Finally got me a REAL Truck

[troutsqueezer]

I'd hotly contest that number with you.

there are plenty of forums that while not strictly topical, have pretty good content. many of the antique tractor boards I'm on are directly responsible for keeping a good many hundred or thousand antique tractors running day to day.

soundguy

See? That's whats great about the Internet. Take 100 different people and you get 110 different opinions. I'm basing my statement on the forums I frequent which include this one, three machinist forums, one welding forum, one ATV forum, one R/C models forum, one community forum (Straight Dope), AudioKarma and one beekeeping forum. Most of it is chatter. Sure, there's always good stuff in there but most people come to play and wait for a question to pop up they know the answer to.

Oh, and why are you called Soundguy? I ask because the first half of my career was dedicated to high end audio.

 

[IronHog]

No more half-ton for me.


Anyway, here's a pic:thumbsup: Any other things to look out for on these??

If you pull a 648 John Deere Skidder you might bend the frame a little.........

Seen it happen...but the truck pulled it.

 

[mjncad]

Now...this is a REAL truck...

You guys just have toys...

Now that's my idea of a REAL truck. Thanks for posting the pic, and I'll add a few of my own.

 

[Dmace]

If you pull a 648 John Deere Skidder you might bend the frame a little.........

Seen it happen...but the truck pulled it.

It was ONLY pulling a 32k lb skidder and bent the frame? What a POS! :laughing:

 

[Soundguy]

See? That's whats great about the Internet. Take 100 different people and you get 110 different opinions. I'm basing my statement on the forums I frequent which include this one, three machinist forums, one welding forum, one ATV forum, one R/C models forum, one community forum (Straight Dope), AudioKarma and one beekeeping forum. Most of it is chatter. Sure, there's always good stuff in there but most people come to play and wait for a question to pop up they know the answer to.

Oh, and why are you called Soundguy? I ask because the first half of my career was dedicated to high end audio.

i moonlight as a sound engineer, since the civil engineering jobs in florida are all in the toilet.

soundguy

 

[PapaPerk]

It was ONLY pulling a 32k lb skidder and bent the frame? What a POS! :laughing:

ROFL!!! Nice! :laughing:

 

[LD1]

Well I dropped the truck off at the dealer this morning.

u-joint-no problem. They will cover.

Oil drip, they are putting dye in it and going to use a black-light to determine where it is comming from. Depending on where, will determine wether it is covered or not. It is a lengthy process and they gave me a loaner car:thumbsup:

Ball-joints- NOT covered. But I am now not sure if they are bad. So I will ask the collective wisdom of the forum on this.

As I mentioned, there is hardly NO lateral play. Like when you try to push in on the top of the tire while pulling out on the bottom and vice versa. The play is ALL vertical.

Well, I ran to O'Rileys to grab some oil/filter and asked them to just take a look at a ball-joint. Sure enough, the vertical play is there in them too. Kinda like the ball-joint is round BUT down insude a cylinder instead of a ball-socket

I'll admit that I havent changed many ball-joints, but have never noticed this vertical play:confused2: Everyone says these dodge front ends have ball-joint problems, but now it makes me wonder if they are actually bad when people are changing them, or if they are changing them due to this vertical play:confused2:

 

[PapaPerk]

Well I dropped the truck off at the dealer this morning.

u-joint-no problem. They will cover.

Oil drip, they are putting dye in it and going to use a black-light to determine where it is comming from. Depending on where, will determine wether it is covered or not. It is a lengthy process and they gave me a loaner car:thumbsup:

Ball-joints- NOT covered. But I am now not sure if they are bad. So I will ask the collective wisdom of the forum on this.

As I mentioned, there is hardly NO lateral play. Like when you try to push in on the top of the tire while pulling out on the bottom and vice versa. The play is ALL vertical.

Well, I ran to O'Rileys to grab some oil/filter and asked them to just take a look at a ball-joint. Sure enough, the vertical play is there in them too. Kinda like the ball-joint is round BUT down insude a cylinder instead of a ball-socket

I'll admit that I havent changed many ball-joints, but have never noticed this vertical play:confused2: Everyone says these dodge front ends have ball-joint problems, but now it makes me wonder if they are actually bad when people are changing them, or if they are changing them due to this vertical play:confused2:

Go to Diesel Truck Resource message forum. They have tons of info in the 3rd gen forums regarding the ball joints.

 

[arrow]

The only way to test a ball joint properly is with a gauge. A visual check isn't accurate nor will it suffice for the dealership. If you have .09 or less, the joint is considered good. Ball joints differ in quality. Moog is sloppy to me. Dynatrac and Spicer make a better ball joint so it depends what brand you had in your hand and the type. Some joints that are greaseable have play in them to make space for the grease and then they firm up. Wait until the dealership gives you their verdict. You are correct with your statement that many a ball joint was changed out unnecessarily. Simply jacking the vehicle up and moving the tire up and down with a crow bar does not necessarily suffice in checking proper or allowable tolerances.

 

[LD1]

Well...Another little update:

Only the upper joint is supposed to have that vertical play, NOT the lower. The upper is more of a king-pin style. NO ball at all.

So I had pleanty of time to do some research yesterday.

Apparently this is a re-occuring 50k-70k mile problem on these trucks. (LOTS of info online:thumbsup

Dealer words were "there is a little play, but it isnt something I should be afraid to drive. It dont need change immediatly, but keep an eye on it and he guesses another 10k miles at most before it becomes a REAL problem for me"

Anyway, I was all set to go to the parts stores and pick up some cheap one. They are all lifetime warrenty. Total for 4 at any given OTC parts store was ~$250 or so.

But I have been doing more reading online and people have MAJOR steering issues with certain brands. EXPECIALLY the MOOG's.:confused2:

And the ones that eeryone says is the absolute BEST are the carli brand. BUT they are $450 a set. And there's NO way I'm going to spend almost a grand to do the 4. But a close second to them (and EVEN cheaper than the parts stores) are the XRF's. I havent been able to find anything bad about them at all. And the best part is $225 to MY door:thumbsup:

Since I dont drive a truck but maybe ~6000miles per year, I'll probabally wait till next summer.

Any of you have experience with the XRFs?

XRF Chassis | Automotive and Heavy Duty Chassis Parts | Ball Joints

Dodge Ram 2500 3500 Ball Joint and Hub Assembly Kits, XRF | SKF | McQuay-Norris