My front end went 152K miles without replacement parts. When I wanted to locate the front axle farther forward to get the scrub radius farther forward for tire clearance on my steering axle I found all four links' bushing were shot. No harm, replaced them with longer links with poly bushings anyway. The last thing I wanted to do was go to a dealer to have drivetrain work done. I have a drivetrain guru in town that does all that work I used to do but I'm too old to want to do. However, when I decided to replace the unit bearings with the Spyntec 'shorty' '00-'13 selectable hub kit here is what I found:
1. The pan hard rod (track bar) was shot. It was a known weak link in the Gen II Dodge 4x4.
2. The unit bearings,kingpins and bushings were all in great shape. Whoda thunk? Replaced them all anyway. With all the soda on them they hammered on them for hours to get them off. Ugh. The old parts looked peened. Sometimes they just fall off when you release the bearing retainer.
3. The tie rod and drag link were fine. There was only one zirk on the original front end; on the upper end of the trackbar. Now I have zirks everywhere, which does require more maintenance.
4. The outer U-joints and stub shafts were fine. Replaced them with the Dana 70, 35 spline outers that came with the Spyntec kit.
So, I upgraded the track bar with a beefy HD Gen4.
I have been rather hard on the drivetrain of my Dodge going thru mud, snow, silt, sand, soda, salt, water crossings, and lots of dirt roads with big tires and a heavy winch and bumper front end, so i really think the longevity of your front end, or anyone's front end is a******shoot that has nothing to do with driving style or load. You were just an unlucky one.
Remember it's better to be lucky than talented.
Now might be the time to give a report/review on how the Spyntec shorty kit worked out after several off-road, TC trips. It is a truly beautiful kit: well thought out with larger, wide spaced bearings and bigger 'stuff'and most importantly, all serviceable with replaceable small parts (as if anything is small up front). And, unlike some other kits, you do not need to replace the front brakes, and they do not stick out so far. I detect a slight improvement in mpg because the bearings are fresh and much of the front drivetrain that was formerly turning on the highway is now dormant from the the transfer case forward, until I turn the hubs on. It seems to have less steering resistance but that's hard to measure as I now have more positive caster than stock because of the longer 4-links so there is slightly more pressure to come back to center. So far, the hubs are free and easy to turn and use. I am happy with the result and recommend using this kit on Dana and AAM front axles, especially if you need to replace the dredded unit bearings. It's cost effective. What i wanted to avoid is replacing the factory unit bearings with the same thing. My guru cut a hole in the hub cap (which pinch fits over the lug nuts) which gives a nice factory look to the hubs.
This why they call them 'shorty':
If you get on their website, they have versions for all the Dodge trucks, Dana and AAM, from 2000 to 2013, including dualies.
I received no dispensation from Spyntec for offering this review. It seems like a good product and timely for this thread, oh, and was the cheapest replacement hub kit I could find.
http://spyntec.com/category/dodge-shorty-00-13-spyntec-hub-conversion-kit/
