Anyone do upper/lower ball joints on 04+ Dodge Ram?

Well, I THOUGHT I had all the tools, but my ball joint press isn't big enough for this job.

Is that a purchase item or something I can rent/borrow? I need the ball joint separator and the "puller" (both look like c-clamps, but one has a shovel head and the other has spacers).

 

You should be able to rent em...I would lend you mine but...distance is a killer.try Autobone...they rent tools.

 

Autozone has free loaners, you pay a deposit and they refund it when you return the tool.

 

Ball joint press? Isn't the bj part of the control arm?

 

The top is, the bottom one comes out.

 

And the press for it is odd shaped to that the non-moving end fits in the space above it.

 

Maybe you need this, This is what i have.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=46389

 

Oh. I hadn't looked at that one... You need all the bj's? And tie rods? WOW! Is it a 20's issue?

 

Actually, only one side is out, upper and tie rod. Since I am in there, I decided to tighten the entire front end up and will replace all of it at one time.

Overkill, but figured I could waste a day now and not have to mess with it for a long time.

I "believe" it has to do with the 20" wheels, but everyone else I am talking to says it was bad design by dodge and MOOG has fixed them with the parts I bought to replace them all.

The harbor freight item...Autozone has it for borrow, and the dealer just said to use a BFH for the tie rods.

 

Well, just finished the first side (the bad side) and it took me right at two hours. Just like the shop manual suggested.

It was not as easy as I anticipated, because the tools I rented weren't exactly right, but I made them work for me.

Most important tool, by far, was the BFH...

Thanks to all who made suggestions to help out. Many of them were heeded and made the experience less frustrating that it could have been

Second side should be much better and I can probably do it in little over an hour, now that I know what to expect.