Front Suspension Lower Ball Joint Problems of Dodge Ram 2500 - part 1

Experienced severe/uncontrollable "death wobble" after running over pothole on frwy. At 70-75mph. Occurred south of tucson, az. And 6-7 times again on way to dallas after a road imperfections was encountered. Had to keep speed below 65mph and reduced air in front tires to mitigate severity of resulting wobble. Each time the wobble occurred I had to quickly reduce speed to below 30mph to regain control of truck. Dodge dealership in dallas, TX. Determined the upper and lower ball joints in front end were bad and replaced them. The vehicle had less than 57k miles. Cost of ball joint replacement ~$1k.

See all problems of the 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 🔎.

2006 Dodge Ram 2500. Consumer requests reimbursement for power steering pump recall repairs. Consumer has a different vehicle complaint listed in artemis. The steering linkage and pitman arm were replaced. Also, the upper and lower ball joints were replaced. The consumer referenced recall # 13v528000.

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Let me start by stating that I've been driving for over 33 years and have an impeccable driving record. This is what happened. I was driving on the interstate at approx. 65 mph. I was changing lanes when I hit a few small bumps in the road. My truck immediately started shaking violently and uncontrollably. I pulled to breakdown lane while slowing the vehicle. The truck didn't stop shaking until approx. 30 mph, though it was still shaking, I had never encountered such a loss of control before for no apparent reason. I decided to see if there was anything about this issue on the web. I was amazed at what I found. This phenomenon is dubbed 'death wobble'. Though it seems this in not an uncommon event, no-one seems to be able to pinpoint the problem that caused the violent shaking. There are lots of differing opinions. My mechanic checked out truck and I was told that other than very slight wear in drivers side upper and lower ball joints, everything was tight. I've since replaced upper and lower ball joints even though my mechanic told me they weren't bad enough to warrant replacement. I've also replaced shimmy shock on stabilizer and installed aftermarket stabilizer after researching this problem even more. We also realized previous owner had numerous new parts installed too. Seems as though he was chasing this as well. Since replacing these, this has happened 2 more times. This is extremely dangerous and I won't even go over 55 mph on the interstate. Is Dodge aware of this issue? and what about recalls? I've looked and cannot find any recalls that pertain to this problem. The suspension itself seems flawed even though I cannot pinpoint one failed component in itself. Thank you.

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The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500. The contact stated that while traveling 25 mph, a loud noise was emitted from the front end of the vehicle and no warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact mentioned that the vehicle would veer to the right and to the left. The failure recurred several times. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the upper and lower ball joints on both the driver and passenger side needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was 55,000 and the current mileage was 57,222.

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The contact owns a 2007 Dodge Ram 2500. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 mph the front end and the steering wheel lunged forward and shook uncontrollably. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the front and rear driver and passenger side tires, the upper and lower ball joints and the inner and outer tie rods. The failure continued to occur after the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

The contact owns a 2007 Dodge Ram 2500. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the vehicle started to shake violently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer four times in which they repaired the upper and lower ball joints, control arms, bushings, and the tie rods. The dealer stated there were no recalls for the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 51,493 and the current mileage was 56,078.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500. The contact stated that both the upper and lower ball joints failed, resulting in a potential loss of directional stability in the steering wheel. The dealer was notified and advised the contact that there were no recalls for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 60,000.

The contact owns a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500. The contact stated that while having the vehicle examined for routine maintenance, he was informed that the upper and lower ball joints on both sides of the front end needed to be replaced. This was under warranty. Approximately 19,000 miles later, the vehicle was taken back to the dealer and the contact was again informed that the front ball joints needed to be replaced. This failure was not covered under warranty. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 15,000 and the current mileage 43,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Ram 2500. The contact stated the vehicle would shake whenever driving over a bump at approximately 60 mph or more. The vehicle would become very difficult to control during the failures, so the contact would have to decelerate to approximately 30 mph. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the steering column, as well as the upper and lower ball joints were replaced. The dealer stated that they were not sure what caused the failure. The failure mileage was 39,000 and the current mileage was 45,000.

