Squeaky sound in the front?!

[NickC]

My uncle is a mechanic and im sure he'll be willing to just do this outta his garage, ill have to talk with him.

That write up seems VERY detailed and its almost something i would attempt but i wanna first see how much money i would be saving to do it myself.

So, is this common for thee to go out at 40k or did i do something that led to them going bad faster?

So was it the picture or the video that gave it away? Im just curious to what told you guys it was bad...

[Cumminalong]

Nick,

This may help ya as well.

No need to re-read the whole thing, just start with reply #56. The link below takes you right to that reply.

http://dodgeownerforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=6982.msg91304#msg91304

[Cumminalong]

My uncle is a mechanic and im sure he'll be willing to just do this outta his garage, ill have to talk with him.

That write up seems VERY detailed and its almost something i would attempt but i wanna first see how much money i would be saving to do it myself.

So, is this common for thee to go out at 40k or did i do something that led to them going bad faster?

So was it the picture or the video that gave it away? Im just curious to what told you guys it was bad...

40K isn't unusual, especially being that you plow with yours. Mine made it to 46K.

As far as giving it away, it was all of it. The pics of it were toast and the clicking was pretty much a giveaway.

[NickC]

Alright cool, thanks a lot for helping me figure out what this was!

I will head to Napa my next early day and pick up the same ones you did Rich, should i just have them both done since my uncle or i will be in there doing one already?

I have a small trip planned this weekend (maybe 300 miles round trip)... is this something i should be worried about??

[Cumminalong]

Just do them both.

It takes more bolts to remove the tire that it does the rest of the crap.

You can swap out a u-joint in and hour and a half from start to finish.

Just get them both outta the way. The other is probably right behind it.

[NickC]

Alright, that's what i was figuring on doing... Thanks 

[bikemancs]

Hey Rich... I'm getting a tapping feeling in the steering wheel, similar to the rear rear U-Joint going out, but different.  I'm feeling it mainly while the engine is at idle but rolling along...  I'm thinking it's the right front U-Joint... ?

I won't be able to look under the truck until this weekend if my CO keeps up this BS...

[NickC]

Well i took it in today to get done! I don't know how it slipped my mind but i have an after market warranty that i purchased when i bought the truck and it covers just about any and everything you could imagine!

I am going to return the u-joints i bought from napa ($107) and in return pay my $200 deductible to have it done by a shop. My uncle works at a goodyear so i figured i would give him the business over some yahoo at another place but only because its warranty work, goodyear charges WAY to much to fix anything! My uncle even tells me to get work done elsewhere because of the high pricing goodyear has.

So im getting the joints done, i also told him to look at my shifter because it sometimes sticks and stay's in park. I also have him fixing (or trying to fix) the lumbar support in my drivers seat, the knob broke one day as i was trying to get more air into the bubble.

I told him to look around and see if there was anything else wrong or maybe to soon be going wrong so i could just have it fixed as it was in there and have it all under the warranty.

I will have to drive my dads explorer to work tomorrow so thats going to be a little different than what im use to... i hope i dont see any cool diesels along the way or any ricers that are in need of being smoked 

I just hope everything goes according to plan and its all fixed at the warranty's cost... i should know by tomorrow, fingers are crossed!

[FroneDaddy]

Would wear & tear parts like u-joints with 40K on them be covered under ANY warranty?

[bikemancs]

I'm pretty sure they are covered under the warranty I bought with the truck....  only thing that isn't is light bulbs, and brake pads I think...

[NickC]

Yea they have a HUGE list of things that are covered. But i just got word that they are being PRICKS about paying up 

I guess i have a tie rod that could use replacing but they discontinued the part from the dealership so to replace it now, they have to order the whole unit instead of just the end. The warranty people said no, its considered a modification and they do not pay for modifications. They also said they would do the u-joints but wont do the hub if it breaks because it was not broke to begin with. The shop told me there is a chance for that to break and if it does, it would be up towards $500 a side to replace and if the warranty wont cover it, i will have to and the only way to find out if its going to break is to get in there and go ahead with the job. If they go ahead with the job without the company saying they will pay for it, the cost goes to me...

The warranty company also said they only support dealer u-joints and will not pay for any job to be done without a dealer part. The dealer part is not greaseable and it also goes for a hundred a pop. The joints i bought from napa are half the price, greaseable and most likely double the durability. You would think they would rather you put the better part in to save themselves in the future from having to pay for the job again.

The last i heard was that this was all going down and that the shop was trying to get back with them to explain what needed to be covered and why. I have not got a call back from the shop yet but i do know they have not even touched my truck yet because they have not gotten cleared to do any work from my warranty company.

What Fu Kers the warranty company is being!

I told the shop that if they cant get the company to go ahead with any of this work, i am going to call and try to set them straight with a piece of my mind as a paying customer.

I am paying for a warranty that wont dish out the money to do the work

 

[kenz]

Unfortunately that is what aftermarket warranty's are good at....stalling and refusing. They can be bastards to work with. See if you can get the mechanic to use the good NAPA joints and charge the warranty for the stock ones? Isn't the new tie rod assembly warranted by Dodge? Seems I remember something about that. Just remember the warranty contract is gospel, they will follow it to the letter, vary by one vowel and they can/will deny the claims. Good luck to you. 

p.s.---I never heard of breaking a hub when taking it off? Didn't know this was an issue?

[NickC]

About the hub, maybe i heard or remember something wrong... Remember, in not a car guy 

About the tie rods, i dont think i have warranty left on that unless there was a recall i did not get word of?

I am hoping to work something out tomorrow since i never got a call back today, its the warranty company that's taking there time returning the calls from the shop.

Go figure... 

[Skyd Ram]

As far as the hubs goes, they are sometimes a bitch to get off especially on a truck that has endured some Michigan winters. If they have to be "persuaded" to come off they will sometimes seperate thus destroying them. This is another reason that guys like Cujo and Sanddragonslayer do the Dynatrac conversion. Dodge discontinued the older inverted y-style steering parts so they make you buy the entire inverted t-style sterring setup. It is a ton better than what you have on there, but you have to replace the drag link,tierod,and steering stabilizer all at the same time. The biggest downfall of these trucks are the front end components. 

[NickC]

Well my uncle got one to wiggle off but the other one would not budge. I ended up having to buy a new assembly for the passenger side. He put a lot of anti-seize on it for next time (if i need to go back in there), why did the dealer not take the time do to this in the first place?