2008 Dodge Ram 1500 Truck Regular Cab Rear Wheel Drive Front 10 Piece Steering & Suspension Kit TRQ PSA59186

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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.

In this video, we're going to show you how to replace the lower ball joints in this Dodge Ram. This one is a 2008, but the procedure is pretty much the same for 2006 to 2008 1500 Dodge Rams. We do this on the passenger side, but the driver's side is the same procedure.

You'll need new ball joints from 1AAuto.com, 8 to 35 millimeter sockets with a ratchet and extensions, a breaker bar, hooked picked, bungee cords or mechanics wire, pry bar, hammer, flat blade screwdriver, needle nose pliers, snap ring pliers, ball joint press, torque wrench, and jack and jack stands.

With the vehicle on the ground, using the 22 millimeter socket and breaker bar, break the lug nuts for your wheel loose. These chrome lug nuts tend to be swollen, so make sure your socket's on there good. Using the small pick, remove the center cap from the wheel. Using a 35 millimeter socket and a breaker bar crack the axle nut loose. Raise and support your vehicle. Finish removing the lug nuts. Remove the wheel and tire from the hub.

Remove the two 21 millimeter bolts securing the caliper bracket to the spindle. Be sure to crack both of these loose before removing them. If they are removed fully one at a time, the caliper can twist and cause the flex hose on the brake line to tear. Be sure to support the assembly while you remove the last bolt. Remove the entire caliper and carrier assembly. Using a bungee cord secure it out of the way by hanging it off of the frame. Remove the rotor from the hub.

Brace the hub with a pry bar and finish removing your axle nut. Using a hammer, tap the end of the axle to push it out of the hub. Remove the nut for the tire rod. Take a 21 millimeter socket and ratchet. You want to leave the nut on a few threads so that it's flush with the bottom of the stud. Carefully tap up with a hammer. Remove the nut. Remove the tie rod from the control arm. Remove the 22 millimeter nut connecting the upper ball joint to the spindle.

Tap the front of the knuckle right where the ball joint comes through with a hammer to release it, careful not to hit it too hard because this is aluminum and it could crack. Once it's loosened up, you may have to hit the bottom of the control arm to release the joint from the knuckle. Using a flat blade screwdriver, release the tab on the connector for the ABS sensor. Push down and release the connector. Release it from the clamps under the control arm.

Pull down on the spindle or push up on the upper control arm to separate them and remove the axle shaft from the wheel bearing.

With a pair of needle nose pliers, straighten out the legs on the cotter pin. You want to get them as tight as you can, and as free of kinks as possible. This may mean pinching them together, and working them back and forth a little. Keep them together. Stick one of the legs from your pliers through the eyelet of the cotter pin. Clamp down, and twist it out. Regardless of whether or not the cotter pin comes out in one piece, you will want to replace these after they've been removed.

Using a 22 millimeter socket and breaker bar, remove the nut on the lower ball joint. Ensure that your axle nut is partially installed so the hub—once released from the ball joint—does not fall. Put some weight onto the top of the spindle, either by pulling down with your hand or a pry bar, and hit the bottom of the spindle here with a hammer to release the ball joint from the spindle. Once the ball joint is separated from the spindle, remove your axle nut the rest of the way.

Release the axle from the hub and the spindle from the ball joint. Using a bungee cord, zip ties, or mechanics wire, secure your CV axle up and out of the way of your lower ball joint. Using a pair of normally closed snap ring pliers, release the snap ring on the top of the ball joint. Place the receiving tube onto the bottom of the lower ball joint. Set it onto your press. Install a cup onto the top of the press to protect the grease fitting and to keep the press centered.

Using a 22 millimeter socket and breaker bar, tighten down on the press until the ball joint is released from the control arm. We're going to use an 8 millimeter socket to remove the grease fitting in order to get the added clearance to finish pressing the joint out.

