Ball Joints Argh!

M

Muddyboots

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2013
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8,135
Location
Michigan
Rant: I have a 2009 Ram 2500 4x4 that EVERY time I bring it in to a tire shop for tire rotation I am told they are bad. Even after I tell them leave them alone! I now have to THREATEN them with full replacement OEM if they touch them again. The Ram requires a run out gauge to determine total "play" for both upper lower joint. Cannot exceed 0.060. Simple right? These are National franchises and do not even have run out gauges. The last time even with instructions on the rotation sheet the bozo is on my ball joints with 4' pry bar. That went well. Which resulted in knock down argument with manager in front of entire waiting room. Why is this so difficult to understand to not touch plus how about doing it correctly? They couldn't even tell me the max runout allowed! They couldn't even tell me what kind of ball joint is in the Ram. Manager told me they are bad so asked why are tires true? Crickets. What is the total runout? Crickets. Show me your runout gauge setup. Crickets.

I wouldn't trust any tire shop for any mechanical work period. I bet 95% if bad ball joints are either not or are actually damaged by these idiots by their ignorance. A mechanic shop selling tires is obviously different.

Rant over.
 
I have told my customers that the major franchise tire shops are trained to up sell and most of the time you don't even need what they are saying is bad.

They are the worst ( badyear, firerock), don't want a liable suit but they can't sue you for the truth.

I will say that heavy Cummins diesel is hard on dodge front ends.
 
I feel your pain ! My wife took my 2018 ram 4x4 diesel in the day I was leaving to Texas to hunt and they fu**** up the alignment . The tires only got 10 k miles . They forgot to tighten the tie rod adjuster clamp and it was coming apart. Then they argued its not there fault. Put a carli level kit and new drag link adjuster in after that but it cost 3300 bucks to get it right 2600 for level kit plus 200 for adjuster plus 500 for a new tire ( discount tire covered the other)
 

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All three of my Chevy trucks have over 300K miles and ALL still run original front axle components. I have put brakes on the Suburban and Duramax, but my 2003 Avalanche still runs the original brake pads on the front and rear. I know many will say BS, but I do all my own maintenance and every year or three I pull the tires off and check the brake pads. They are worn, but not down to the wear indicators. It is now a challenge to see how far they will go. Currently have over 320,000 miles on them. I have been through 4 sets of tires, 2 fuel pumps, 14 front windshields, all the door window motors, both cats and one O2 sensor, but the rest of the truck is factory original. I do rotate the tires, but normally only every 8-10,000 miles and visually inspect brakes. I only remove the caliper assembly every couple years to verify the pads.
 

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