Ram Ball Joints

From : brshirring

Q: my 94 dodge ram has bad ball joints. times are tough and i cant afford the $550 per side to have them professonally replaced. they appear to be press-in what tools do i need to replace them the local mechanic says i need an aliment after theyre replaced which surprises me. true advise would be appriecated. thanks bruce .

Replies:

From : sammmm

about a week ago my 2000 durango started to have a rough idle. ive had some work done on my a/c and got that fixed. i dont know if that has anything to do with it or not. when i start it up it revs up and at idle it revs up and down constantly. perhaps it behaves as if it very cold outside ambient sensor gone whacky any ideas oh i checked to see if there were any codes ignition on/off 3 times then press trip reset and nothing came up...except pdone. thanks . 222 287048 vm2dnwqugo-liyxcrvn-va@pghconnect.com my 91 has screw in ball joints in the top.... it took a special socket and an 8 ft pipe to unscrew them. i dont know about the other models. sammmm -- toys diesel bmw motorcycle homebuilt electric motorcycle gold wing trike honda gyros dodge diesel dualie fiat osca 1500 cabriolet w3cyo/r 145.49 224.40 443.300 mhz. repeaters. my 94 dodge ram has bad ball joints. times are tough and i cant afford the $550 per side to have them professonally replaced. they appear to be press-in what tools do i need to replace them the local mechanic says i need an aliment after theyre replaced which surprises me. true advise would be appriecated. thanks bruce .

From : jeff

brshirring wrote my 94 dodge ram has bad ball joints. times are tough and i cant afford the $550 per side to have them professonally replaced. they appear to be press-in what tools do i need to replace them the local mechanic says i need an aliment after theyre replaced which surprises me. true advise would be appriecated. thanks bruce hi bruce- i did mine a couple of years ago. mines a 4x4 if yours isnt i dont know if much of this information will be useful. i needed a big 3/4 drive socket to get the giant nut off but i cant remember the size offhand. i borrowed one. i remember having problems with the bolts the hold the hub on 4 from the back side and breaking at least one socket on it. also had a problem with the hubs pulling through the knuckle as they were kinda rusted together. a gear puller and a big brass hammer eventually persuaded it. have a bucket ready when you pull the hub/axle out no need to seperate them as gear lube will start pouring out of the axle tube. i rented a ball joint tool to press the old joints out. it kinda looked like a big c clamp with different spacers and ends you can use. a sturdy bench with a vise is a good thing to have when you are seperating the ball joints from the knuckle. an acetelyne torch is nice too. and a needle scaler to knock off all the rust and crud before putting it all back together. and some loc-tite for the 4 bolts that hold the hub on. and a 250 ft-lb torque wrench for tightening everything up to spec. you might as well check the whole front end for loose joints and bushings while your at it. especially the track bar if its 4wd they are notorious for wearing out. it took me the better part of 2 weekends before it was back on the road but im kinda slow at those things and i also replaced the shocks changed the engine oil and filter the transmission oil and filter and adjusted the bands at the same time. good luck- jeff .

From : john kunkel

my 94 dodge ram has bad ball joints. times are tough and i cant afford the $550 per side to have them professonally replaced. they appear to be press-in what tools do i need to replace them the local mechanic says i need an aliment after theyre replaced which surprises me. true many rental yards and some auto supplies have ball joint tools to rent/loan and harbor freight has inexpensive ball joint presses for around $60. http//www.harborfreight.com/ replacing any parts in the front suspension requires a realignment. .

From : tbone

my 94 dodge ram has bad ball joints. times are tough and i cant afford the $550 per side to have them professonally replaced. they appear to be press-in what tools do i need to replace them the local mechanic says i need an aliment after theyre replaced which surprises me. true many rental yards and some auto supplies have ball joint tools to rent/loan and harbor freight has inexpensive ball joint presses for around $60. http//www.harborfreight.com/ replacing any parts in the front suspension requires a realignment. that is not always true with fixed parts such as ball joints but it is a good idea. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving .