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I would have the parts person look harder and check other dealers. I bought a new one for $15 and change about a year and a half ago. I was very lucky, I had the bottom tab broken off completely and the front one with about a 1/4" left . It was scary to have to do a six point turn to make it 90 degrees. I barely made it to my friends house to change it out. I'm sorry I don't have the part number for you. I would suggest new grade 8 bolts too. One last thing if once you get it back together that it feels harder to steer and it's like you keep falling off a ridge or the truck doesn't want to stay centered, change the power steering fluid. Good luck with it.
A good weld should fix it if you can't find one at a dealer. I tig-welded mine a year and a half ago and its still fine. Granted, it wasn't cracked as bad as some guys have found and I don't drive it the way the previous owner did.
Had the same problem - bracket, frame to steering gear: Ain't none around, unless you can find it in a junk yard. My bracket was only broken in the front. I took a chain and chained the steering gear to the frame with it w/ a bolt & nut through the frame - it's lasted two years. I've needed to sinch it up twice; but it's working. Welding doesn't work since the torque will make it fail. Good luck in finding an intact bracket. hankg
You need to go to Ram Connection and buy the steering box brace unless you can score a OEM brace from a Ram Charger
Or you can run a cabel from the drivers side of the truck to the passenger side of the truck use a turn buckel to tightenthe crap out of it. How ever check the frame it is probally cracked that need to be fixed and welded up .
I checked out www.dodge connection.com : they are out of stock. I'm leary of drilling the frame to accomodate their bracket - check out installation instructions! On a similar (telescoping) potential failure is the steering linkage to the steering gear box. Is there a steering shaft replacement available??? It looks like the existing has weathered much wear (W250, turbo diesel, intercolled- 481K mi). Thanks for any help you can provide. hankg
Ive installed 3 of them and you don't need to drill any holes , if any would be one in the cross member , but all ive done had the hole ther only other person whom would
have brackets would be Mysteryman . If there is agood fabrication shop near you they should be able to build the steering boxplates . Really one needs to be made out of thicker
material so it don't flex, as if you look behind parts of the plate there is gaps because how its formed if one was made to eliminate that issue it be a issue curer .
How everon a second thought has any one checked with Borgenson or AGR or Flameing River as they all sell aftermarket steering boxes???
I just installed a box brace on my truck I picked up from a member on ramchargercentral. Same part as what dodge connection sells. Like DVolk said no holes have to be drilled. In the 4wd position there will be one hole on the brace that is not used. It is the one directly behind the box. it seems like most of the factory hardware was reusable except one or 2 bolts as they were to short. Make sure when you replace them you use grade 8 hardware and a toplock nut. As far as the steering box plate any local wrecking yard should have one on a W truck
The chain hold down works good. Junk yards around me don't reveal a W (W250 or W350) abundance. Since Obama gave tax breaks for junking, W's are not commonplace. A look at the stock Dodge Bracket compared to other recommended replacements are obvious; the OEM bracket was pressed. The most likely failure point was forward due to the torque when in 4WD. The same problem was experienced in the old Army 2 1/2 - 5 Ton trucks. The channel frame construction of 1st gen Dodge trucks exhibited the same problem. The front-ends of these vehicles were under-designed with respect to steering and suspension. The powerplant (Cuimmins 6BT, 12V) was/is exceptional - maybe not, when the front suspension could not withstand its' torque. However one fixes the misfit, is what we're about. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken kaka; so that's where we're at: a bullet proof (almost) truck that needs front-end TLC. hankg