will bad ball joints cause 4x4 problems? it pulls to the right, right side lower bjoint is shot, got to fight the steering wheel when i lock in the front axle, is the front axle in a 80' 150 good? or is the straight axle better, gonna keep it a 150, dont want to put 3/4 tons on it just want a good reliable 4x4 to get coal and wood in. does the 9" rear axle hold up to weight? thanks, charlie

 

Your original axle is fine, you will have a hard time breaking it, no straight axle needed. That being said, they do wear out after awhile and need service. Sounds like yours has some worn parts, ball joints will cause it to pull.

What you need to do is save up a little money first, and then go in. Unless you like tearing down the axle all the time, I would go in once and replace anything that looks suspect. That means any leaking axle seals, loose axle u-joints, loose axle slip joint on the driver's side, worn balljoints, worn or warped rotors, check and re-pack the wheel bearings, brakes, etc.

When you get into tearing it all the way down to replace the balljoints, you will see what I mean about going ahead and fixing most everything at that time. It's a lot of stuff to tear down to get back in to the balljoint.

 

Im with Franklin2, Replace the wheel bearings, seals, rotors (if need), axel joints (that can cause steering problems if they are shot and so loose the shafts are binding when they spin), and change ball joints all in one shot. Make sure you get quality parts don't go cheap! Especially on the ball joints. I changed mine last Aug. Went to get it aligned and they were shot already! So just changed them tuesday. Plan on about 5 hours to do it if you do it by yourself and a bunch of rags!! Id pick up a haynes manual it will help you with the torque specs and tell you how to get the bearings seated correctly. Its not a fun job to do over and over!

 

i went to napa and got some ball joints, when it warms up some i wanna go through it real good like u guys said, whats a good ball joint "moog"? greasable for sure huh. u think the rear axle will hold 4000 pounds or more in the bed?

 

Napa has good ball joints even there second line joints are good quality. The 9" in the rear of your truck should be just fine it Is a tough axel. I've got the same in the rear of my truck and it handles anything I can throw at it and I've been pretty rough on it too.

 

new ball joints work great, no more shakin at 55 now

 

Did you end up having to replace everything or just the joints? What alittle stuff does to make it drive like new! Just getting mine alinged it drives like a different truck!