I think that you are on to something with that assessment. My son has a 00 Dakota R/T, which has insanely big tires, especially on the front, and he had a helluva hard time getting it aligned after we replaced the ball joints, and bushings. The alignment shop (Les Schwab) could not seem to get the upper control arm bolts tight enough. Twice the UCA's came loose on the way home from the alignment.