Suspension needs?

[ramjam71]

Hey Ya’ll,

Back at it takin care of the Ol’ Girl. Original owner 2012 Ram 1500 4x4 sport. 177,000 mi. Replacing front & rear shocks & springs which are original. Any suggestions on what else I should replace while I’ve got it apart. I did Brakes, Rotors, Calipers 2 years ,9k mi. ago. and it was a bit of work popping the A arms loose as I was also looking to Grease or replace bearings. The bearings seemed ok and if I recall correctly they’re made to be replaced only with the entire hub assembly so I slapped some grease on their exterior and reassembled. All is good. After the struggle I had with the a arms, I’m looking to replace anything that’s probably due while it’s open. Any advise from the elders is appreciated.

 

[BenchTest]

EDIT - read that wrong. Disregard.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Well...usually a guy looks at and evaluates the upper and lower ball joints. They don't last forever on these Rams ...so I would suggest doing that. 1.5mm of movement (up/down) on the ball joint (measured by a dial indicator) is excessive and should be replaced. Actually any movement you can see or feel by hand...they should be replaced. Upper control arms (the balljoint) also are somewhat not long lived. Check those too. And the tie rods.

You're right, the hub/bearing assembly is one unit. If there's ANY back-fourth movement as your hands are at the 6:00/12:00 position on the tire ...and wiggling VIGOROUSLY...then they need replacing. If they're tight, yer good.

The anti-sway end links on these should be inspected. They wear too.

Different end of the truck, but the rear diff trailing arm bushings often wear on these. That's a real common thing. If the bushings appear loose in the trailing arms, figure on replacing those (or new arm) at some point in time.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

With the work you already plan to do if you ever considered to level it or raise it up at all. Now is the time. You could do the Eibach pro kit that includes all 4 coils, front struts, and rear shocks and then do Zone UCA which have much stronger ball joints which are a known weak point on these trucks.

If you are just looking to stay stockish then I would just go through all the serviceable parts before you really dive in and check for any play and build a parts list from there.

 

[ramjam71]

I appreciate the feedback, fellas.