Now you'll put your tube back onto the bottom of the ball joint. Reinstall your press, and without a cup on the top, put the threaded end of the press directly onto the top center of the ball joint. Press it the rest of the way out. When the joint is close to coming out, hold the press if it's safe to do so. Remove the assembly from the control arm.

Here we have our old ball joint, which we removed from our truck, and our new ball joint from 1A Auto. As you can see, there are some minor aesthetic differences, but the taper and the diameter of the joint are exactly the same. Same spline, they have a nice new boot, this one on our vehicle had actually collapsed in some, which obviously isn't going to hold grease very well. It's all dried out and rusted inside—I can barely get this thing to move.

Our new ball joint comes with a new snap ring that will sit on top of the control arm, to keep from the vehicle moving up and down and from working the ball joint out of its seat; A 90 degree zerk fitting, which is actually going to be a lot easier to access inside the vehicle; A new castle nut; And a new cotter pin to secure it and keep it from turning out. When it comes time to remove this ball joint in the future, you'll see that we have a slot in there, which allows you to keep the ball joint in place with a flat blade screwdriver, while undoing this castle nut, making it easier to remove a stubborn old ball joint, whereas this one has no provision to keep it from spinning.

Install the ball joint into an installation cup that fits the rim of the joint as best you can. Install the joint into the spindle with the cup on top, which will allow the joint to come through until it bottoms out. Make sure it's in there nice and straight. Using a 22 millimeter socket and ratchet, tighten it down until the joint seats fully into the lower control arm. Once you can see that the ball joint is seated fully, all the way around the control arm, remove your ball joint press.

Use your snap ring pliers to spread the new snap ring. Install it into the groove of the ball joint. Be sure that it's fully seated in there. Install your zerk/grease fitting. Using a 10 millimeter socket, tighten down your grease/zerk fitting. Be sure to face it in a direction that won't be interfered with by the spindle, such as backwards or forwards, as long as you can do so without stripping it.

Install the ball joint as well as the CV axle into the spindle, making sure that both line up properly. Start the washer and castle nut onto the threads of the ball joint. Line up and install the spines of your axle into the hub. Start your axle nut on as far as it'll go. Lift up on the upper control arm, slide the upper ball joint into the spindle. Pull down until you're able to get the nut started onto the threads. Tighten it down with a 22 millimeter socket and ratchet. Torque the upper ball joint to 40 foot-pounds. Add an additional 90 degrees.

Reinstall the tie rod into the spindle. Start the nut. Tighten it with a 21 millimeter socket and ratchet. Torque the tie rod to 45 foot-pounds. Reinstall the harness into the keepers and the bottom of the control arm. Reinstall the connector.

Push down on the safety tab. Reinstall the rotor onto the hub. Make sure that you don't twist the line on your brake hose. Reinstall the caliper carrier assembly onto the rotor. Start the bolts on the back side. Tighten the bolts down with a 21 millimeter socket and ratchet. Torque the caliper bolts to 130 foot-pounds.

Reinstall your wheel and tire onto the vehicle. Start the lug nuts with a 22 millimeter socket. Get all the lug nuts as tight as you can in the air and lower the vehicle. After tightening your axle nut torque it to 185 foot-pounds. Pop the center cap back into place. Torque your lug nuts to 135 foot-pounds in a cross pattern.

Thanks for tuning in. We hope this video helped you out. Next time you need parts for your car, please visit 1AAuto.com. Also check out our other helpful how-to and diagnosis videos.

Okay, friends, to get started on this vehicle, the first thing we wanna talk about is safety. You want hand and eye protection. Secondly, you wanna make sure that you raise and support the vehicle by the frame so the suspension is hanging. Next, let's remove our lug nuts. Remove your wheel. Now that we have the wheel off, we have a nice, clear view of our tie rod ends. Just a quick note, whenever I'm replacing tie rod ends, I usually like to do them as a pair. With that said, let's break free our jam nut. Here, we are.

