Title says it all. New steering box, track arm, steering linkages tie rod links, hub bearing assembly, drag links, control arms, ball joints, new bushings, brakes, rotors, calipers, axel u-joints shocks and springs. Yeah, a good deal of work to do.

Ordered some parts and have purchased an new torque wrench to reach 275 ft pounds, an huge breaker bar and ball joint remover/install tool kit. Not counting the parts I'm $400+ with tools I've had to aquire for this install. I'm pretty confident doing this repair job and hope to save some cash doing this myself. Any of you think it's worth doing it on your own?

It cost me 1200 with parts about 3 years on a 2004. I could work all the overtime I wanted then, so it was easier to pay than work on truck when I could make 70.00 an hour OT. Now I’d think about doing it myself

I think I'll be at least 3k in parts. The ball joints alone were $800, each u-joint is $80+.

don't remember the cost of the parts, but it was way cheaper buying them from amazon, I did my 4x4 duelly 4 yrs ago.

If you have the time and the tools, its definitely worth doing it your self.

Hang on to the tools. You’ll be doing it again if you keep the truck very long. Dodge.

Just had a 2011 Ram 3500 4x4 done. EVERYTHING including new U Joints, calibers, hubs... whole front end. including alignment and tire rotation/re-balance.

$850 in labor... $1,100 in my supplied parts IIRC (Moog/Raybestos et al from Rock Auto).

12-16 hours of labor I think. Best shop I know.

Many parts are becoming very hard to find.

Funny.

Ignorant, but funny.................

Right? My last Ram had three rear ends put in. What a POS.

So what's the story ?

Have a local guy I know...'16-17 Ram w/Cummins...50K miles

Had to have the whole front end rebuilt...

Good thing he bought an extended warranty...but he had to fight tooth & nail

Just to have OEM Mopar parts replaced ?

Got it back & sold it.

Then went and bought a '19 Ram/Cummins with 20K on it

Slow learner eh ?

You'll still have a Dodge after all that work.

How many Dodge trucks have you owned? I’ve had several and speak from experience.

I would do it myself because I trust my work more than somebody trying to beat a flat-rate clock. And I enjoy being able to do such work.

I’m on my 5th one. 3 1500’s and now on my 2nd diesel 2500. The only one that I replaced ball joints on was my 2003 2500, at about 260k miles. I’ve upgraded shock absorbers on most of them, and replaced the front wheel bearings on my current one at 180k miles. It now has 193k. Suspension and steering repairs have not been an issue on any of the trucks I’ve owned. The Nissan 4X4 I had in the late 80’s needed more upkeep than the Rams I’ve owned.

Maybe I’m easier on my vehicles, I don’t use oversized wheels or run crazy offsets. I use decent tires (Michelin’s) and keep them balanced. I use my truck, and frequently tow up to 10k with it, but I don’t beat it to death either.

I would also suggest an alignment using Thuren specs. Made a huge difference on my 2007 3500.

You’ve had better luck than we have.

You don't need those expensive ball joints unless you're running at least 35" tires.

Get some Moogs and call it good, same with the hub assemblies and steering assembly.

I'm currently doing all of that to my Megacab, I've had several Dodge's over the years. Only one that had 37's needed the expensive ball joints.

Depending on the year and condition of your truck, the wheel hub assembly might be a B*ITCH to get out...my driver side is currently stuck and I've tried about everything to get it out...it's heading to a shop soon I think.

You are just ignorant.....hahaha!

Up here you rebuild about every time you replace tires.

From my past experience, I would replace with aftermarket (Moog). The stock parts just don't hold up. Part of the reason Ram trucks are cheaper to buy in the first place. They will get their money in the repairs needed later.

Memory serves correctly the worst front end for a '94 to like 2000, they have slowly improved them with every new generation. At the Cummins in a 3/4 ton and it compounds the problem then use an off-road like farm use they are very hard on front of things. Best motors in the newer stuff seems to be pretty good now but time will tell

i've had a bunch of 3rd gen 4x4 cummins versions. Nearly every one had a bent front axle housing. The axle is pressed into the pumpkin so it dosent take much like a curb hit to bend it at the joint. On my last truck my axle started leaking oil when parked on a side hill. This is when I learned that finding a non-bent axle housing at wrecker is very hard to find! Don Thuren had one and welded it on and braced it for me. Those big diesel blocks are just too heavy for conventional gas block front ends.

Not heard of this before. Link?

If it's 4 wheel drive you're gonna have a blast getting the front hub assemblies removed.

