Dodge front end

[minneman]

I have an 03 ram 2500 4x4 160000, this past summer had all ball joints replaced, sway links, and other tie rod ends etc. about a month after the work ther was some loud bangs occurring when turning in a driveway with a slight bump at the street, typical curb street entry. anyway I look under the front and see the sway links are both turned sideways and one is separated the other looks similar. took it back they were replaced no question. so now 5 mo later same thing, is the mech putting in the wrong parts or not doing it right? Or is there an underlying reason they are breaking. no off roading has been done. also, im getting some slight steering wheel shake already when hitting bumps at highway speed, ball joints shot too already?

[jeffreyd]

i would take it back and ask for someone else to look at and repair or get your money back and go to someone else.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Can you post a pic?

[minneman]

I can get more if needed.

[Valv]

That seems to me to be a bad link and a bad tie rod end (possibly).

Unfortunately for all the Dodge front end the best parts you can buy are the OEM. I replaced countless ball joints, tie rods, links, track bars, bearing hubs, etc. Moog are junk, some of the aftermarket are worse, the only brand that you could maybe trust is Carli, but at the same price of OEM I rather have Mopar parts. The truck made it to 160000 miles with small problems ? Same OEM parts will last as much for sure, aftermarked NOT.

Another section to be sure you stay with Dodge is Ujoints. Don't even bother repalceing them with Napa or others, they are all junk, the only thah last are the OEM non greaseable.

I see your front end tie rods are the older style, in 2009 Dodge replaced all of them with beefier parts, they had a recall for a while but was only for recent years, yours (and mine '06) don't apply.

Steering gear box also is a problem sometimes, here too stay with OEM, the reman from Napa (same mfg than Autozone) don't last 100 miles.

I said "unfortunately" since these parts are not cheap. Ujoints are made by Spicer or Neapco you can try to find them at cheaper price but you won't save much.

At 160k check your bearings too, they tend to go out with no warning, and it's not fun when your wheel comes off the truck while driving.

[jeffreyd]

i cant believe that a mechanic would allow that to leave a shop. clearly it is evident that the parts are worn out and more than ball joints should have been replaced. as far as parts, they are wearable product but a good mechanic would not let it go as it poses a safety issue if that tie rod end breaks loose.

[Valv]

i cant believe that a mechanic would allow that to leave a shop. clearly it is evident that the parts are worn out and more than ball joints should have been replaced. as far as parts, they are wearable product but a good mechanic would not let it go as it poses a safety issue if that tie rod end breaks loose.

Don't go too far with this, 3 weeks ago I had my Ram at a local dealer to fix a rear lightbulb, they charged me $ 155 ! To justify such a ripoff they filled up a complete safety report for my truck. 2 DAYS later at the next dealer to the south (if you see where I live you will know both dealerships) refused to do an alignment since I had 1 ball joint completely shot (wheel was loose 1/4" each direction) and the opposite side tie rod nut was fingertight, you could slip it up and down by hand.

Finding a good mechanic is tougher than you think, and dealerships are not exempt.

[jeffreyd]

oh i agree, i am lucky that i have a decent dealer group here. one issue i did have is that they put in a fuel pump and after about 10 days i noticed a banging sound. did not think of it much until i drove the car and when i pulled in i saw something hanging from my truck. after looking closer it was a fuel tank strap that holds the tank up. So went to the hardware store bought 2 new locking nuts, applied locktite and put it back together. upon inspection the other strap was only 2-3 rounds from coming off. that would have been a ride. I complained to my dealer, with pictures, and they took the labor charge off to replace the pump. It happens everywhere.

[Jeremy airjer W]

There just stabilizer links, its not the end of the world if they break. You would probably not even notice anything different about how the truck handled. There are many vehicles on the road, new and old that don't have them. The only benefit is that the vehicle will corner better at higher speeds.

I will agree that the grease-able aftermarket stab links leave something to be desired. Many times the O.E. ones are just a few dollars more. If the last ones lasted as long as they did then I would expect a pretty good life from another set of O.E. ones.

Thanks for posting the pics. It really made it easy to identify what you where trying to say.

[minneman]

So the short of it is the parts are junk...?(moog)

I notice no difference in driving untill rough road etc.