I just got new tires and replaced both inner tie rod ends. When I went in for an alignment, they told me I need new ball joints. I plan on getting them done this week. Is it possible that the ball joints could be the cause? I didn't really notice it riding rough until I put the new tires on. Whatever you think I should check, let me know. My shocks and struts will probably need to be replaced soon too, so I'm kind of wondering if that's it. Thanks!

 

Bad ball joints can make a rough ride, but most of the time, you'll just notice a clunk sound when you go over bumps. Check your coil springs for breaks. I've seen a lot lately with broken springs toward the bottom of the spring.

 

Will do, thanks.

 

I didn't really notice it riding rough until I put the new tires on.


did you change tire ranges or types ?
increase of tire pressures with new tires?

 

With other components having some wear, new tires often exaggerate issues. Your old tires wore into the areas of soft shocks, springs and steering components making the ride smoother. Try at least setting the air pressure lower by 5 to 8 pounds and see if that clears it up. Tire shops like to run the pressure close to the high end of what's recommended by the manufacturer. By no means run it any less than 50% of the max pressure on the tire.

 

I kind of wondered about tire pressure myself, I'm going to check. Idk about the specs compared to the old ones but they are AT's whereas the old ones were more passenger tires.

Alright, I'll check 'em and maybe end up letting a little out.

 

To be more specific, it seems to bounce excessively and just not feel good on rough, "potholey" roads. On dirt roads it is not really noticeable and of course it feels fine on good roads.

 

Excessive bouncing = dead shocks.
If your on a real budget replace the rear shocks.....
Eventually you probably need ball joints , outer tire rod ends and front struts/shocks. Alignment then after the bj's and tie rod ends.
As to the tire pressures......


LT-Metric, LT-Flotation and LT-Numeric Light Truck Tires
U can lower the tire pressure listed on the sidewall
about 20% with NO load in the truck.

Take a look at Tire Rack web site for max load pressures which will b the same as on the tire sidewall.

 

I just did inner tie rod ends and plan on doing ball joints this week. Hopefully the outer tie rod ends will last a while longer. Replacing shocks isn't hard, is it? I've thought about doing them myself, but really, I didn't notice it so much until I got new tires, so I'm thinking it's got something to do with them. Although I'm sure I'll need shocks soon.