I already did the track bar about a year and half ago, but it's time--- Probably way beyond time, for ball joints, tie rods. I got almost 1/2 inch slop up and down in the outer tierods. yep.. I get the goody out of stuff..

So, looking at components from moog. outer tie rods (2) the inner tie rod to pitman, and the connecting bar from that TR to the main drag link. Might as well throw in new connector sleeves too.

Then might as well do the ball joints too, Moog again. I'm only going with the standard non offset type. anyone know why they offer 'adjustable' camber +/- 1 1/2 degree?

...the offset do have an advantage I suppose, the uppers are greasable, whereas the normal ones are not.. just the lowers. Was there a axle problem that necessitated these type of joints?

Looks like about 416 bucks from RA.. I get to unwrap my new ball joint press kit!!

Just for giggles, anyone want to wager how much my economy will improve when the front tires are running straight again?? Last set was buzzed off in about 10k miles...

You can get moog greasable lowers. The grease zerk goes into the top shoulder of the ball joint at a 45º angle. I have been using moog on customer pickups for about 4 years now with no problems

You can get moog greasable lowers. The grease zerk goes into the top shoulder of the ball joint at a 45º angle. I have been using moog on customer pickups for about 4 years now with no problems

I might of mis typed.. the ones I'm getting are greasable lowers.. and has a longer zerk. It's the uppers that are not greasable. Which probably is ok, they don't carry weight anyways.

That's odd... My lowers are not greasable but my uppers are graseable. All I can say is ball joints are not fun to do.

I remember your video with the exploding balljoint..

Uppers should be greaseable

whoo!  Parts  finally showed up  yesterday.      And   the temp here is  ABOVE  freezing during the  day!      I'll try to   get the ol  3500  disassembled tonight.

 

Nice surprise,   both uppers  and lowers  are greasable.      I thought  only the lowers were going to be according to the   description  @ rockauto.

 

Best  place to point those long  45 degree  zerks?  to the rear?

One o'clock on drivers and 11 o'clock on passengers. This is looking down at the ball joint and from the back. Both zerks should point towards your front license plate

Not sure how much this will help but when I got my truck it had bad track bar so I got one and went to put it in and had to jack the truck up for bolts to line up, after install I let jack out and truck stayed up what that told me is front spring sagged enough and track bar needs to be shorter for axle and frame to be lined up, that's when I took it back and modified my old one. Made it adjustable with bushings on both ends. Now that I put plow springs on for my new front bumper all I did is took it out made it longer by unscrewing it and put it back in. That's why factory track bars wear quick after truck gets older when truck settles down a bit it always puts pressure on that ball joint on the track bar and shoves your front end towards passenger side. And if you put 2" leveling kit it will suck front end more to driver side. Adjustable track bar is the way to go.

Thanks Dieselfuture.

 

I  replaced  this trackbar  about  a year ago,  and   'seems' ok for now.   The one I put on  was supposed to have  a  larger  ball joint   I'll keep it in mind (adjustable)  when  it's  time!

 

 

 

Just walked in the door,  got her stripped down to the   ball joints.       Drivers  side  bearing  was  a little  troublesome,   passenger   came right out with  using the    extension trick on both.   Man,  it's nice having  someone  behind the wheel!

 

2 hours in it so far.

 

Ha,    drivers  tie rod   pulled apart   just as  the bearing  came out!       (shoot,   I probably had  'nother   10k miles  on that  joint!)    ;) 

 

passenger   shaft seal apparently needs  changed.    Will do both.       Any slick ways  to clean  the gunk out of the axle tube?      Or  just  take out  the  cad  and   front  cover and  shove  all the crap  to those   and clean out  from there?

 

never changed those before,   are they just a soft seal?   snag with a  hooked  wire and pull out?

 

EDIT      did  some searching,  and  I might of  been a little  optimistic on  how easy the seals are to replace!          Since only the  passenger side is  leaking,  I'll only replace that one..  through the  cad opening.

Edited January 16, 201510 yr by rancherman

I did both at the same time. If you have any questions let me know!

I did both at the same time. If you have any questions let me know!

 

Going to   do  the  passenger side only  tomorrow.    I've read  a couple  threads   where  they've   knocked  the  seal in  from the     cad  opening..   and    others  where  they used  redi rod  and  pulled it  in  with  a  few washers.

How  did you do yours?

 

I only got the   ball joints out today.      Took almost  3 hours,   but  I had  to    cobble up   a  little  better    tool for the  bottoms.

 

I got  a  ebay  'special'   Chinese   ball joint  press and   kit,     So  I wasn't too   upset  that  I  took  one of the receiver tubes  and  cut a slight angle  across the end.   The  angle  cut  now  matches  the   taper of  the lower   yoke..      

I just hope  the  threads  on the   screw  hold up  4 more times.    They really got  beat up  in  one  spot.

 

Son  pickup up  fresh   axle  lube,   Mobil 1    75-140.     Whew,  that stuff is  pricey!    20 bucks  a quart.           Good reason to   install a new 12 dollar  seal!

So how are you liking the new ball joints.

Do you think they will last a while or do they have a crappy appearance to them.

Many of us will be doing the same job in time and its good to know whats good and whats not so good.

Regards Chris

MOOG   K7394  and  K7397.

Both made in  USA

Both  greasable

Both look good,   Nice  precision looking  outside.

Both  still in the  box

Hopefully  by tonight  I'll have found  some time  to   press them in.,.   Probably spend most  of  my free time  on the truck  today   with the  axle seal.

PM Replied

GEEZ...   I think I found  my  'slow to shift into 4x4'     problem.

