# Ball joints on 2005 RAM



## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

The other day I noticed that the rubber covering on my ball joints has dry rotted off. This truck sees less than 1,000 miles of use a year. There appears to be almost no play in the wheels. Should I consider replacing & would it be better to replace entire upper & lower control arms. I've never done this kind of work & really don't know if I should do this on my own or just take it to a auto repair shop. I'm the second owner & the truck has 217,000 miles on it. I just use it to take house trash to the dump & pick up project materials. This year I only ran it 400 miles. Thanks for the advice.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

If your use case isn't going to change probably OK to just let it ride. Do these have grease fittings? Are they squeaking? Only thing I can advise on (the rest is your call) is that changing ball joints can be a real PITA, especially of they are pressed in type. I did that once DIY. Next time to a shop.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

If you've ever had a lady with a few kids in a car coming toward you at no more than about 45 mph with a completely out of control car it may be easy to make the decision to replace some front end parts that have ball joints . I'll never forget the expression on her face and i wasn't concerned with mine as i said OH s***. She got it stopped but let me tell ya i gave her a real wide berth of space .


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

raylo32 said:


> If your use case isn't going to change probably OK to just let it ride. Do these have grease fittings? Are they squeaking? Only thing I can advise on (the rest is your call) is that changing ball joints can be a real PITA, especially of they are pressed in type. I did that once DIY. Next time to a shop.


I don't see any grease fittings. As far as squeaks go, when I go over a bumpy road or train tracks I get knocks. But I am not sure if it the joints or shocks. Its been that way since I got it eight years ago. My mechanic tells me that for the super low miles I put on it, to leave it alone. He tells me that cause I don't really use the truck & not worth the repair cost. Having said that, I think if I do fix it, I will let my shop do it. Its too big of a job for DIY when you never done it before. 

PS: overt those bumps, I get NO vibration or jerking motion in the steering wheel.


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

SeniorSitizen said:


> If you've ever had a lady with a few kids in a car coming toward you at no more than about 45 mph with a completely out of control car it may be easy to make the decision to replace some front end parts that have ball joints . I'll never forget the expression on her face and i wasn't concerned with mine as i said OH s***. She got it stopped but let me tell ya i gave her a real wide berth of space .


I understand what your saying. But down here, if you want to see Fear, just go to the Walmart parking lot & look at tires. People are driving around on the freaking steel cords of the tire carcass! We don't have mandatory safety inspections down here in SC. Personally I think its NUTS.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I've got a 2002 Ram 1500 as well as my Cummins, and it developed a "rattle" similar to what I would describe as a shock being loose. I took it to the shop and they determined quickly that it was sway bar ends. Changed swaybar charged me about $200 parts and labor and NO MORE RATTLE !!
Drives like a new truck.


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

chandler48 said:


> I've got a 2002 Ram 1500 as well as my Cummins, and it developed a "rattle" similar to what I would describe as a shock being loose. I took it to the shop and they determined quickly that it was sway bar ends. Changed swaybar charged me about $200 parts and labor and NO MORE RATTLE !!
> Drives like a new truck.


That's interesting! I was thinking that sway bars could be weak in my rig. I might have worn bushings on the bars. It looks like something I'm can handle here at my house. Did you need to do a wheel alignment after the fix? I don't think sway bars would affect alignment but I really don't know.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

If they did an alignment they included it in the cost, so I doubt it. It runs as true as ever. 

I'm not very adept at doing things like that. I don't have a problem with the Second Generation Cummins, they are simple, but these gas engines are too picky and require goofy parts.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

You can control the springs with the weight of the truck but if you have never seen it done in the back yard, it might not be a good idea to do it.
With a crow bar you can check if there is a lot of movement. If they are solid, I would check them every year and wait for them to start to fail.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Nealtw said:


> I would check them every year and wait for them to start to fail.


I had suspected a ball joint in my truck, but the first shop I took it to, I made the mistake of telling him what was wrong. Sort of like telling a doctor what you have, rather than what hurts. Doesn't work. Mechanic said the ball joints can seem to be going bad but last for years, just keep an eye on them. Yeah, OK. This last mechanic was spot on with the detection.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

With 217,000 miles on it go ahead , it's your decision . If it were me i'd take out a $1,000,000 life and liability policy .

We had inspections for a few years and most was a bunch of bs but when it comes to items that can be life or death that's a different matter .

If we knew the truth , those that write the safety items don't have a clue .


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

chandler48 said:


> I had suspected a ball joint in my truck, but the first shop I took it to, I made the mistake of telling him what was wrong. Sort of like telling a doctor what you have, rather than what hurts. Doesn't work. Mechanic said the ball joints can seem to be going bad but last for years, just keep an eye on them. Yeah, OK. This last mechanic was spot on with the detection.


When I was young and needed front end work on my Chevy I took it to 3 shops for quotes. 
The first 2 gave me two different lists of parts and said about $50 each . The 3rd guy climbs out from other and looks in a book and then has me under the car to show be how the tie rod had been wrapped around something round with a 12" diameter. He put in a new one and said all the other parts look great. After that experience I learned how to check the parts myself. Even when I don't want to change the parts myself.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

How to Check Ball Joints (The Right Way) Tie Rods and Wheel Bearings | RAM 1500 Pick up Truck - YouTube


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## Matt1963 (5 mo ago)

maddog1 said:


> The other day I noticed that the rubber covering on my ball joints has dry rotted off. This truck sees less than 1,000 miles of use a year. There appears to be almost no play in the wheels. Should I consider replacing & would it be better to replace entire upper & lower control arms. I've never done this kind of work & really don't know if I should do this on my own or just take it to a auto repair shop. I'm the second owner & the truck has 217,000 miles on it. I just use it to take house trash to the dump & pick up project materials. This year I only ran it 400 miles. Thanks for the advice.


