So over the last few months, the Durango's front wheels have been gaining more and more negative camber, and while the stance crowd may enjoy that, the Durango doesn't. The insides of the tires have worn down really fast in the last month, like everyday I can see they've worn down more.
Since ball joints and Durango's don't seem to get along and it has 174k, I have a feeling that's the problem. I took a quick look and the bushings on the control arms look ok. I need to go actually physically check them, I'm just not looking forward to the cold. 
Am I under the correct assumption or should I be looking for another issue?
Two minute with a floor jack will tell .....
Ball joints are a common problem on Durangos/Dakotas, so it probably is the issue. Control arm bushing seem to hold up fairly well on them, except for the passenger upper ones which are close to the exhaust, at least on '04 and earlier ones.
In reply to 81cpcamaro:
That's what I figured. I'm just worried about getting an alignment. I really don't have the money to get that done
I did them on my 99 Durango not long ago. What i found out shortly afterwards was they have entire lower control arms on rock auto for about the same as ball joints. That will get you fresh bushings on the lower arms as well without the effort of pressing everything out and in.
Yeah, really whenever you mess with the suspension, an alignment is a good idea, but assuming it was aligned previously when the joints weren't bad, presumably just changing the ball joints wouldn't affect the alignment really at all. Removing the arms would change it a bit, though. In the long run, the alignment is probably cheaper since you won't be eating through tires...
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote:
In reply to 81cpcamaro:
That's what I figured. I'm just worried about getting an alignment. I really don't have the money to get that done
You can get the alignment pretty close yourself, enough that tire wear should be good. You can either eyeball the camber or use a level to get it fairly close. Then use a tape measure and some flat pieces of steel/alum or similar to get the toe set. This would get you by until you could get an alignment. Or see if you can borrow a caster/camber tool from someone on here.
Camber issue is usually upper joint, you check them by grabbing the top of the tire and trying to change the camber. Lowers you can check by trying to move the lower arm up/down with a prybar(doesn't take much force) with it on the ground. It's best to check this stuff with it on the ground, sometimes loose parts will find a tight spot when the suspension is at full droop and the ball joints are near their travel limits.
Also note it hard to eyeball camber like that, and toe will eat tires the same way.
Check the wheel bearings too.
former520 wrote:
I did them on my 99 Durango not long ago. What i found out shortly afterwards was they have entire lower control arms on rock auto for about the same as ball joints. That will get you fresh bushings on the lower arms as well without the effort of pressing everything out and in.
Unfortunately I am not seeing that. Ball joints are anywhere between $20 and $40. Entire control arms are anywhere between $95 and $120
Same thing over at Parts Geek.
If the thing is toed out a bunch, it will drag the tires out into a negative camber situation. Toe also wears tires way faster than camber, too.
Try looking at the tires after you have backed up and stopped. if they seem more upright than when you go ahead, start looking for toe issues.
Kenny_McCormic wrote:
Also note it hard to eyeball camber like that, and toe will eat tires the same way.
Toe actually eats tires FAR more than camber. If some camber is mixed in, that just focuses the wear on one part of the tread.