 

The  inner  shaft on the passenger side  is  supported   by the  carrier itself (inboard)  and   there is  a  bushing  to support the outboard  side...    Then   the  outer  shaft  has  a   smaller diameter   which  rides   in the inner shaft.       Mine  is  ground   down to a pointed nub...  there is  no way  the outer axle  would've  been  lined up  so  the  sliding collar   could   engage.       I'll get pics  later  for  tonight.

 

Anyway,      I got  the seal knocked out  really easy!..      I was surprised,   the  'cone'  that  guides   the axle  into the seal  was  busted out  in  the bottom  1/3..  which made  it easy to  put a pipe  up against to drive out.

 

The   loose axle  apparently   wallowed  out the seal,  and  a  big part of the  cone that guides  the  axle  into the seal..  

Now  I  need to   measure  the  pilot hole in the  other axle to see if it's   chewed out,  or if  the  smaller diameter  on the  inner axle is   toast.

Pics:

 

Here's  proof  that  I actually got the   ball joints  out!

 

My  ebay  ball joint press kit  has  quite  few  receivers   and arbor  bits,   but  I still had  to torch off the   studs (after knocking off the knuckle)   There  just wasn't enough  'room'  in  the  one  receiver that fit diameter wise.

I had to   'modify'  one  receiver...    cut it at a slight angle  with a chop saw.    The lower  ball joint  yoke  is  in a  tapered   yoke,  necessitating  a  taper cut  receiver.  Otherwise,   there's no way the  press would  be  straight.

 

I pulled  the  intermediate  shaft out  before  knocking out the  seal..     I was  getting a little   suspicious...  Look at the  taper on the small part.    Should be  straight.   There's  about    3/8ths inch slop  in the  mating hole on the  outboard shaft     Dang,   if  that  shaft   was just  flopping around,   no wonder  for my   previous post   "4X4  slow to disengage"

 

 

Here's the  old seal,  and  a new one.   Notice  the  busted  side,  and  180 degrees   away,  is  a  'wear hole'...       The old seal   was a snap to knock out;   the  taper cone  was gone and  the  steel rod I used to knock out the seal,  I    immediately  found  a  'flat' spot!     Otherwise,   the  rod  would've just  skated  up and over the seal! 

 

Here is  the  end of  the   outboard shaft...  the  hole in the end  actually supports  the    shaft.   I suspect  it needs to be  just loose enough for lube to  get in,  and  for  allowing  the  axle to  move a little  when the steering is  turned.        God  only knows   what  this hole  has  been  hammered out to!    Look closely,   you can see  some  'smearing'  going on inside!

 

And last but not least...  proof  of the ball joints  removed  on the passenger side.

 

 

The  round  adapter disk  (black)  you see should  fit the new seal  perfectly to  pull it  home  with  a  redi rod.     It   is  part of  the adapters  in the   ball joint press kit.

 

So far,   I haven't  been able to  find a new   intermediate  shaft.   Either   oem or   aftermarket...   anyone  have any ideas?    Outboard  shafts  are    plentiful.

 

 

 

 

update...   I think I found the right  replacement..  OEM   replacement  from   Mother Mopar     about  90 bucks.    Not  as  bad  as  I envisioned.

 

Price: $116.00

• You Save: $31.45 (27% off)
• Sale Price: $84.55 

Genuine Mopar

• Manufacturer: Mopar
• Part Number: 4762162
• Part: INTERMED SHAFT

 

 

 

 

 

Edit,   Now  I'm  not real sure about this  #.        The online  mopar parts  sites    do not   specify   dana 44 or  dana  60..     I scrolled down and  found   this  listed  #  for  ALL  dana 44's.   even though   I typed in   'Ram 3500'     It   still  showed  a  dana 44.  hmmmm.    So  I  went down the list  a little further and  found  the correct one  for  the  dana 60.    about 5 bucks more.     I'll confirm  before  ordering.

Look at    part # 6  in the  diagram^^^^      it's called a  pilot  bearing.        Mine is   missing in action.. either ground up or    someone else  forgot to put it in...

Edited January 19, 201510 yr by rancherman

When I did mine I took a grinder with a 6" deli wheel and cut the ball joints off below the knuckles (through the boot). Once both were cut and the spindle  off, a couple of hearty swings with a 3 lb hammer popped the studs right out. Then I was able to take the whole assembly and press the old ones out and the new joints in on a hydraulic press. Much easier than trying to deal with a ball joint press IMO. 

 

So far I've got about 20-25k miles on my MOOG ball joints and they seem to be holding up well. I run a 34" tire which isn't helping them out any. Are your joints the "problem solvers"? They are the upper end stuff that MOOG carries.

Edited January 19, 201510 yr by diesel4life

Yep..  'problem solvers'.         greasable  upper and lower.

 

I  can  picture  in my mind  how you   cut  through  the boots,  and    knocked out the  tapers  with  a  hammer,   but  how the heck did you    press out the actual  joint????   Did you  'carry'  the  whole  front axle  to the shop press??

 

One  good  whack  was  all  I needed  to  knock the  knuckle  off the  2   tapers..   (I was  quite surprised)

LOL, you really had me scratching my head for a minute. Then I started looking at your pictures closer and realized you are dealing with a 00-02 front axle. On the 98-99 axles, the ball joints are pressed into the steering knuckle not the axle like on your truck. I have no idea why Dodge chose to steer away from this design when they changed up to the slip on rotors but they are not as durable. On the 98-99 axles, both upper and lower ball joints are load bearing. On 00-02 axles, only the lower ball joint is load bearing. The upper more or less retains the alignment of the knuckle but does not carry any of the weight of the front end.

Edited January 19, 201510 yr by diesel4life