Trailing Arm Kits for 2025 Ram 1500 Tradesman

A trailing arm kit covers the arm running lengthwise along your Ram 1500, holding the wheel against everything the throttle and the brake pedal apply to it.

On some vehicles that arm is a simple link. On others it carries the hub, the bearing and the brake assembly, which makes it one of the most substantial components in the rear suspension.

What a Trailing Arm Holds on Your Ram 1500 Rear Suspension

The design varies enormously between vehicles, and the variation decides what a kit needs to contain.

At the simplest end, a trailing arm is one of several links locating the axle or hub, working alongside lateral arms that handle sideways load while it handles fore and aft. Replace it and you are replacing a link.

At the other end are designs where the trailing arm is the rear suspension. The arm pivots on the chassis at the front, and everything else bolts to it, including the hub carrier, the wheel bearing, the brake backing plate and often the spring or shock mount. Honda and Acura used this layout extensively, as did BMW on the E36 and E46, and plenty of compact cars follow the same pattern.

On those vehicles the arm is a structural component rather than a locating link, which is why a trailing arm rear suspension develops such specific complaints when the bushings let go. The entire rear corner moves rather than just the wheel position shifting.

That also explains why some kits are bushings alone and others are complete arms. Where the arm carries the hub, replacing it is a considerably larger job and rebuilding is usually the preferred route.

Ram 1500 Trailing Arm vs Control Arm

The two get confused regularly and the difference is in which direction each one resists.

A control arm runs across the vehicle and resists lateral load, holding the wheel in or out while allowing it to travel vertically. Worn control arm bushings show up over bumps and through corners.

A trailing arm runs along the vehicle and resists fore and aft load, holding the wheel against acceleration and braking. Worn trailing arm bushings show up when you use the throttle or the brake, and they let the wheel move backward and forward rather than side to side.

Plenty of rear suspensions use both, with a trailing arm handling lengthwise location and two or three lateral links setting camber and toe. In those setups it is common for the trailing arm bushings to be finished while the lateral arm bushings still have life in them, because they are being loaded in completely different ways.

If the noise arrives on take-up of drive or when lifting off, look at the trailing arm. If it arrives over bumps and through corners, look at the lateral links.

Symptoms of Worn Ram 1500 Rear Trailing Arm Bushings

• A clunk or thud from the rear as you take up drive or lift off the throttle
• Knocking under braking that comes from behind rather than the front
• The rear feeling loose or unsettled over bumps taken mid corner
• Wandering when the vehicle is loaded or towing
• Rear tire wear that returns after every alignment
• A rear alignment that reads correct while the vehicle still tracks poorly
• Visible cracking, splitting or material displaced at the front pivot
• The arm able to be moved fore and aft by hand with the suspension unloaded

The throttle and brake connection is what identifies these. A rear suspension noise that appears when the drivetrain loads or unloads is pointing at the fore and aft location, and that is the trailing arm's responsibility rather than anything lateral.

On an independent rear end there is a second symptom worth knowing. Because the arm influences where the wheel sits fore and aft, worn bushings allow rear toe to change as load is applied, so the vehicle steers itself slightly under acceleration and braking. It reads as a vague, drifting feeling rather than as a fault, which is why plenty of owners live with it for years.

Why Ram 1500 Rear Trailing Arm Bushings Are the Hardest to Press

Anyone who has done this job once knows the reputation these have, and there are reasons for it.

Rear trailing arm bushings are usually large in diameter, deeply seated, and pressed into a boss that forms part of a heavy arm rather than a thin eye. They also sit at the front of the arm where road spray collects, so corrosion between the outer sleeve and the bore is common on an older vehicle.

The result is a bushing that resists coming out far harder than a control arm bushing does, and a press setup that needs proper support because the arm is an awkward shape to hold square.

There is a second complication on designs where the arm carries the hub. Removing the arm means dealing with the hub, the brake assembly, the parking brake cable and often the ABS sensor before the arm itself can come out, which is why the labor on these is considerably higher than the bushing price suggests.

Specialist tools exist to press some of these in situ without removing the arm, and where they apply, they save a great deal of time. Whether that is an option depends entirely on the vehicle.

Ram 1500 Trailing Arm Bushes or a Complete Trailing Arm

Which you buy comes down to the arm itself rather than the bushings, since the bushings are a wear item on every design and the arm usually is not.

Rebuild when the arm is straight, the pivot bore is round, and there is no significant corrosion in the boss the bushing seats into. On most vehicles that describes the arm even at high mileage, which is why rear trailing arm bushes are sold separately at all.

Replace the arm when the bore has worn out of round and will no longer retain a bushing, when corrosion has eaten into the boss, or when the arm has been bent by an impact. On designs where the arm carries the hub, also check the bearing housing and the brake mounting faces while it is out, since a damaged arm there means replacing considerably more than a suspension link.

There is a practical consideration on rear suspension trailing arm designs with deeply seated bushings. If the press setup or the tooling is not available, a complete arm turns a difficult job into a bolt-in one, and for some people that is worth the difference on its own.

Adjustable Ram 1500 Trailing Arms and Rear Toe

Not every trailing arm kit is a straight replacement.

Adjustable trailing arms allow the length to be set, which on a solid axle vehicle lets you center the axle in the wheel wells and correct the position after a lift or a lowering job. On some independent designs, adjusting trailing arm length also influences rear toe, which makes it part of the alignment rather than just a location change.

That matters a great deal on a modified vehicle, because changing ride height moves rear geometry, and if the factory provided no adjustment, an adjustable arm is what gives the aligner something to work with.

On a standard height vehicle with no geometry problem, a fixed replacement is the right purchase and an adjustable arm solves nothing you actually have.

Ram 1500 Rear Trailing Arm Replacement Cost

Rear trailing arm replacement cost varies more between vehicles than almost any other suspension repair, because the designs are so different.

On a multi-link rear end where the trailing arm is one link among several, it is a straightforward bolt-out repair and the cost is modest.

On a design where the arm carries the hub, the same job involves the brake assembly, the bearing, the parking brake and the sensor wiring, and the labor climbs accordingly. Rear trailing arm bushings replacement cost on those vehicles is largely the cost of getting the arm out and back in again.

That is why grouping matters more here than elsewhere. If the arm is coming out, everything attached to it is worth inspecting while access is free, including the bearing and the brake hardware.

Getting Ram 1500 Trailing Arms Back In Without Preloading the Bushings

Support the rear properly before releasing either end of the arm, and expect the assembly to move once it is free.

Work one side at a time where the design allows, since removing both arms on some vehicles leaves the axle or subframe free to shift in ways that strain the brake lines and anything else still connected.

Where the arm carries the hub, disconnect the brake hose bracket, the parking brake cable and the ABS sensor before applying force to anything, rather than discovering one is still attached partway through.

Leave the pivot fasteners loose until your Ram 1500 is back on its wheels and carrying its own weight. Bushings take a set from the position they are clamped in, and one tightened while the suspension hangs sits under constant twist once the vehicle is loaded, which is the fastest way to ruin a new set.

Have the rear alignment checked afterward on any vehicle where the trailing arm influences toe, which covers most independent rear suspensions.

Find Trailing Arm Kits for Your Ram 1500

Trailing arm kits are listed in the Nolathane control arm kit selection, so front and rear repairs can be sorted in one order.

Select your Ram 1500 to see the trailing arm kits listed for it, including complete arms, bushing kits and adjustable options where they exist. Every Nolathane component is backed by our warranty, a fitment guarantee and 60 day returns.