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Premature upper ball joint and drag link wear? Alignment problems?

Cummingeddon

Cummingeddon

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I picked up my ‘19 3500 6.7 HO DRW 4WD in August 2019. At about 8 months (Apr. ‘20), I had to have the drag link replaced after a loud ‘thunk’ developed on low speed turns. It was replaced under warranty. Now, in August ‘21, it looks like my drag link (again) and my upper ball joints are on their way out. My longer story is below, but has anyone else had issues like these on such a short timescale? I know the solid axles play into this, but it seems that ball joints should last more than two years/36k miles and a drag link more than 16 months/24k miles. Very few miles have been on unpaved roads. Have you ever had a shop tell you that you have too much play in the front wheels they they couldn’t do an alignment? How much play is acceptable on a ‘19 3500 front end?

In August ‘21, I took the truck in to the dealership for a recall and asked for a rotation and a front-end alignment as well. They claimed that they couldn’t get the alignment equipment to work on the truck and said they didn’t do anything. They seemed to imply that there was a problem with their equipment, instead of my truck, so I didn’t think too much about it. Within a couple of weeks I noticed some uneven wear on the driver steer, with excessive wear on the outside shoulder of the tire.

So, I take it in for an alignment at an independent alignment shop. They tell me that there is too much play in the wheels and that my upper ball joints and the drag link need to be replaced before I’m going to get a good alignment. They couldn’t get parts before I had to leave town (we were on vacation with the fifth-wheel). So, now I have an appointment with a dealer (different from the one that couldn’t do the alignment). I want to educate myself on how long these components should be expected to wear and whether or not I should accept the dealer telling me that whatever play I have is ‘within specs’ as it sounds like they might from the other few posts on straight axles.

Any thoughts appreciated.
 
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I’ve read on Thurens website that the factory drag link is prone to wearing out prematurely. I think he said in as little as 20k miles which is terrible, especially on HD trucks like ours. I installed mine today and it wasn’t to bad of a job. Thuren and Carli both have more durable drag links available.
As far as ball joints go again Carli has a heavy duty option although it’s pretty pricey if I remember right. EMF is another manufacturer of stronger ball joints too.
I installed the drag link while I was adding a level kit to my truck so I don’t have any experience with it wearing out prematurely though. Same goes for the ball joints.
 
The specification on Ram ball joint wear is very liberal. I don't remember what it is off the top of my head but it is not uncommon for an independent shop to claim they are worn out but the dealer will still find them within spec.
With that said, they can wear fast if you are on dirt or unimproved roads a lot (sounds like you are not). My last Ram would eat them up like there was no tomorrow when I lived on a long washboard dirt road.

Also, are you sure it's the drag link and not the track bar? Very rare for a drag link to wear out, much more common for the track bar.
Track bar - Frame to axle,
Drag link - steering box to knuckle

If it is the drag link that is interesting because I had mine replaced with the "new" version and also have a low speed thunk while turning that I am convnced is the drag link. Could swear it's the crimp on the drag link moving ever so slightly (can't find play anywhere else in the system)

.
 
Cummingeddon said:
I picked up my ‘19 3500 6.7 HO DRW 4WD in August 2019. At about 8 months (Apr. ‘20), I had to have the drag link replaced after a loud ‘thunk’ developed on low speed turns. It was replaced under warranty. Now, in August ‘21, it looks like my drag link (again) and my upper ball joints are on their way out. My longer story is below, but has anyone else had issues like these on such a short timescale? I know the solid axles play into this, but it seems that ball joints should last more than two years/36k miles and a drag link more than 16 months/24k miles. Very few miles have been on unpaved roads. Have you ever had a shop tell you that you have too much play in the front wheels they they couldn’t do an alignment? How much play is acceptable on a ‘19 3500 front end?

