Racfan9

Boy do I need help, Bought a 2007 3500 4x4 QC dually 2 months ago. Were leaving for Destin Fl. about 1600 miles round trip(from Springfield Mo.) this saturday towing our 38ft 5er. Thought I would take it to our local shop that specializes in driveline issues, I was worried about front axle u-joint being bad.
By the way the truck had 115,000 miles on it when I bought it. Anyway the shop called me at work and said the u-joints were fine but that the upper and lower ball joints were shot, do now instead of a $235.00 bill to replace 2 u-joints its now $1000 for ball joints and axle seals. But wait it gets alot worse I get another call a couple of hours later after they get most of it tore down to tell me that some way or another both axle tubes have been bent right where they press into the pumpkin. Now the damage is close to $3000. At this point I told them just to put it back together with the new ball joints and seals, mainly because we couldn't get it fixed before we leave saturday. Now question #1 Both front tires have to much camber, in at the top and out at the bottom. is there any after market upper or lower ball joints that will allow camber adjustments, or does anyone out there have any other options that I might try before forking out 3 grand for a new housing assembly.

Thanks, Racfan9

Jeff in TD

If the tubes are actually bent, I'd be concerned that they would be weakened and continue to bend, even if you can get camber correct.

I think I'd be looking into a salvage yard front axle if I were in your shoes.


Welcome to the forum. I'm sure some of the really expert people will chime in shortly.

vzdude

I am curious as to how they came to the decision that the tubes were bent right at that point? Visibly? or with some sort of measuring device like a Smart Tool ? Camber issues can be resolved with an adjustable ball joint, but like advised.....if the axle is truly bent, it will most likely only get worse. Was the truck in a wreck at some point? Did you get a carfax report? I would want to know how/what/when/where/why if I were you.......And yes......I would look into a salvage unit if it were me!

Tusker

I have seen plenty of axle tubes bend, but not at the third-member. That is where bending stress is the least. All the bent ones I have seen have been bent between the knuckle and the spring perch. Unless you really know and trust the shop, I would be alittle bit suspicious.

Racfan9

vzdude, From what I gathered from the shop once they had the axles, ring and pinion and axle seals out you could look from one end of the housing to the other end and see that they bent. They also said that they couldn't see any other damage that would indicate it had been wrecked. It looked like to them that it had possibily been dropped, or maybe ran off the road and hit a mound or something, they really don't a clue though. the carfax came back good on it.
As far as adjustable ball joints for a 2007 does anyone out there make them?

Thanks again,
racfan9

enafzige

The front axle housings actually bend fairly easily if the truck has ever been off-roaded any. The short side is the side that usually bends first, and it does often happen at the pumpkin/tube interface.

Better shocks/springs/poly bump stops/front axle truss will help it from happening again. Some people have tried to find shops to bend the tubes back, but I've not heard of any that will try it on our axles.

--Eric

vzdude

o.k.......now you have the truck back and driving it right? Do you have any vibration issues? Were the axle seals leaking before? I would have to think that if the tubes were bent that noticably, that you would have all kinds of other issues. The angles of the shafts would have to have changed with the tubes being bent, and that would cause leaking seals, wierd vibrations, ect........ Maybe even have another shop check the alignment. Sometimes the alignment heads could be bad, or not installed correctly, ( it can be tough sometimes on a dually! ) and that could cause the readings to be off. How bad were the tires worn before? How far off was the camber spec? Did they give you a printout of the alignment? Sorry....lots of questions.....

whoops

Usually if it's bad you will have differential fluid leaking out and not driveable. Most of the time your front end looks like a IFS frontend. Your tires will wear bad overtime.

One option is if it's less than 2.5* of bend (give or take). You can have your axle trussed and it will move the axle back to more normal degree w/ a truss. It will cost half doing it that way than getting a new axle in front.

menzy

Mine was bent from the day I bought my truck....... I had positive camber on one side and negative on the other, hench a pull to the ditch, it was out about a degree and a half. It was as if the ball joint knuckle was welded on crooked or the front was bent somewhere. I noticed the pull the day i drove it home though, which makes me think it was a factory thing. Took me three months to get dodge convinced to change it under warranty. They never chased the cause of the camber issues, just replaced the whole front carrier.

txpig

I agree with Tusker 100%!! Sounds suspicious to me...

Topper

Hey guys,
I have seen a good number of bent axles at the third member. I have never seen a Dodge with one bent but the is a couple 4X4 clubs around here and the guys with these little Jeeps that do all this rock crawling stuff sure can do damage. The last one I welded was a high pinion Dana 44. If there bent at the third member the tm usually gets a crack in it and the tube may not be bent. If that's the case it's really not a big deal to fix.
Good luck!
Topper

Mega07

Ya mine got bent pretty bad....ok real bad when I hit some air in Glamis. Mine is trussed now, and while it was apart I put the dynatrac hubs and electric locker in it. I know mine was an extreme case but Ive seen the front housings bent with very mild to no offroading.

KILO

My 2007 2500 front axle is bent as well. I was riding on some trails at a rather high speed and hit a few large bumps. I cant really see what is bent but it looks like maybe the knuckles are bent. the housing looks straight. I pan on taking it to the dealership to see what they say but if i have to pay i will check some of the off road shops around to see what they say. it has a fair neg camber. tires get hot but no problems in the steering. axle was leaking but hs slowed or stopped. diff level seems fine but i found some large chunks on the magnetic plug. Is that from something being bent. How much could I be looking at.

Peterbilt

MOOG BJs are adjustable and greesable. Bought mine at O'rielly's

Pete

Markcuda

KILO, this should make you real pis sed.
Dodge will never get things worked out for It's customers.
Holly cow, you got a heavy duty truck for Gods sake.