garry830

I have an 02 Ram2500 4x4 that had to have the right upper ball joint replaced today which was found by accident because they found a deteriorating brake pad during state inspection. When I went to get the brakes done they found it pulling the rotors.
This thing was flopping around like a wet noodle....can 't believe I couldn't feel it.
To top that our dealers are on strike here in St. Louis, so couldn't take it there to complain and on top of that the hub wouldn't come out to replace the ball joint and it got toasted with a chisel, now 600 bucks(brakes pads, ball joint and labor) later since a new hub is 300 bucks. Glad I was there and seen it all or I wouldn't have believed it.
So can somebody tell me this ain't no big deal and this is normal.
I'm thinking somebody ain't been hitting the grease fittings when the oil gets changed(dealer).

You guys seem to be the best forum I have seen, so I thought this would be a great place to start.

J BODY

Depending on how the truck was used....yeah that's pretty much normal. Since moving to Arizona I haven't had much a prob getting the hubs out since rust is outlawed here. If the truck is used mainly on road down here we'll see nearly 100K out of them, but if they see off road duty (and it's rough down here), I've put them in under warranty with 15k on them.

SHARPMACHINE

garry830,




Welome, FWIW I don't trust dealers or quicklubes to get all of the zerts. I recommend getting dirty and doing it yourself 1-2 times a year atleast. just my .002.

RATTLINRAM

Welcome to the site garry830
You might try contacting one of our Virginia members hntnbo. We both work for the same plant and he was telling me that he just had to have his replaced while on vacation in NM. He wasn't a very happy camper because he had less than 40k on his truck!
Anyway, he was saying that the shop that did his, was telling him that they have done quite a few on certain year trucks, but I can't remember for sure which ones. The shop owner was telling him that DC was aware of the problem and should have done something about it, but once again,,,,,,,, I don't remember all the details. Send Jon a PM or email and he might be able to explain it better.

garry830

I appreciate you guys responses, kinda helps dampen the blow to the wallet...I'll get over it!! I've had quite a few guys tell me to expect to replace the whole front end at around 100-120k but never expected 59,000 with all interstate driving. Thanks again!!! and thanks Rattlinram, I'll send hntnbo an email.

243

garry830,

I think I found the bad balljoints on my rig at about 65K miles. I drove it to 85K waiting on Moog to release the parts and wore out my tires about 15K miles sooner than necessary. I replaced them myself (first timer) and it is a chore, the hub bearing is a major PIA. It took me a Saturday and Sunday but I also did the axle seals which required pulling the diff out

I think I could do it again in 12 hours or less with an air powered impact vs an electric impact.

600.00 sounds reasonable.

I believe DC sources the parts from the "low bidder" which would explain why the front end parts where out so quickly.


I hope you didn't pay for the hub bearing.