HI, MY NAMES TERRY. I HAVE BEEN WATCHING THIS FORUM FOR MONTHS AND DECIEDED TO JOIN. MY TRUCK IS A 06 4X4. I BOUGHT IT WITH 36000 MILES ON IT. NOW IT HAS 41000. AT 36000 IT HAD NEW GOODYEAR 315 TIRES AND A LEVELING KIT ON IT. IT STARTED A FEW WEEKS AGO WHEN I HIT BUMPS IN THE ROAD THE FRONT END GOES CRAZY. I TOOK IT TO A ALINMENT SHOP AND THE BALL JOINTS ARE WORE OUT. I CHECKED THE SERVICE RECORDS AT THE DODGE PLACE BECAUSE THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AT ONE TIME. AT 22000 THEY HAD PUT LOWER BALL JOINTS IN AND AT AROUND 35000 HAD PUT DRAG LINK AND LINKAGES ON. I CALLED MY LOCAL DODGE DEALER HOPING TO GET SOME HELP SINCE IT IS ON RECORDIT'S HAD APROBLEM AND ITS STILL NOT FIXED. BUT SINCE I' M NOT THE ORIGINAL OWNER THEY WON'T DO ANYTHING. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS. I WILLEND UP FIXEN IT MY SELF. IT JUST LOOKS LIKE SINCE ITS HAD A PROBLEM SINCE BEFORE 22000 THE WOULD WANT TO HELP. THANKS TERRY

 

Some dealerships do not want to work with you on things like this. Do it yourself, get some good parts and you will be fine. I get it with my bfg's 315/70/17's at like 90 mph and above if I get on a rough road or hit a bump. Some peopel say that they had it and switching tires helped pro-comp extreme all terrains is whata lot are usingare using.
Welcome to the forum and get some pics of the rig up.

 

Go to another dealer. Dodge has a 70,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty on our trucks. I know you are the second owner, but if you pay a $150 transfer fee, the warranty will be transfered to your name and they should fix it at no cost to you.

I am the second owner of my truck. I had some issues with a leaking pan gasket. After paying the transfer fee, they fixed it under warranty.[/i]

 

go back to the alignment shop and have them add as much caster as they can w/o rubbing or pulling, your DW problems will be gone. have a 2nd shop inspect the ball joints and DONT tell them your having any shaking problems... opens the door for them to tell you you need this part or that part, just tell them you bought the truck recently and you want the front inspected to see if anything is loose.

Regardless of what you might hear otherwise, the caster solution has worked 99% of the time when it comes to the DW.

 

Steve, I think I've asked this before but I can't find the thread. When you guys talk about adding caster to avoid the DW issue, do you mean adjusting the cams so the axle moves forward within the wheel wells, or backward? I don't know the technical alignment terminology, so I'm just trying to picture the end result...

 

thanks guys. i never told them i had a shake in the front end. i just ask for a alignment and tires balance. they ask me to come back and look, both sides had a lot of movement in them. it for sure was the ball joints not the wheel bearings. hun are u sure about the warranty. i have the sticker off the window it says 3yr 36000. its a 2006. i sure love the truck but i paid a lot for it for the front end to be wore out. if dodge built as good of truck as cummins did a engine we would not have nothing to chat about. thanks guys

 

Ok, then get a 2nd opinion on the ball joints, some shops (i've run into them) just want to make a sale.


chouseal... read the caster info on this link... http://www.familycar.com/Alignment.htm

there are 2 sections on caster, read them both and it'll make sense. On my 2000 gasser, I had the DW 1x, did alot of research and the general fix was the caster. got the alignment done, put bigger tires on 20~30k miles lateralong with 60000 miles and never had DW again. the only suspension piece I changed was the tracbar, 1st time because it was worn & loose, replaced it with a moog and that lasted 20~25k, then went with a thurenfab and never had issues with it after that.

I currently have my 2nd thurenfab bar on the 2005 ram and am very happy with it.

 

thanks steve, but i looked at the ball joints no need for a sec.i hadnt checked them i just figured the front end was out. i had read your post on the caster and was going to tell the alignment guy, but when he found the slack he sugested that dodge might help me out since the truck wasnt very old. i can install them i use to run a shop but i eased out of that into just a wrecker service. i just run my wrecker service from my shop so i have a lift and all the tools to replace them. i was just hoping dodge would replace them and save me the trouble. thanks

 

if its under warranty then have dodge look at it, they may fix it free. I still highly recommend the alignment fix I mentioned above, it'll take care of your DW problems for good. when you do get it done, tell the tech to forget about what the spec says, I have mine beyond the spec and have zero problems with DW...

 

Thanks, Steve. To answer my own question, after reading the link you provided, it sounds like the caster adjustment cams need to be rotated such that the axle and wheels move forward within the wells (positive caster). Correct?

Is it safe to do this one adjustment at home, as long as both sides match? Or does an alignment shop really need to do it? I've recently had an alignment done, so toe-in and everything else is already set.