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The contact owns a 2004 Dodge 2500 hd. The contact was driving approximately 5 mph on a gravel road surface. A clanking noise was coming from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. The front lower and upper ball joints; and rear brakes were replaced. The failure continued after the service repair. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on a separate occasion for the identical failure. The technician detected the lower and upper ball joints repair were performed incorrectly, and several required parts were not installed on the vehicle. The contact was displeased with the authorized dealer for not taking responsible for the insufficient repair. The vehicle was repaired at the owners expense. The failure mileage was 217,000. The VIN was not available. The current mileage was 220,000.

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Purchased a new 06 Dodge Ram 2500 quad cab 4x4. Truck came with 22inch tires and rims. Replaced tires at 60k miles. Almost had very severe accident at 60 miles an hour due to death wobble (violent shaking of truck). Drove truck back to tire dealer. Dealer said my front end was bad. Bought all new complete front end parts from Dodge including upper/lower ball joints and shocks. Had parts installed cost $2900. Took truck out on freeway now I have the death wobble at 70mph. Took truck back to Dodge, they say nothing is wrong.

The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 quad. While driving approximately 10 mph, a loud noise emitted from the front end of the vehicle and immediately the steering wheel failed to turn. The contact came to a complete stop to inspect the vehicle and noticed the steering damper detached and was on the ground. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated the tie rods and steering damper would need to be replaced. Two years ago, the tie rods and steering damper were replaced under the service warranty. In addition, the front and upper and lower ball joints were replaced. There was a recall related to the defect under NHTSA campaign id number 07e009000 (suspension). The vehicle was ineligible because the recall did not pertain to the original equipment. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 59,000.

@ roughly 30,000 mi I hit a pothole on the freeway (I-80) at hiway speed. Immediately got a severe front end shimmy/bounce. Had to slow to about 30mph to get it to stop. I took it to the Dodge dealer (don wier in reno) who said it wasn't covered by (50,000 mi) warranty and wanted $2300 to fix it. Took it to a 4 wheel drive specialist who replaced the track bar. About 10,000 miles later it did it again. This time they replaced the upper and lower ball joints. Recently (70,000 mi) it happened again so I took it back. They checked and tightened everything & rebalanced tires and wheel and said they could find nothing wrong. Two days later I got a violent freeway shimmy and it did it again today. I could have easily lost control of the vehicle and been in a serious wreck in either instance. This is dangerous and Dodge doesn't seem to give a damn. I need the truck but I am afraid to drive it.

Vehicle failed safety inspection because upper and lower ball joints were bad. The truck is only 4 years old with 67,000 miles on it. Truck has been used primarily for highway driving. I am aware that Dodge has had recalls for ball joint issues on their dakota and durango models. Upper and lower ball joints were replaced to satisfy utah state safety inspection.

My husband drives his 2004 Dodge 3/4 ton diesel pick up every day to work. About a week ago he noticed that it had developed a vibration when he stopped. Believing it be a brake problem he took it to our mechanic shop and had them look it over. We were completely noplussed to discover that all of his front ball joints had failed. We were then told that is a common problem with this brand and that it was because there are no grease fittings on the factory installed parts. We had both the lower and upper ball joints replaced at the time.

I owned my Dodge Ram 2500 pick up truck for 4 years. I have a state vehicle inspection every year and I had no problem in April of 2006. In April of 2007 I was informed by the dealership that both the upper and lower ball joints on the passenger side needed replacement. I have a total of 28,300 miles on the vehicle, only 5,000 of which were accumulated between April of 2006 and April 2007. I am retired.

Upper and lower ball joints the ball joints need to be replced at 70,000 miles, for a vechicle that has never been abused. This is uncalled for.

Front suspension bottoms out when going over bumps I was told this is normal by the dealer but as a technician I have never seen a vehicle that does this from the factory and now at about 42000 miles my lower ball joints are failing.

