i have 80,000 miles on my 04 4wd 3500. tire shop guy says my lower ball joints have a littler bit of play in them and need to be replaced, but the upper ones look fine. said if i replace the lowers, might as well replace the uppers while in there. is 80k about the right time for these to need to be replaced? if so, what are you guys replacing them with? factory oem? any upgrades/aftermarket? thanks for you help!

 

From what I've read it's normal for them to have a little bit of play. I've done the job once and just used whatever napa had. Not sure what brand they were, but they were greasable unlike the stockers. It wasn't a fun job.

 

www.rockauto.com

I put the standard spicer units in my truck, they're greaseable and didn't break the bank completely. It isn't a fun job, plus with 4wd you need to decide if you want to go 'head and replace the axle u-joints while you've got the knuckle off. I did, and believe me you WILL make your axle seals leak when you pull those axles and put 'em back in. So, best to just plan on doing everything, the seals are cheap, bit of a pain to put in, and for the driver's side seal you've gotta pull the diff. carrier, spreader is not necessary just a buddy, small pry bar, and a plastic dead blow then just be careful with those bearing races and don't mix up the caps. This is coming from the perspective of a '98 truck with a Dana60 under the front, your AAM in the '04 may be a little different, but it's still pretty basic wrenching just with some of the bigger parts.

 

Ireplaced the ball joints in mine with about 30k less than you have on yours. I used greasbale units by MOOG. My opinion is to definitely do all 4 at the same time.

 

do you 4x a lot????


if so, Id expect to replace often.

always replace the whole set if 1 or 2 are bad. then get it aligned right away!

 

as a matter of fact i do. my truck pretty much stays in 4wd during hunting season (oct to feb.) i guess i should have them replaced. thanks guys!