Let's get our locking cotter pin out of here. Here we are. Let's go ahead and remove this nut. Put that back on a couple of threads. The next thing we're gonna do is separate the tie rod end from the knuckle itself. You can do that with a couple loving bonks, with a hammer. Unscrew the outer tie rod end and make sure you count the threads as you come off, 1, 2, 3 and so on. 22 for me. The next thing we need to do is remove our jam nut from our inner tie rod end. I'm gonna hold that inner tie rod end with some locking pliers.

Next, we're gonna remove the clamp that holds our Bellows boot to the inner tie rod end. So now if you follow your boot towards the inside where your power steering rack is, you're gonna find that there's a little lip right here. You're gonna wanna just kind of have a nice pry bar like this and a hammer, and we're gonna break that free. It's not reusable, so you're gonna have to replace it with something different. Now, let's go ahead and grab onto that boot. Give it a nice twist to break it free. And we're gonna try to pull it off of the inner tie rod end. There it is.

Double check your boot, make sure it's not worn or torn in any way. If it is, you'd wanna replace it, this one looks great. Now we have to unscrew our inner tie rod end from the rack itself. To do that, you can use a tool that looks like this. It's just gonna go around the bobble down here. Or of course you can use pliers or even a wrench. Whatever you need to do, unscrew it. Okay let's get this off of here. Now that that's off, I always like to clean up the mess that might be around the area, clean up the threads and then of course around it. Time to start in our new inner tie rod end. I like to use a little bit of threadlocker, but we'll call it your prerogative.

Once you have it bottomed out, just make sure you go ahead and give it a little snug. Your inner tie rod end came with some grease. You're gonna use that right along this area right here and then a little bit on the inner tie rod and shaft. I like to use a nice brush I don't like to get it on my hands. Just pack it right in there and make sure it's nice and lubricated and then some right up along this groove right there. That's where the boot's gonna sit. This is gonna help your alignment be professional. The next thing we need to do is prepare our boot so it can be mounted. Take a nice wire tie, I'm just gonna start right on here. Here we are, not too tight. Do the same on the other side, if you're not reusing your clamp, take your boot. We're gonna slide it right on there. Slide it over the rack so you're sure it's nice and secure. That feels good.

We're gonna slide this forward end so it goes over that little lip. You can see it right there, put it right up against it. Perfect. Make sure your boot's sitting perfectly on the rack. And now we're going to snug everything up. Trim from off the excess. Next, we're gonna put a little bit of grease or copper, never seize on the threaded area here. Go ahead and put on your jam nut, put it halfway down the threaded area. Time to put on the outer tie rod end. Make sure you put on as many turns as you did to remove the original 1, 2, 3, and so on. That should line up perfectly. If it doesn't you might've moved this a little bit, or you might be off. Snug this up, torque this to 45 foot-pounds.

Now we need to take a look and make sure that the slotted area of our nut lines up with the hole in the tie rod stud, if it doesn't, you need to continue tightening until the first one does. Go ahead and pin that over. Now, it's gonna be time to tighten our jam nut. To do that, you wanna hold your tie rod so it can't spin because you don't wanna damage the ball and socket area. Now let's go ahead and snug this. There we go. If your tie rods crooked, just make sure you straighten it out so it's level with the ground. Go ahead and put the wheel back up on here. We're gonna start all of our lug nuts and then we'll torque them to 130 foot-pounds. Torqued.

Brought to you by 1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet.

Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.

In this video we're going to show you how to replace the sway bar end links on this 2008 Dodge Ram. Typically, you want to replace them in pairs. These are the tools that you're going to need: rust penetrant, 15mm, 16mm, 17mm, 18mm sockets, ratchet, socket extension, locking pliers, torque wrench, jack and jack stands

Raise and support your vehicle. You can do it with jack stands, but in this case we have a lift so we're going to use the lift. In the front end of the truck you can see that your sway bar end link is right here. We're going to start by shooting the threads with some rust penetrant so that it makes our whole job a whole lot easier.

