. They are also good at paying repair bills

 

Which is why more and more car companies are going with factory greased and sealed components. If you take away the need to grease components, you automatically take away the issue of people forgetting to do it.

My cousin has almost 300k miles on his Toyota Camry and the entire front end is original and the car drives like new. I understand comparing a V6 sedan to a huge V8 truck is not a fair comparison, but the point i am trying to make is modern components and advances in lubrication have extended the life of many components dramatically.