Steering linkage TSB ??

[George Cameron]

I put Luke's Links urethane bushings in my 2006 track bar and they are working well. I did the steering linkage upgrade on Monday of this week and added a steering box stabilizer bar. The results are fantastic! I purchased the kit from Moparsupercenter.com - the kit referenced by the OP. I installed the Skyjacker stabilizer and it appears to work much better than the stock unit at 44K miles

The toughest part of the upgrade was getting the old pitman arm off. I ended up cutting it with a Dremel cutoff wheel and spreading it while pulling with a 2-arm Mac Tools puller. The original arm was so close to the box housing that no puller would fit without grinding. It was frustrating. Glad I did it, though.

To maintain my toe-in setting I used two magnetic base lasers stuck to the brake rotors and shined at the wall about 20 ft. away. I made beginning marks on the wall and reset things to those marks as things went together. Things are good.

 

[TGVET]

I put Luke's Links urethane bushings in my 2006 track bar and they are working well. I did the steering linkage upgrade on Monday of this week and added a steering box stabilizer bar. The results are fantastic! I purchased the kit from Moparsupercenter.com - the kit referenced by the OP. I installed the Skyjacker stabilizer and it appears to work much better than the stock unit at 44K miles



The toughest part of the upgrade was getting the old pitman arm off. I ended up cutting it with a Dremel cutoff wheel and spreading it while pulling with a 2-arm Mac Tools puller. The original arm was so close to the box housing that no puller would fit without grinding. It was frustrating. Glad I did it, though.



To maintain my toe-in setting I used two magnetic base lasers stuck to the brake rotors and shined at the wall about 20 ft. away. I made beginning marks on the wall and reset things to those marks as things went together. Things are good.

The more I work on my truck the more I realize just how much they didn't want DIY'rs to work on it, one crazy obstacle after another. .

 

[Bob4x4]

I put Luke's Links urethane bushings in my 2006 track bar and they are working well. I did the steering linkage upgrade on Monday of this week and added a steering box stabilizer bar. The results are fantastic! I purchased the kit from Moparsupercenter.com - the kit referenced by the OP. I installed the Skyjacker stabilizer and it appears to work much better than the stock unit at 44K miles



The toughest part of the upgrade was getting the old pitman arm off. I ended up cutting it with a Dremel cutoff wheel and spreading it while pulling with a 2-arm Mac Tools puller. The original arm was so close to the box housing that no puller would fit without grinding. It was frustrating. Glad I did it, though.



To maintain my toe-in setting I used two magnetic base lasers stuck to the brake rotors and shined at the wall about 20 ft. away. I made beginning marks on the wall and reset things to those marks as things went together. Things are good.

Both Snap on and Miller tools make pitman arm pullers that fit and are strong enough to remove the toughest arms

 

[George Cameron]

Bob4x4 says, "Both Snap on and Miller tools make pitman arm pullers that fit and are strong enough to remove the toughest arms "

True - when they fit. I bought a Snap on CJ119B pitman arm puller that is supposed to be the best for removing these tough arms. The problem was that the factory arm was pressed on so far that there was only a 1/16" gap between the arm and the housing. No puller will fit into that small gap - the Snap on needs about 1/8". A bearing splitter might have worked by wedging, but it places all the load on the sector shaft and box internals. I have read of some using a pickle fork with an air hammer - YIKES! Since I didn't want to fubar my box, I chose to grind some relief spaces for the Mac pitman puller arms and cut through the hub of the arm to get it off. Obviously it would have been a whole different matter if I were going to reuse the original arm...

I should probably sell the pullers now that the job is complete, but I have a collection of once-used tools to remind me of the past (as I suspect most of us on this forum do). :-laf

 

[MAshley]

So my unerstanding is there is a 2008 steering upgrade for older 3rd gen pickups. is this the same modification or is this something completely different. I have to admit i need ball joints, and new steering parts so... what ever the best option is out there I'm going to need to do an upgrade.



Anyone have links, part # etc.



thanks

David

 

[rjones]

40k on my upgrade with out the new pitman no issues yet... .

 

[Bob4x4]

So my unerstanding is there is a 2008 steering upgrade for older 3rd gen pickups. is this the same modification or is this something completely different. I have to admit i need ball joints, and new steering parts so... what ever the best option is out there I'm going to need to do an upgrade.



Anyone have links, part # etc.



thanks

David

5212236af there maybe a newer version (suffix change) linkage pkg

6803993aa pitman arm