The proper way to check ball joints is to lift the truck and get the weight off the wheels. Once done if you detect any movement then there shot. The rubber grommet just keeps dust and dirt out. If your mechanic did this test and said they were fine I would just drive the truck at slower speeds and keep an eye on them.

At 217,000 miles your bound to have more problems.


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## peter1122 (8 mo ago)

If you value your life in any way, you would replace them,

In most cases a ball joint failure means a fatality,

Imagine this happening at 50 or 60 MPH.....


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

peter1122 said:


> If you value your life in any way, you would replace them,
> 
> In most cases a ball joint failure means a fatality,
> 
> ...


That's exactly what that gal's wheel looked like part time and part time the opposite .

That tire looks like a CrossClimate and i want it .


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

SeniorSitizen said:


> With 217,000 miles on it go ahead , it's your decision . If it were me i'd take out a $1,000,000 life and liability policy .
> 
> We had inspections for a few years and most was a bunch of bs but when it comes to items that can be life or death that's a different matter .
> 
> If we knew the truth , those that write the safety items don't have a clue .


Your kidding, right? I mean about the $1,000,000 life insurance policy, At my age, the premium would be probably around $10,000. a month if I can find a policy. 

So what part of the safety inspections do you consider to be BS? I'm talking STRICTLY safety issues, not Check Engine Lights. We have ZERO inspections here & you can see the results of that on the roads down here. Yes there are items that are nonsense, but those nonsense items have a way of growing. If a owner is not willing to replace a cracked tail light or a bad wiper, what else is he/she not willing to fix? Nothing is perfect that I know of.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Not sure if they still have them, but when I lived in the Atlanta hell hole, they had yearly inspections. The vast majority of failures was exhaust gasses, requiring hundreds if not a thousand dollars to have checked and "remedied". In addition, ALL headlights had to be adjusted at a cost of $35, regardless. Who was to know better, certainly not me. I found a really reputable inspection station, and sure enough my exhaust gassed were off. He asked how far I drove the truck before the inspection. From house to station about 5 miles. He suggested taking it out on the interstate for an exit or so and bring it back. Passed with flying colors. Oh, headlights were fine.


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## 660catman (Aug 25, 2019)

At 217k miles I would bet they are shot. A lot of suspension parts don’t have grease zerks anymore. Not sure on Dodge trucks but ball joints may be integral to the control arm. I would change them instead of worrying when they will break. Not if, when!


Retired guy from Southern Manitoba, Canada.


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

660catman said:


> At 217k miles I would bet they are shot. A lot of suspension parts don’t have grease zerks anymore. Not sure on Dodge trucks but ball joints may be integral to the control arm. I would change them instead of worrying when they will break. Not if, when!
> 
> 
> Retired guy from Southern Manitoba, Canada.


 Yes. I'm considering that.


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

chandler48 said:


> Not sure if they still have them, but when I lived in the Atlanta hell hole, they had yearly inspections. The vast majority of failures was exhaust gasses, requiring hundreds if not a thousand dollars to have checked and "remedied". In addition, ALL headlights had to be adjusted at a cost of $35, regardless. Who was to know better, certainly not me. I found a really reputable inspection station, and sure enough my exhaust gassed were off. He asked how far I drove the truck before the inspection. From house to station about 5 miles. He suggested taking it out on the interstate for an exit or so and bring it back. Passed with flying colors. Oh, headlights were fine.


In many states, the inspection system is filled with corruption. And a lot of that corruption starts with stations that are run by the state & do the inspections. Inspectors have been known to steer drivers over to those "Local" repair shops for the quick fix at a reasonable price. And of course, when you get to the shop just tell them that "Joe from the inspection station sent you" I don't have to tell you what comes next. 

In New York, inspections are done by private repair shops & car dealerships. The shops have to be certified by the state in order to be in the repair business. In NY, you will see cars on the road falling apart. Why? Because if you have a friend at the repair shop, here is what they do- They have to hook your car into a computer that connects them to the DMV & your car registration & info comes up on the computer instantly. Then they do the test & your car fails. Next your friendly repair guy disconnects your car from the state computer. Then he clears the failure codes from your car's computer & tells you to drive around 100 miles & bring it back in a couple of days. He then re connects your car to the state system & guess what- Your car passes because your car's computer system has not yet re learned the failure points. And that's how you beat the system in NY. Then you simply pay the inspection fee & get your window sticker & have a friendly hand shake with your mechanic. Everyone knows what's going on & how to game the system.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I don't think the guy at my station was trying to hoo doo anyone. He realized there was not enough time from when I left my house to get to his shop for the engine to be a true operating temperature.

I have see what you are talking about, too, very shady.....and as you say corrupt !!


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

chandler48 said:


> I don't think the guy at my station was trying to hoo doo anyone. He realized there was not enough time from when I left my house to get to his shop for the engine to be a true operating temperature.
> 
> I have see what you are talking about, too, very shady.....and as you say corrupt !!


I was not suggesting that the guy at your shop was leading you on. There are honest people out there too. He gave you very good advice. Five miles in not enough run time to get the vehicles system tuned in.


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## NewDIY4me (3 mo ago)

Had a steering link come apart on the highway. Not fun and I completely lucked out. If you can lift the car and check them from play, that would be best to assess in what kind of shape they are. That said, without the boot to keep out contaminants and retain the grease...they are going to fail prematurely.


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