To remove the sway bar end link, you're actually going to have to rotate the sway bar up. To do that, you have to disconnect the opposite side sway bar end link. If you're going to just be replacing one of the sway bar end links, then you just need to disconnect the bottom of the other side, but if you're going to be replacing both like us, and we recommend replacing both at the same time, you're going to want to lubricate the top and the bottom with the penetrating oil.

You'll see that the sway bar end link has a 15mm hex on the bottom side of it so that you can hold it with a wrench. Then on the top you're going to need a 17mm deep socket and ratchet. The bottom end of the sway bar end link has an 18mm spot for a wrench on it. You can wedge it in between the wheel. The bottom side is an 18mm 6-point. Now you can take the nut right off the bottom. We're going to be replacing both of the sway bar end links, but if you're just doing one, you need to disconnect the opposite side, the bottom of it. The 18mm wrench that we were hoping to use didn't fit in this scenario, so we went right to the locking pliers.

With an 18mm socket on the bottom, you should be able to loosen it right up. Then you can pop the nut right off the bottom. Now we need to raise up the sway bar so that we can pull the sway bar end links out. Unfortunately, we just put brand new bushings in here, so the sway bar is really tight, and it's tough to push up. We're going to start by loosening up the sway bar bushing brackets. You don't have to take all the bolts out. We just need to loosen them up so that the sway bar will move a little freer.

Now we're going to push the sway bar up on this side so that we can come over here and remove the sway bar end link from the sway bar. We're going to be replacing both of the sway bar end links, so the next thing that we do is rotate the sway bar like this. You haven't easier access to this upper nut on the sway bar end link. You can put a 15mm here, 17mm socket on the top, and loosen it up.

This right here is a 1ASSL00405. This is also an aftermarket piece; it's actually been replaced before on the truck. You can see that they're obviously very similar. Ours has the new bushings and washers, and nuts, along with the grease fitting included. The only difference between these two that I can come up with is these points right here, where you put the wrench on to remove them. It's just 18mm versus 19mm. It's going to fit just like the original one does and hopefully solve your problem.

Get your 1A Auto sway bar end link, and take the nut and the washer and the rubber bumper off the top, leaving one rubber bumper and the washer on there. Slide it through your sway bar. Then put the nut on, but leave it really use so that we can actually slide it down into the control arm later. We're going to repeat this step on the opposite side. We're now going to spin the sway bar up, and set the sway bar end links down through the control arms. Then we'll loosely install the nuts on the bottom of the sway bar end links.

We're going to start by tightening up the top of the sway bar end link with a 15mm wrench right in here and a 16mm socket and ratchet on the top. Just snug it up. Then we'll move to the bottom. We'll take a 19mm wrench, slide it right over here, and an 18mm socket and ratchet for the bottom. Once it's tight, you'll want to repeat these steps on the opposite side.

Next, we're going to tighten up all of the sway bar bushings bolts that we had loosened earlier in the job. These we should set to 45 foot-pounds. With the sway bar bushings torqued and the sway bar end links replaced, now you can lower the truck back down to the ground and you'll be all set for the road ahead.

Thanks for tuning in. We hope this video helped you out. Next time you need parts for your car, please visit 1AAuto.com. Also check out our other helpful how-to and diagnosis videos.

Okay, friends. One of the first things we need to do is safely raise and support the vehicle so that the suspension is hanging. The best way to do that is right underneath the frame. Once you've done that, remove all five lug nuts and remove the wheel. Now, I'm going to take a nice pry bar and I'm going to come in between the caliper and the rotor itself, and just try to push in the pistons a tiny bit. Perfect. Now, we're going to take the caliper off. We want to make sure we don't put a tug on our flex hose when the knuckle comes down. It's good to have something hanging off the frame so you can hang the caliper once it's off. There we are. And set that so it's going to be safe. Let's get the rotor off of here. We're gonna take off our tie rod end nut here. So, just go ahead and bend out that little clip. Remove the nut. I like to leave it on a couple threads. Now, we're going to bonk right along here to separate the tie rod from the knuckle. Set this up here. Next, we're gonna use another cord and we're going to go around the knuckle, just like this. And then I'm gonna bring it over to the frame. Perfect. Next, we need to remove this nut right here. You're gonna notice there's a little bit of a locking neoprene in there. If you need to heat it up a little bit, it would probably be helpful. We're going to remove this and then we'll separate the two.