In August ‘21, I took the truck in to the dealership for a recall and asked for a rotation and a front-end alignment as well. They claimed that they couldn’t get the alignment equipment to work on the truck and said they didn’t do anything. They seemed to imply that there was a problem with their equipment, instead of my truck, so I didn’t think to much about it. Within a couple of weeks I noticed some uneven wear on the driver steer, with excessive wear on the outside shoulder of the tire.

So, I take it in for an alignment at an independent alignment shop. They tell me that there is too much play in the wheels and that my upper ball joints and the drag link need to be replaced before I’m going to get a good alignment. They couldn’t get parts before I had to leave town (we were on vacation with the fifth-wheel). So, now I have an appointment with a dealer (different from the one that couldn’t do the alignment). I want to educate myself on how long these components should be expected to wear and whether or not I should accept the dealer telling me that whatever play I have is ‘within specs’ as it sounds like they might from the other few posts on straight axles.

Any thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hi Cummingeddon,
We apologize for any dissatisfaction. Please follow up with us via PM to provide additional details regarding your concerns so we may determine how to best assist you.

Rob
Ram Cares
 
Update on this. The latest dealership I went to for an alignment did say that the ‘play’ in the front wheels is within manufacturer’s specs and that there’s nothing wrong with the upper ball joints or the drag link. I half-expected that. The dealership said they corrected the toe (by about .01° according to the ExpressAlign report), but that (cross-) caster was fine. It was news to me when they also claimed camber could NOT be adjusted at all according to the manufacturer, despite it being outside the parameters on the report and plausibly explaining the shoulder wear. I have never come across this in previous alignments on this truck. Does anyone have experience with a dealer or shop saying that camber cannot be adjusted?

Should I just skip the dealerships for yet another service type and find a different independent alignment shop? I‘m getting tired of the dealerships telling me that they can’t perform services or that everything is fine / normal only to have it impact expensive items that fall in the ‘wear and tear’ bucket outside of warranty coverage. Thanks.
 
Cummingeddon said:
Update on this. The latest dealership I went to for an alignment did say that the ‘play’ in the front wheels is within manufacturer’s specs and that there’s nothing wrong with the upper ball joints or the drag link. I half-expected that. The dealership said they corrected the toe (by about .01° according to the ExpressAlign report), but that (cross-) caster was fine. It was news to me when they also claimed camber could NOT be adjusted at all according to the manufacturer, despite it being outside the parameters on the report and plausibly explaining the shoulder wear. I have never come across this in previous alignments on this truck. Does anyone have experience with a dealer or shop saying that camber cannot be adjusted?

Should I just skip the dealerships for yet another service type and find a different independent alignment shop? I‘m getting tired of the dealerships telling me that they can’t perform services or that everything is fine / normal only to have it impact expensive items that fall in the ‘wear and tear’ bucket outside of warranty coverage. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Info. https://www.thurenfabrication.com/pages/alignment-handling
 
rfullen280 said:
Info. https://www.thurenfabrication.com/pages/alignment-handling
Click to expand...
Thanks rfullen. That link is helpful and seems to agree with that no camber adjustment is possible/needed. The fact that Thuren isn’t trying to sell anything here makes it easier to take at face value too. In my case, it seems the dealership definitely has a much more liberal allowance for caster, but at least they got cross-caster close to 0°. Have you had alignments done consistent with the article? Just wondering if you’ve had first-hand experience with the results.
 
I've used his products on a 2013, and they were pretty awesome. Had put a level kit on, and set the alignment to the "0" specs. By the way, that near zero is the same for any solid axle front end, not just the ram. Old jeeps with Leaf fronts ran a bit of toe, because of slop in the springs... but new, control arm driven rigs don't need it.
 
rfullen280 said:
I've used his products on a 2013, and they were pretty awesome. Had put a level kit on, and set the alignment to the "0" specs. By the way, that near zero is the same for any solid axle front end, not just the ram. Old jeeps with Leaf fronts ran a bit of toe, because of slop in the springs... but new, control arm driven rigs don't need it.
Click to expand...
Thanks again.
 
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