Dynatrac has added another quality product to help end your axle woes. The original OEM ball joints on AAM and Dana 50 and 60 front axles (Dodge Ram 2500/3500s and Super Dutys) have a reputation for wearing out quickly-especially when subjected to hard use. Trashing a set of ball joints with one weekend of use is not unheard of. Worn ball joints can cause steering issues and uneven tire wear.The Dynatrac Pro Steer Ball Joints have been designed to be the last set of ball joints you'll ever need to purchase. The bodies are constructed from high strength steel billet, stems from heat treated chromoly steel, and the precision-ground steel balls are MIL-SPEC heat treated. Add to that leak proof seals and Teflon-coated internal wear points, and the sum is one durable ball joint. What's better is that if you do wear them out, you can rebuild them yourself without any special tools.
 This is the set of ball joints...  This is the set of ball joints we received from Dynatrac. It includes both the upper and lower ball joints for the front AAM axle on our Dodge. Even if some ball joints are still good, it still makes sense to replace them all while you have the axle apart. |  The joints can be disassembled...  The joints can be disassembled by removing threaded caps you can see here on top. This is nice since you do not have to press the bodies out of the axle to service them. A ball joint press is only needed once to install the joints. |  Tearing down the axle to gain...  Tearing down the axle to gain access to the ball joints is not complicated but does take some time. It took us about an hour and a half to get to this point without using any special tools. |
 After a bit of frustration...  After a bit of frustration we got the stock ball joints out and the axle ready for installation of the Dynatrac parts. A ball joint press and specific adapters are needed to complete this step. We ended up combining two ball joint press kits to find the right combination of adapters. You can rent these from some common auto part stores for a few bucks. |  The stock lower ball joint...  The stock lower ball joint has obviously seen some abuse compared to new Dynatrac joint. Supposedly, the lower joints usually are not as much of a problem as the upper stock ball joints. Some people upgrade only their upper joints and replace the lowers with stock parts to save money. This seems questionable to us since our original lower joints had just as much play in them as the uppers did. |  Comparing the upper ball joints...  Comparing the upper ball joints shows some obvious design differences. The longer body of the Dynatrac Pro Steer joints offers much better strength and support than the stock version. Internally the Dynatrac joints have more contact area which spreads out the load and increases the durability. |
 Pressing the Dynatrac Pro...  Pressing the Dynatrac Pro Steer Ball Joints in went smoothly. Here, the pressing in of the lower joint was just about complete. The black cups covering the top and bottom of the joint are adapters that come with certain ball joint press kits. A bit of experimenting is needed to find the right combination of adapters. |  The adapters to press in the...  The adapters to press in the upper joints are totally different than the adapters for the lower joint. Make sure to set up the press carefully so you don't damage the new parts during the installation. |  After about a half-hour and...  After about a half-hour and a bit of sweating, we had the Dynatrac Pro Steer Joints pressed in. We are now ready to re-install the axle, steering knuckle, hub, and brakes. |
 Installation completed. In...  Installation completed. In total, we spent about six hours working at a leisurely pace in our garage to complete the process. It is nice to know that the design of the Dynatrac Pro Steer Ball Joints negates any need to ever have to go through a standard ball joint installation again. |  How Are They Working?
A...  How Are They Working?
A few issues ago we added more suspension and bigger tires on our Heavy Duty Dodge Ram project truck. We then tested the new setup with a day of driving (bombing) down rocky forest roads in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Driving home on the interstate revealed a looseness and pull in the steering that was not present before. Five hours of hard use had noticeably worn the ball joints on our front axle worse than they already were.
Replacing our worn stock ball joints with Dynatrac's Pro-Steer version returned the steering precision and completely eliminated the pull. Naturally, we'll have to see if these new joints will hold up, as Dynatrac claims, and we are pleased to report that so far they have. It is also nice to know that when we need to, we can rebuild these joints without the hassle of pressing the bodies out of the axle.
Stay tuned for a long-term update in our new Long-Term Updates section. | |