It's a fun job, it took me a couple days to beat the balljoints out of my 3500 thanks to the de-icer they use here. Moog or OEM is the probably the best option for parts, stay way from house brand stuff. I went with a redhead rebuild on my steering box. It made a world of difference after it was done.

I will be doing the same to my Crown Vic soon. Entire front end and going back with CVPI springs & shocks all around and upgraded anti-sway bars front & rear.

Here you go:

https://www.thurenfabrication.com/pages/2003-2009-ram-2500-3500-alignment

You forgot True.

And for some miraculous reason you get them off with out destroying them, never seize the $hit out of them for the next rebuild.

My advice would be to avoid chiner parts or you'll be doing the job again in under a year.

I will be having it in for an alignment check.

This is an old year 2000 truck I bought new. 320k+ on the front steering, axles, ball joints, u-joints etc. Not bad nut it had an easy life and not rough miles. The fuel system was a nightmare for years but it's sorted out. Just had the transmission rebuilt and cylinder head milled and head gasket. Compression is still same as a new truck so it's worth keeping despite the body has Dodge rot.

The reason for the high dollar ball joints is that they're a one time fix. One in the cup never wears out and they're adjustable and completely rebuildable without any more pressing. I believe why folks have issues with replaced ball joints not lasting is because they are installed off center and possibly damaged and I'd wager that they don't get greased once installed. Another offender is the shops who install them may use an abrasive flopper or small wheel inside the ball joint housing. This can change inside dimensions as it removes material. A small wire brush on a drill is a preferred method for cleanup. It's important to not damage the inside of the ball joint housing.

Old second gen dodge ram trucks suffer from weaker drag links and the architecture or design is all in the Y design. I'm going to replace with a newer T type design that is superior in geometry and substantially heavier.

Another thing to look out there when you or a shop work on your truck is to replace your hub/bearing assembly with Timken products. You can can purchase much less costly hub/bearing assemblies but they don't have the same quality and you'll be replacing in short order.

Throwing on a upgraded steering box and I'm going with much heavier adjustable control arms from Core.

I know the common consensus is you don't need upgraded parts unless your running oversized tires. Maybe. Even though my truck is stock height it I need the upgraded components because I have a massive steel bumper fabricated from 1/2" and 1/4" boiler plate with an heavy Ramsey worm drive winch inside. It's really heavy and not like anything a person can purchase. It's survived one impact from a car, one side frontal impact from an brand new SUV that it opened up like a can opener and elk, moose, untold deer. It's saved my life and the truck so it's not going anywhere.

Need photo of boiler plate bumper.

My phone isn't able to do photos on this forum. Wishbit could but I've never successfully uploaded a photo here despite everyone saying how easy it is. Everywhere else it's easy peasy.

But yeah, my bumper is super heavy. The grill portion I made from 2" square tubing and 1/2" thick boiler strap

Sounds to me like you have thought this through pretty thoroughly. I have four Ram trucks ranging from 1996 to 2004. Two are FWD and three of them have well over 200K miles. None have as many miles as yours. They work for me and yours seems to work for you. Would like to see the bumper!

Anyone know the deal on why Moog makes an OEM ball joint 0.006 oversized?

Not a guess... but actually why...

"MOOG K7467T006 {05086674AB, 5086674AA, 5086674AB}
Front Lower; Gear steering; Power steering; 0.006 (in) Oversize; OEM Type.

Again... DO NOT GUESS and say "wear". That is NOT the answer.

Is the oversize measurement in the ball joint shaft, or the overall diameter of the of the joint itself?

In either case, I would guess maybe they make it to compensate for flame wrench removal of the originals in salt country, or enthusiastic application of air hammers that distort, or "waller out" (Technical term) the hub or hub carrier.

Overall diameter of the of the joint itself...

Just did my 2011 Ram... no idea why the 0.006" over. 245k miles. Tight as a drum. 50% of the ball joints Rockauto sells are 0.006" over.

Why?

Because they put a sort of knurling on the balljoint body. That's the measurement being taken over the diameter and that's so that it stays installed once put in place.

Well I started doing mine...the right side is done. But the driver side wheel hub assembly is stuck in the knuckle. Ended up having to cut the ball joints off to remove the knuckle. It's been to two shops and their presses can't get it out either. It's at a welding shop now so hopefully they can cut it out. I would just buy a new knuckle and start over but they can't be found except for one used one on ebay that I want to avoid.

Upon reassembly I will be using plenty of anti-seize.