So at 145,000 and no work done the front end has some play and wonders all over the road. Took it to the local dealership and they said that basically everything needed to be replaced. Quoted me over $2100. Think I'll take it somewhere else.

 

What is the list of items they will be replacing for that 2100 bucks?

 

All 4 ball Joints, new esof seals, drag links, tie rods, and steering stabilizer. He quoted over $1000 in parts alone which is ridiculous. Can't remember the exact number because I was in shock. I told them I'm coming to get it and they are charging me $100 as a diagnostics fee for the 10 minutes it took to look at it and were extremely rude on the phone about the pricing.

 

Good wheel bearings are $200+ each, axle seals are $60 each. Put a bunch if ball joints and all that, $800 in parts.... sure.

 

Bearings are fine though or at least they say so. It's a college town. They see a student come in with a diesel thinking mom and dad are footing the bill and that I'm a dumb kid. I questioned the drag link because I replaced it 9 months ago when at the time that was all that was bad and they started crawfishing. So in reality they are making stuff up that's bad hoping I won't know better and pay up. Overall I am extremely dissatisfied with the entire stealership. Very unprofessional and rude. Talked to gateway tire and they said they could do it ALL for less than $1000

 

I spent almost 1800 doing it myself. I put all 5 ball joints yes there's one for the front track bar that goes from a bracket on the frame to the axle, new track bar both wheel bearings, all tie rods and center link, sway bar (mine was bent) sway bar links, dust seals, hub seals, o rings,calipers pads rotors turned. Basically everything in the front i did. When i got basic estimates like you did amok were in the morning 1800-2200 range and did not include ask the parts I changed that i am sure they would have called and said they were wore out.

 

I am, unfortunately, going through the same thing. I have something making a horrible grinding noise on each side of the front. Take it to my trusted auto care professional who proceeds to tell me it needs $3,500 worth of work to be safe, new ball joints, new bearings, new u joints and all the seals. I say, wait, I had Moog ball joints put on 12K miles ago, no way they are bad (There was no wheel movement what so ever before I took it in.). More research and found that the Goodyear shop that did the ball joints left the zerk fitting on the top instead of removing it and plugging the hole. Hence, the u-joint was hitting it...

Truck will be home tomorrow and I will tear it down myself. My question is, should I need bearings what is the best way to go. I have tried to read as many threads as I can, some say AutoZone, some say O'Reilly's. I could not find OEM which I would prefer. So, can someone tell me specifically which brand and model they used and are happy with? O'Reilly's has life time warranty, but also sells six different hubs... Thanks. gm

 

I would have preferred to take it to my local dealer who did all my head stud work. I know them well but they are 300 miles away and I need to get this fixed ASAP. I luckily found a friend of a friend working at gateway tire that knows these trucks extremely well and does alignments there. He told me to bring it and he would check everything and should cut my price in half.

As far as parts I'm replacing everything with Napa parts. I think that's the brand to go with imho.

Just too bad that these trucks have such horrible front ends. Everyone complains about the EGR, HPOP, heads and so on. All that was a breeze compared to tracking down and fixing this wondering and wobble.

 

145k on oem parts I would not call horrible. Mine went 172k before i checked it and found it unsafe. I went with oem parts. If they lasted 172k the first time they should outlast the truck this time around.

 

I like having the ability to grease the joints though. I have heard mixed things about all. Some say oem balljoints last 50k some say autozone, Napa, etc are good some say no. If I had the spot to I would do it all myself. Difficult to do in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

 

Moog bearings and I think they make ball joints too. Used Advanced Auto on line, use coupon code TRT30 and save 30% or $50. Keep the cart to $150 or less and just keep hitting the code. Saved me a ton if money! Lifetime warranty IIRC as well. Stock check the local store, order and 30 minutes later go pick them up.

 

I just bought MOOG TRE's from Advanced Auto. Full price was $145 and $138 but did separate orders (in store pickup) to bring it down to $95 and $88.

Josh

 

Saved $100 on that purchase... frickin awesome! I tried TRT37 the other day and it took a little more off on a part I needed shipped. First place I check now and the guy at the counter always looks at me like he can't seem to figure out how I get my stuff so cheap, says I'm the only guy consistently getting great deals. Even did it from my phone once while standing in line.

 

Yep, retailmenot and coupons.com are saviors.

Josh

 

Not trying to hi-jack the mans thread but does anyone have the part numbers for the front end parts.