Get that nut, put on just a couple threads. Now, we're going to bonk on the knuckle a little bit to try to separate the two. Just keep in mind that this will try to pull away. Okay. Let's carefully move the knuckle away. Let's go ahead and remove our lower ball joint nut. Back on just a couple threads here. The next thing we need to do is bonk right here on the knuckle to try to cause some vibration to break it free from the ball joint itself. Just keep in mind that once this breaks free, the safety nut's gonna keep it from falling. But the top part might kind of swing a little bit. Get our safety cord off of there. Take off the safety nut. Let's get this out of here. The next thing we need to do is peen over these edges so they're facing in towards the ball joint. They're kind of like a little lock.

So, now it's gonna be time to press out our lower ball joint. To do that, you're gonna need this tool right here with a couple little cups. Set the cup with it so that the ball joint stud can come down through. Take your ball joint tool, put it just like this with the stud going through it, and then come along the top with the pressing unit itself. So, now we're going to go ahead and press this down. If the ball joint press isn't working, what you could try doing is using your hammer. Just give it a couple loving bonks on the top, try to break it free. All right. So, I can start to see it move here, so I'm just going to continue on.

Now, it's gonna be time to install our brand new ball joint. Something that I like to point out is this area of the boot right there. That needs to be facing towards the inward portion of your vehicle. So, of course, I'm gonna turn this just like that. And this is gonna press in from the bottom up, something to think about when you're pressing it up because you don't want to damage the boot with your cup that you're gonna use. So, I just find one that fits right up and around the outside. Then I find another one that goes just like this, lets the stud come through. Set it just like that. Now, we're going to need something that goes along the top so that the ball joint can press up and through. That way there, we can put on our lock clip. Okay. I got this nice and tight. We've got this sitting as level as possible with the control arm. You want to make sure the ball joints isn't sitting off-kilter. Tighten this until this area of the ball joint hits right up against the control arm. As you continue going up, make sure that it's continuing to go straight. If it's going cockeyed, you need to straighten it out. So, right there I can hear an audible difference in the amount of pressure that's going on there. So, I'm just going to take a peek. It looks as though it's sitting pressed against the whole control arm all the way around. Let's remove our tools and inspect our job. Make sure that it's seated all the way around. Let's continue on by putting on our lock clip. Use these little pliers here. Start them in there. There we are. Just make sure it's sitting in the groove all the way around, that's what locks this ball joint in. Looks amazing.

All right. So, now, it's gonna be time to get our knuckle back up on here. Line up your axle with the splines of the wheel bearing. Let's get that lower ball joint stud in there. Hold up the knuckle, put your washer and the nut on there. Line up your ball joint stud with the knuckle hole. I'm gonna use a pry bar to pull it down. Start that nut on there. Let's go ahead and snug this up. The lower ball joint nut as well. Torque your upper ball joint nut to 40 foot-pounds. Now, we're going to torque this to 38 foot-pounds. Once you've done that, you want to make sure that the slots on the ball joint nut line up with the hole on the ball joint stud itself. If it's not, you need to continue tightening until it is. Take your locking cotter pin, slide it right through, and then peen it over. Let's get the tie rod stud back in here, put on our nut. Snug it up. Let's go ahead and torque this to 45 foot-pounds. Once again, we need to continue on to make sure that it's lined up. Looks like it could go a little further. Cotter pin in there. Make sure you peen it over.