: the contact stated while driving at highway speeds of 60mph over bumps, the vehicle violently vibrates intermittently until the brakes are depressed and released. The vibration can be felt through the steering wheel. When the vehicle was taken to the dealership, they determined the upper and lower ball joints on both sides were replaced due to excessive play. However, the replacement of the ball joints did not correct the problem. The vehicle was returned to the dealership on 5-03-06 where the steering damper was replaced. The contact is unsure if this repair has corrected the problem because of its intermittence nature of this defect .

2003 Dodge 2500 4x4 pu reported rattling noise front end at low speed. Under warranty 3/36 vehicle taken in dealer manager reports upper lower ball joints gone. Upon checking on vehicle status next day dealer reports misdiagnosis and sway arm control needs only replacement. Dealer never intended to inform owner (me) of change. Interestingly they changed position and are now trying to sell me into extended warranty with only 1500 mile left on 3/36.

Upper and lower ball joints fail with very low mileage. I know of three owner 3 truck that the ball joints failed, causing the truck to handle wrong, shake and bounce out of control. Dodge will not fix, the cost is over 1,000. Mine failed at 35,000 mile all the trucks failed below 40,000,this on a 35,000 dollar truck.

The national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation on July 22, 2003 concerning 1998 - 2003 Dodge durango vehicles to address complaints regarding front suspension ball joints. What is the status of the investigation, and what are you doing about this problem experienced by so many. My suspension ball joint went bad and broke while fixing something else. It was not covered by the warranty. Obviously it was a defective part and or design of the vehicle, and that was unacceptable to make the customer pay for the mistakes by Dodge.

: the contact stated the vehicle had 6,000 miles when the tires started showing signs of wear. The vehicle was taken to the dealership for inspection of the tires. The dealer determined the cause of the tire wear was due to both front upper and lower ball joints being severely worn. The dealer replaced the ball joints and the vehicle operated normally.

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My 2003 Ram 2500 has been nothing but trouble. In first two years the bearings/hubs, u-joints, upper/lower ball joints have all been replaced, I have spent over $2000. 0 in front end parts alone. My friend has a 2003 dually, he has replaced all the same parts. Also, an injector line rupture on christmas eve, while I was in rural maine, needless to say it got very expensive, once they found a part in michigan. All I can say is no more Dodges for me or my family, buying a Toyota or Nissan next time. The Dodge is a $40,000 piece of crap. . . . Tf.

I recently got my 2003 Dodge ram p/u 2500 2wd inspected. I was told that my front end squeaks and this is due to no ball joint grease. This vehicle has 16000 miles on it. I was told that I had a warranty problem. I contacted the dealer and they set me up for an appointment yesterday. I stopped in and explained what I was told. The person that wrote up my work order advised me that Chrysler frowns upon them stating this fact in the work order and instead, he wrote that the complaint was ball joint noise poss. Loose balljoint. During this stage, the service manager spoke up and told me that they had just put both upper and lower balljoints in a 2004 truck which is a year newer than mine. The dealer later contacted me and agreed with the original diagnosis by the inspection station, and indicated that both the upper and lower ball joints needed to be replaced and this would be under warranty. He then explained that the parts are on a national back order. I was told to pick up my truck and they would call me when the parts came in. When I picked up the vehicle this morning 5/27, the service manager spoke to me regarding the national back order and stated, does that tell you that theres a problem with the particular part! my concern here is that I would not expect to even consider this part to wear out for 50k-80k miles under normal use. Given that these parts need replacement now, I should expect to replace these parts 10 times or more over the life of the vehicle since there aren't any grease fittings on them so that I could replenish the grease. Could you please advise me if this is something that you are aware of and dealing with? thank you for your consideration.

