Front end

[Mar25]

What is recommended for the 2nd gen front end upgrades. I had a technician check the front and said that track bar is done and 2 ball joints what is a cost efficient track bar that is out there I don't do much off roading

[Wild and Free]

This can go many ways but take it for what its worth from a guy who has owned three 2nd gens and have tried about every steering upgrade there is for them over the years, 2 main things is all I tell folks to go with, shop for the most economical 3rd gen track bar and conversion bracket and then get rid of the 4.5 turn steering gear and get a 3.3-3.5 turn gear like a Borgeson or others on the market now. These 2 things are the best of the best for starters, a lot will say that a steering brace is a must, I had one on 2 of the 3 rigs and I did not notice a lot of gain with it but felt more at ease with it on my 02 since I did a fair amount of off roading and had extra weight on the front with a ranch hand bumper on it.

Edited December 1, 2015 by Wild and Free

[Mopar1973Man]

Even with all my offroad usage on my truck and 255k miles on the odometer I'm still only changed just one trackbar and one set of ball joints. Still running OE tie rod ends. Personally if the truck is stock and no oversized tires then there is no real need for too much upgrading. I would suggest stay away from Moog its not like it once was. I would just pick up NAPA ball joints and track bar but I would look towards the premium line. Some are getting Spicer Ball joints which was the factory ball joints.

 

[Mar25]

41 minutes ago, Wild and Free said:

This can go many ways but take it for what its worth from a guy who has owned three 2nd gens and have tried about every steering upgrade there is for them over the years, 2 main things is all I tell folks to go with, shop for the most economical 3rd gen track bar and conversion bracket and then get rid of the 4.5 turn steering gear and get a 3.3-3.5 turn gear like a Borgeson or others on the market now. These 2 things are the best of the best for starters, a lot will say that a steering brace is a must, I had one on 2 of the 3 rigs and I did not notice a lot of gain with it but felt more at ease with it on my 02 since I did a fair amount of off roading and had extra weight on the front with a ranch hand bumper on it.

Are there certain ones for the 3rd gen conversion

13 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Even with all my offroad usage on my truck and 255k miles on the odometer I'm still only changed just one trackbar and one set of ball joints. Still running OE tie rod ends. Personally if the truck is stock and no oversized tires then there is no real need for too much upgrading. I would suggest stay away from Moog its not like it once was. I would just pick up NAPA ball joints and track bar but I would look towards the premium line. Some are getting Spicer Ball joints which was the factory ball joints.

 

So a napa one would be a good way to go just ask for the best one?

[CSM]

26 minutes ago, Mar25 said:

Are there certain ones for the 3rd gen conversion

You have to get a bracket and a 3rd gen bar. I bought this one. http://puredieselpower.com/dodge-products/2nd-to-3rd-gen-dodge-2500-3500-trackbar-retrofit-kit.html 

[Mopar1973Man]

Basically in a nutshell failure rate of the front parts are based on what you modify and how much. Like folks with lift kits, levelling kits, oversized tires etc. Tend to have a higher failure rate. It all about how you change the geometry of the front axle and suspension and how that change impacts the various suspension and axle parts.

Like myself I've lighten up my rotational mass went down 1 tire size (265/75 R16 to 235/85 R16) and one wheel size (16x7.5 to 16x7.0). That just about killed off every bit of the front end issues. Then use a calculated air pressure in the tires.

[The_Hammer]

On a stock height truck I'd go this route. If it's lifted I'd go with a DOR adjustable track bar here. One thing about DOR is to make sure the part is in stock before ordering. People have had issues receiving their "not in stock" orders in a timely manner. It is a VERY well made part that (to me) is a much better option than a 3rd gen conversion.

For ball joints check here. I'm about to order a pair myself. 

[dripley]

When you are looking the 2000- 2002 are different than the prior models, ball joints for sure, not sure on the tie rods and such.

[Mopar1973Man]

Thing is when some can show me a high priced parts it better be lasting longer than what I'm getting. Much Longer. Other than that the cost vs. gain is worthless.

Or... You really screwed up the geometry of the truck and wasting good money trying to solve a geometry issue.

[The_Hammer]

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Thing is when some can show me a high priced parts it better be lasting longer than what I'm getting. Much Longer. Other than that the cost vs. gain is worthless.

Or... You really screwed up the geometry of the truck and wasting good money trying to solve a geometry issue.

I needed an adjustable track bar, otherwise I would have gone the Lukes link route. An adjustable 3rd gen track bar conversion isn't any cheaper. 

[joecool911]

Price you pay for re-engineering the front end of the truck. 