Now, you'd want to clean up the mating surface on your wheel bearing so that it looks more like this. You can use a brush or anything that's gonna clean up any of the rust. Make sure you clean up the backside of your rotor where the mating surface is. Let's apply a little bit of copper never-seize on the bearings. Go ahead and put your rotor up on there. Now, we're going to grab the caliper, start it on there as well. Let's go ahead and start the caliper on there. There we are. Start in both of your bolts. It's a good idea to use a little bit of threadlocker on these. Okay. Let's bottom these out. Now, let's torque these to 138 foot-pounds. Now, it's going to be time to get the wheel up on here. We're gonna snug up the lug nuts and we'll torque it to 130 foot-pounds.

Torqued. We're just going to go ahead and pump up that brake pedal. That feels good. Okay. So, now, at this point, what you want to do is take it for a road test and, of course, get it down to your local alignment shop.

Okay, friends. One of the first things we need to do is safely raise and support the vehicle so that the suspension is hanging. The best way to do that is right underneath the frame. Once you've done that, remove all five lug nuts and remove the wheel. We're gonna go around the knuckle just like this, and then I'm gonna bring it over to the frame. Perfect. Next, we need to remove this nut right here, you're gonna notice there's a little bit of a locking neoprene in there. If you need to heat it up a little bit it probably be helpful. We're gonna remove this and then we'll separate the two. That nut put on just a couple of threads. Now we're gonna bonk on the knuckle a little bit, try to separate the two. Just keep in mind that this will try to pull away. Okay. Let's carefully move the knuckles away.

The next thing we need to do to get the upper control arm off is to remove the two mounting bolts. There's one here and there's one on the forward side of the control arm as well. Here we are. Alright, let's leave that just like that and do the forward one. Here we are. There it is friends. Now it's gonna be time to get our brand new control arm in here. Let's go ahead and start pulling the bolts in. Here we are. A little bit of threadlocker. Let's start on our nuts here. The next thing we need to do is lift up our control arm, I like to use a nice pry bar. Go right in between like this so that the control arms level with the way it would look if the vehicle is on the ground. Torque this to 130 foot-pounds. Do the same to the forward bolt, line up your ball joint stud with the knuckle hole, and use a pry bar to pull it down. Start that knot on there. Let's go and snug this up. The lower ball joint nut as well. Torque your upper ball joint nut to 40 foot-pounds. Now it's gonna be time to get the wheel up on here. We're gonna snug up the lug nuts and we'll torque it to 130 foot-pounds. Torqued.

Okay, friends. To get started on this vehicle, the first thing we wanna talk about is safety. You want hand and eye protection. Secondly, you wanna make sure that you raise and support the vehicle by the frame so the suspension's hanging. Next, let's remove our lug nuts. Remove your wheel. Now that we have the wheel off, we have a nice, clear view of our tie rod ends. Just a quick note, whenever I'm replacing tire rod ends, I usually like to do them as a pair. With that said, let's break free our jam nut.

Here we are. Let's get our locking cotter pin out of here. There we are. Let's go ahead and remove this nut. Put that back on a couple of threads. The next thing we're gonna do is separate the tie rod end from the knuckle itself. You can do that with a couple loving bonks with a hammer. Unscrew the outer tie rod end and make sure you count the threads as you come off, one, two, three, and so on. Twenty-two for me. Time to put on the outer tie rod end. Make sure you put on as many turns as you did to remove the original, one, two, three, and so on. That should line up perfectly. If it doesn't, you might've moved this a little bit or you might be off. Snug this up, torque this to 45 foot-pounds. Now we need to take a look and make sure that the slotted area of our nut lines up with the hole in the tie rod stud. If it doesn't, you need to continue tightening until the first one does. Go ahead and peen that over.

Now it's gonna be time to tighten our jam nut. To do that, you wanna hold your tie rod so it can't spin because you don't wanna damage the ball and socket area. Now let's go ahead and snug this. There we go. If your tire rod's crooked, just make sure you straighten it out so it's level with the ground. Go ahead and put the wheel back up on here. We're gonna start all of our lug nuts and then we'll torque them to 130 foot-pounds.