I currently have a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500. At 50,000 miles the dealer notified me that the upper and lower ball joints are showing wear. At 55,000 the front end started to make noise. As soon as I heard the noise I drove the vehicle over to don miller Dodge. When the dealer contacted me, informing me that all ball joints need to be replaced. This is not cover under the 7/70 Dodge warranty. The price tag for the work came out to $1200. After hanging up the phone, I contacted Dodge directly and told them of the problem. They acknowledged that I had great maintenance reports, but since I had placed new tires on the vehicle at 45,000 and increased the tire from 275 to 285 (. 5" difference). There is nothing they can due for me. I contacted several Dodge dealers in the area and spoke with the service departments. This is a know problem with the 02-03 Dodge durangos and 02-03 Dodge ram pickup's. Dodge ref#13452182 I find this performance from a so called heavy duty vehicle highly disappointing. This is my second Dodge ram. I upgraded from my 1999 1500 gas to the 2500 diesel heavy duty just to avoid these types of problems. If I would not have gone to the deal right away. This could have resulted in losing the front tire. Causing injury or worse. Similar to what happens with the 03 durango. I lucky enough to recognize the change in steering. If my wife was driving she would not have been able to recognize the problem until it was to late. I will obtain the old part from the dealer.

The consumer states at 45,000 miles the front upper and lower ball joints needs to be replaced. The cause has not been determined. Please provide additional information.

See all problems of the 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 🔎.

Had to replace both right and left upper and lower ball joints due to wear. The vehicle only had 40000 miles when the ball joint failed.

While driving 45 mph consumer heard a loud knocking noise coming from the front of the vehicle. Suddenly, vehicle vibrated uncontrollably. Vehicle was taken to a body shop for inspection, and mechanic determined that both frontal upper and lower ball joints needed to be replaced.

The consumer experienced a problem with the upper and lower ball joints. When driving over a bump in the road, the consumer could feel the movement of the ball joints in it's socket which caused the vehicle to pull to the left. Owner took the vehicle in to have it aligned when it was discovered that the ball joints were cracked. The consumer contacted the manufacturer and was told there was nothing they could do. Provide further details.

An excess of 50 thousands of play in the upper and lower ball joints of my 2002 Dodge 2500 4x4 quad cab diesel has been detected by two independent service shops. The dealer, southtown Dodge, refuses to replace the ball joints under warranty, citing only 20 and 24 thousandths play with 30 thousandths allowable. Over the last 5000 to 6000 miles, the ball joint wear has caused the steer tires to wear rapidly and erraticly steers itself when in motion. The dealer offered to replace the ball joints for "around $800" if I am "so concerned.

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From day one of owning my 2500 ram it seemed out of alignment. I took it to the dealer in las vegas where I purchased the vehicle and I was told it was fine. Then upon moving to colorado I again took it to a dealer and was told the same thing. A year later I noticed severe wear on the front tires, indicating the vehicle was out of alignment. I took it to a different dealer and was told at 38,000 miles I needed both the upper and lower ball joints replaced to the tune of 1,400! I declined and took it to a local repair shop. Also the dealer told me to consider an eliptical shaped ball joint in lieu of the standard ball shaped. Anyway, the local repair shop replaced them. Still I hear this is a common problem and there should be a recall.

The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel. The contact complained about front upper and lower ball joint problem. The failure mileage the first time was 5000 miles,the upper ball joints had to be replaced. The failure mileages the second time was 20,300 miles and the upper and lower ball joints had to be replaced. The upper ball joints were changed twice, and the lower ball joints were replaced once in a year and a half period. The factory tire size was lt26570r17. At first incident the tires and rims were factory equipment, and at the second incident it was after market equipment.

With normal driving the upper and lower front ball joints went out of my truck within the first 60,000 miles, then 20,000 miles later I am having to replace a lower ball joint again in addition to a wheel bearing/hub assembly. In talking to other Dodge owners and the shop that did my repair work I have found that this is a very common problem with Dodge trucks, in fact the ball joints were back-ordered when I had them repaired the first time. Worn out ball joints make the truck unsafe to drive and cause uneven wear on tires - meaning that I keep having to replace tires as well.

Ball joints squeaked loudly due to lack of lubrication. Dealer had been contacted. The lower ball joints did not have any grease fittings.

See all problems of the 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 🔎.