Front end question

[Augustus]

I have a little slop in the front end. Not sure where to start looking. It is not really a side to side slop, when I pull off from a stop and start shifting I can feel some looseness in the front end each time I shift. Kind of like a small bump, bump. I can also feel it going slow on a rough road. I am thinking it is one of my ball joints, I just haven't jacked it up yet to check. Any ideas? If it is one of my ball joints, how hard is it to fix and cost?

'99 3500 QC, 4WD, 5 Speed, 62,000 miles.

 

[Augustus]

I just looked at it, and it may be my steering box. It feels a little loose. Do I have to replace the bearing or the whole box?
Cost?

 

[Dane]

Augustus, Steering box may just need adjusting. There's only 2 possible adjustments, the 1st one is real easy, done on the truck. Find Dave Fritz's web site in the links section here or look in the service manual. 2nd one is not that hard if you have a pitman arm puller and can remove and adjust the box.

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2001 HO 6 speed Regular Cab SLT 4x4 3. 54 anti spin 2500. Used for the daily grind and sneaking away to some secret Baja beaches toting a cabover