[Mopar1973Man]

5 minutes ago, joecool911 said:

Price you pay for re-engineering the front end of the truck. 

But that is half the battle only some folks understand what it take to properly re-engineer the front end. You can't just throw parts at it and expect it to work. There is measurements and and angles that have to be dealt with properly. Other than that you look like 90% of the people on CF.com whining about failed ball joints, track bars, ruined tires, and over all poor steering control.

[The_Hammer]

Measurements? Angles? Pft. That stuff is for people who lack mad skillz brah. Everyone knows you just slap on a 16 " lift, cut the front spring buckets, tilt the axle forward, weld em' back on, then bolt on a killer set of quad chrome steering stabilizers and slam a couple monsters for a job well done. 

Newton's third law:" For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". It is one of the most basic concepts of physics, yet is apparently the most difficult to comprehend judging by some of the things I've seen. 

Proper suspension geometry is what I'm after on my truck. The 2" coil spacers I have lifted the front enough to pull my axle about an inch off center towards the driver side, and almost the same distance back towards the cab. The adjustable track bar allowed me to center the axle back up, which, combined with eliminating the play in my wore out stock track bar, corrected my steering issues. I'm planning on replacing the spacers with 3" lift springs and building a set of extended control arms that will push the axle a 1/2" forward of the stock location. Ultimately I would like to do a long arm or possibly a long radius arm set up for a better ride. 

Sometimes I wish these trucks had leaf spring front ends. Lifting my old 82' K5 Blazer 6" was stupid simple. A raised steering arm and dropped pitman arm brought the draglink angles back to stock. A simple sway-bar disconnect extended things back to stock as well. Too bad the stock ride sucked though lol. 

[Mopar1973Man]

1 hour ago, The_Hammer said:

Measurements? Angles? Pft. That stuff is for people who lack mad skillz brah.

Maybe you should go to CF.com and teach some of those puppies how to do it.

 

1 hour ago, The_Hammer said:

Newton's third law:" For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". It is one of the most basic concepts of physics, yet is apparently the most difficult to comprehend judging by some of the things I've seen.

No kidding.

1 hour ago, The_Hammer said:

Proper suspension geometry is what I'm after on my truck. The 2" coil spacers I have lifted the front enough to pull my axle about an inch off center towards the driver side, and almost the same distance back towards the cab. The adjustable track bar allowed me to center the axle back up, which, combined with eliminating the play in my wore out stock track bar, corrected my steering issues. I'm planning on replacing the spacers with 3" lift springs and building a set of extended control arms that will push the axle a 1/2" forward of the stock location. Ultimately I would like to do a long arm or possibly a long radius arm set up for a better ride. 

See you understand the basics of getting the measurements correct. I've seen so many people even locally just bolt on stuff assuming it will work as is. Sad to say I've seen levelling kits make a huge mess of front suspensions.

Grand example... I physically witnessed a shop locally put a 2" levelling kit on a Ford. To get the track bar back on the shop owner used a come-a-long to pull the axle over enough to pound the bolt through the hole and barely get it threaded. All I could do is shake my head. You can clearly see the axle was not lined up.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Mopar1973Man

[The_Hammer]

There's a shop in a town about an hour away from me who builds all kinds of abominations. Want a progressive rate coil spring lift? Weld two sets of springs together with a couple of u-bolts thrown in for good measure. Custom made track bar? No problem! Some scrap pipe with nuts welded in the ends, some all thread, and more scrap pipe welded on the ends of the all thread and your good to go. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. 

[Buzzinhalfdozen]

7 hours ago, The_Hammer said:

There's a shop in a town about an hour away from me who builds all kinds of abominations. Want a progressive rate coil spring lift? Weld two sets of springs together with a couple of u-bolts thrown in for good measure. Custom made track bar? No problem! Some scrap pipe with nuts welded in the ends, some all thread, and more scrap pipe welded on the ends of the all thread and your good to go. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. 

Oh dear god... And people drive these on the road?

[01cummins4ever]

I used lukes links on all my tie rod ends and was able to keep the original track bar. That was the most economical way to tighten up the front end. I ve put about 70,000 mi. since and just keep em greased and their still tight. but that being said I did have a problem with the link on the track bar rubbing on the differential cover on tight turns and bounsing since they are kind of bulky, with a little bit of grinding on the link I was able to fix that. Now that I added a 250 LB. bumper and adding a winch, the problem is coming back, I may be looking to upgrade the springs or a leveling kit.

[The_Hammer]

Yep . People want big trucks but don't want to spend big bucks.