Ball joint issues?

ianwelch001

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Rochester NY
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2019 sierra denali 1500
Anyone else have ball joint noises as soon as you went over 36,000 miles?
Just hit 37,500 miles and am getting a creaking noise when turning and going over bumps.
Earliest appointment is in 2 weeks but being out of warranty I'm sure they will tell me it's $1500 or better.

Here's a video of the sound
 

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Anyone else have ball joint noises as soon as you went over 36,000 miles?
Just hit 37,500 miles and am getting a creaking noise when turning and going over bumps.
Earliest appointment is in 2 weeks but being out of warranty I'm sure they will tell me it's $1500 or better.

Here's a video of the sound
Maybe this is your truck's way of celebrating Halloween. Sounds like a spooky cellar or attic door.

We haven't seen that one before but we have a different type of sound when hitting curbs with our driver tire (more of a clunk/pop sound). Not sure what ours is yet.
 
Yup , my knock was a bad lower ball joint drivers side was shot at 16k miles , changed and no more knock
 
You either have a bad lower ball joint or tie rod.

I had a clunk noise when going over bumps. Plus the truck would pull hard towards any deformations on the road. It turned out it was the lower control arm ball joints. Both were shot. Replaced under warranty.
 
Maybe this is your truck's way of celebrating Halloween. Sounds like a spooky cellar or attic door.

We haven't seen that one before but we have a different type of sound when hitting curbs with our driver tire (more of a clunk/pop sound). Not sure what ours is yet.
I have the exact same popping sound on mine with about 46k miles. Drivers side too. I can't feel any looseness, binding, scraping, or weird steering issues though.

I figured since I only drive about 30 miles a day I'd let it go and see if it gets worse and easier to diagnose.
 
I have the exact same popping sound on mine with about 46k miles. Drivers side too. I can't feel any looseness, binding, scraping, or weird steering issues though.

I figured since I only drive about 30 miles a day I'd let it go and see if it gets worse and easier to diagnose.
Same! We just turned 40k. Lets see what happens after a few more romps 🤙
 
I have the exact same popping sound on mine with about 46k miles. Drivers side too. I can't feel any looseness, binding, scraping, or weird steering issues though.

I figured since I only drive about 30 miles a day I'd let it go and see if it gets worse and easier to diagnose.
Jack up the control arm that's popping enough to where the tire is off the ground, put a pry bar under the tire, lift up and down on the pry bar and see if the wheel and tire move without the control arm moving. It will also make the popping noise if it's bad enough
 
Jack up the control arm that's popping enough to where the tire is off the ground, put a pry bar under the tire, lift up and down on the pry bar and see if the wheel and tire move without the control arm moving. It will also make the popping noise if it's bad enough
Whats the culprit if thats the case?
 
warranty?
Kind of yes , cost me $200 , truck is out of warranty and Ram did a good will , being my miles were so low , and i was more then fine with that , the arm is self is $ 1500 and you must replace the arm and ball joint are all one unit
 
Kind of yes , cost me $200 , truck is out of warranty and Ram did a good will , being my miles were so low , and i was more then fine with that , the arm is self is $ 1500 and you must replace the arm and ball joint are all one unit
you were out of warranty on the 3yr B2B? Never had to replace a control arm before so I'm guessing not arguably powertrain huh?
 
Whats the culprit if thats the case?
That would be the lower ball joint. It could also be a hub, but that would be more noticeable while driving. But you can also check that while the tire is lifted by grabbing the tire at 9 and 3 o'clock position, and wiggling the tire back and forth
 
Jack up the control arm that's popping enough to where the tire is off the ground, put a pry bar under the tire, lift up and down on the pry bar and see if the wheel and tire move without the control arm moving. It will also make the popping noise if it's bad enough
So basically the ball joint won't be holding tight to the spindle?

That would be the lower ball joint. It could also be a hub, but that would be more noticeable while driving. But you can also check that while the tire is lifted by grabbing the tire at 9 and 3 o'clock position, and wiggling the tire back and forth
You can check hubs on the ground, the vehicle would move differently than the wheel when you shove back and forth on the wheel. You can also spin the wheel while it's in the air on non-driven wheels, but that doesn't do us much good. Usually, wheel bearings hum like hell before they let go though.
 
Looks like about $800 and half day work in the garage.
This video will show you how to get to the A arm removal, but not the actual removal because its a spring replacement video.
But you will get the idea and 2 more bolts to remove the A arm. Cheers !
 
Sooo...dumb question but if it is our ball joint or control arm going bad, the sound/clunk should just get worse and worse right? Is there a point at which it just sheers/fails completely? I've had bad bushings/ball joints in the past but we usually just hit em with some grease or spray and they quiet down...then just rinse & repeat - so excuse my ignorance :ROFLMAO:
 
Sooo...dumb question but if it is our ball joint or control arm going bad, the sound/clunk should just get worse and worse right? Is there a point at which it just sheers/fails completely? I've had bad bushings/ball joints in the past but we usually just hit em with some grease or spray and they quiet down...then just rinse & repeat - so excuse my ignorance :ROFLMAO:
The reason the ball joint starts to make noise is because the grease gets lost, contaminated with dirt, or loses its ability to keep the 2 metals from rubbing together which wears out quicker. Once the ball joints starts wearing out, there gets to be a gap between the ball and socket and that's how you get the clunk sound. I used to see them fail all the time when I worked at Ford.
It's best to get aftermarket ones that you can change just the ball joints and that have grease fittings
 
The reason the ball joint starts to make noise is because the grease gets lost, contaminated with dirt, or loses its ability to keep the 2 metals from rubbing together which wears out quicker. Once the ball joints starts wearing out, there gets to be a gap between the ball and socket and that's how you get the clunk sound. I used to see them fail all the time when I worked at Ford.
It's best to get aftermarket ones that you can change just the ball joints and that have grease fittings
was told you can not replace the ball joint , it is not serviceable unless you go after mkt control arm , Ball joint and control arm are one unit
 
Sooo...dumb question but if it is our ball joint or control arm going bad, the sound/clunk should just get worse and worse right? Is there a point at which it just sheers/fails completely? I've had bad bushings/ball joints in the past but we usually just hit em with some grease or spray and they quiet down...then just rinse & repeat - so excuse my ignorance :ROFLMAO:
Yeah, by the time you hear the clunk (like others said) its metal to metal and replacement is the only true remedy. You dont want a ball joint to separate and send your front tire crashing into the back of the fender well. It can cause catastrophic damage.
 

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