I finally tackled a pile of pent up work on my tow rig. The front end was so worn out that for over a year now the front tires were wearing something terrible, shaking ridiculous over 58mph, and it was really not safe to drive. The major issue was worn out ball joints, which destroyed the front tires, and made it impossible to get inspected or registration renewed.
Over the last couple weeks I found the "free time" (ha) to work on this because without it going to Uwharrie was not happening.
In the end I replaced all four ball joints, lower control arms, axle u joints, unit bearings, rotors, brake pads, track bar, tie rod, and drag link on the front and the pads and rotors on the rear. Holy crap u-joints on these axles suck. Does not help when a cap comes out with rust and broken needles! I managed to crack the driver's side steering knuckle in the taper for the lower ball joint (over tightened) and that demanded finding another axle to buy because the knuckles are not available new and damn near impossible to find used (only gas 2500 trucks 10-13 used them with the 5200# axle.) I ended up finding one only about an hour away after searching for a couple of days then had to haul it home and strip out for parts.
I discovered the cause for the seemingly offset front axle that I was not sure about (it was shifted to the driver's side) was a bent track bar. It also probably explains why only the passenger side had replacement ball joints on it. After pulling the axle back to the passenger side over half an inch then the steering wheel was out of whack; turned 90° to the right driving straight. That made the ABS unhappy so even though I was going to do the drag link and tie rod later since I had to pull that apart to adjust I replaced those as well and recentered everything. After clearing codes the ABS seems happy again.
With over 158k on the odometer I was not surprised that so much was worn out but it steers nice and smooth now. I took the front wheels in for replacement tires early in the week and with those mounted up it drives pretty nice, definitely better than when I bought it four years ago. It steers straight but I will get it in for a real alignment soon.
The scrap pile is getting pretty big. I still have upper control arms, all six driveshaft u joints, and all the brake hoses to do, but they will wait until after Uwharrie. Then the power wagon lockers and rear gears and bearings when I can get to those!
Over the last couple weeks I found the "free time" (ha) to work on this because without it going to Uwharrie was not happening.
In the end I replaced all four ball joints, lower control arms, axle u joints, unit bearings, rotors, brake pads, track bar, tie rod, and drag link on the front and the pads and rotors on the rear. Holy crap u-joints on these axles suck. Does not help when a cap comes out with rust and broken needles! I managed to crack the driver's side steering knuckle in the taper for the lower ball joint (over tightened) and that demanded finding another axle to buy because the knuckles are not available new and damn near impossible to find used (only gas 2500 trucks 10-13 used them with the 5200# axle.) I ended up finding one only about an hour away after searching for a couple of days then had to haul it home and strip out for parts.
I discovered the cause for the seemingly offset front axle that I was not sure about (it was shifted to the driver's side) was a bent track bar. It also probably explains why only the passenger side had replacement ball joints on it. After pulling the axle back to the passenger side over half an inch then the steering wheel was out of whack; turned 90° to the right driving straight. That made the ABS unhappy so even though I was going to do the drag link and tie rod later since I had to pull that apart to adjust I replaced those as well and recentered everything. After clearing codes the ABS seems happy again.
With over 158k on the odometer I was not surprised that so much was worn out but it steers nice and smooth now. I took the front wheels in for replacement tires early in the week and with those mounted up it drives pretty nice, definitely better than when I bought it four years ago. It steers straight but I will get it in for a real alignment soon.
The scrap pile is getting pretty big. I still have upper control arms, all six driveshaft u joints, and all the brake hoses to do, but they will wait until after Uwharrie. Then the power wagon lockers and rear gears and bearings when I can get to those!
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