Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Infamous pull to the right....Who has it?

[AFacey]

Every dodge I've owned has pulled to the right. My dealer's diesel mechanic says they now have offset ball joints that correct the problem. Do these ball joints fix the problem and do they have greese fittings? Really ****** they still have not fixed this problem as late as the 2002 models... . Supossed to be covered by warranty though.



Thanks-

 

[Dr.Kayak]

My 2001. 5 pulled to the right from day 1. Had the track bar replaced at 12,000 miles and now it tracks pretty straight.

 

[damon]

yep, me too....

my 5 week old truck also pulls to the right from day 1, and when the wheels are straight the steering wheel is pointing to 10 or 11:00. This has bugged me but I have not taken it to the dealer for fear that they will make things even worse.

 

[AFacey]

My truck only has 700 miles on it. I did not notice the pull as much until I changed to a more aggressive tire...

 

[jwdeeming]

My wife drives a '99 V10 gasser, and I have an '01 CTD - they both do that. And two different dealers have given us the same explanation:



You know, there's a "crown" in the road for drainage purposes, and so naturally your vehicle tends to veer toward the downhill side. It's perfectly normal.



Duh...



And when it happens in a perfectly flat parking lot, at the perfectly flat airport for instance, I should blame it on... ?



"Crosswind".

 

[AFacey]

Hey jwdeeming-

If I had a dime for everytime I heard that... . Prestige in longmont has a diesel mechanic named Randy that claims he can fix it by using an offset ball joint.



Who did your DTT install for you? I'm looking for a good mechanic...

 

[merryman]

I am 46K miles into my second CTD (ran the first one 135K), aside from doing the Borgeson steering shaft upgrade on the last one at 80K miles, I have had no steering problems with either and no pull with either

Vaughn

 

[damon]

just a thought.....

I was thinking about this thread, and it crossed my mind that most complaints about pulling on new trucks are to the right side.



Could this be caused by the lighter coil spring on the right side than the left ?



I know that my truck has a #46 drivers and #39 passenger spring, and this has always seemed kind of funky to me from my experience with motocross suspension, but the reasoning for the difference also makes some sense - to adjust for the driver and fuel weight. But could this passenger side pull not be an undesired result ?



just a thought.....

 

[jwdeeming]

Originally posted by AFacey

Hey jwdeeming-

If I had a dime for everytime I heard that... . Prestige in longmont has a diesel mechanic named Randy that claims he can fix it by using an offset ball joint.



Who did your DTT install for you? I'm looking for a good mechanic...

Funny you should mention that - Prestige is one of the two dealers that gives us the crown-in-the-road line.



As for DTT - your location shows "N. Colorado". You're in good hands. Bob Berends (Performance Diesel Transmissions) is a DTT installer in Greeley, and he did mine as well as several others here. Bob is a great guy, a TDR member, and WILL take care of you. And I swear, you could eat off the floor of his garage - he runs a tight ship!



Let me know if you have more questions.

JimD

 

[Fast 1]

Your truck will run perfectly straight in the hammer lane, if your truck usually pulls to the right. The hammer lane is crowned the right way for trucks that pull to the right. That where cummins belongs anyway, in the hammer lane. He He





Verlyn

 

[mediccummin]

Had it

I had the severe pull to the right , but finally got it corrected with adjustable/greaseable front ball joints..... The stealer put them in with a battle, then I took it to a good alignment shop, had it correctly aligned and now it drives straight down the road... .

 

[Ron Bissett]

Pull to right?

You can throw money and parts at the problem or get it fixed . Look at past post on this matter . I had this problem and found that Local Dodge dealer had no idea how to fix it . solution was to take truck to alignment shop that is what they do align all the big trucks , Fire ,Garbage . ORT ,Bus ,etc dealer can send you under warranty to a shop to get it fixed no cost to you . Off set ball joint is off set BS . GET it done right , did mine two years ago doing fine no problem. Ron Bissett In LOUISVILLE KY After thoughts I am not saying that adjustable Ball joints will not fix the problem . Just feel that if most trucks do not have the problem as sent from the same factory then some adjustment is not correct and should then be adjusted to align the truck. I feel that a different part should not be added unless the rest of the trucks get the new approved part . Seems like the Dodge boys are not trying to find a solution to the problem . No matter what the dealers say the truck should track correctly from the factory with out adjustment after adjustment . Wheel straight ahead then the steering wheel should be straight in line with wheels equal left and right ,If not out of adjustment. Ron. :-{}

 

[mediccummin]

ball joints

Ron not sure if your referring to my ball joints or not. These are actual adjustable not the offset that the dealer now use to correct the problem. The ball joints on our trucks are non adjustable so it is either cross camber or caster that can not be set. In my case this is what corrected the problem. I have heard like you mentioned that the dealer is using a offset ball joint but from my understanding and what I've been told they are not adjustable. Well anyway good luck to all that have this problem. .

One thing is for sure, Ron hit it on the nose is that the dealer does'nt now how to align our trucks, I also took my to a heavy truck shop.....

 

[John Berger]

My truck always has tracked to the right, albeit slightly. Every third tire rotation, it would track true. It always tracked true when I towed the TT and now with the 5ver. I put my second set of Michelin's on this past spring. The truck tracked true until I put new front brake pads on last month. Now the old familiar slightly to the right feeling is back. Go figure.

 

[tking]

My 99 4x4 pulls pretty hard to the right, and it is NOT a road crown issue. Thought it was a tire problem, rotated the tires around 9 ways to Sunday..... no improvement.



Alignment is almost dead nuts perfect. Just been living w/ it.

 

[ftb87]

pull to the right

I had the same problem with my truck. However, after much prodding with the dealership. I had Bear Frame and axle fix my pull to the right. My truck was probably one of the 1st ones done with the ingle adjustable ball joint.



After the installed it... no pull. If you have any more questions, please email/pm me. If your in Denver you can look at the ball joint if you would like.



thanks

frank

 

[Big John]

My '94 2500 4x4 and my'96 2500 4x4 track true. My '99 3500 4x4 pulls to the right. It is the one I drive! Bugs me to no end!!



Big John

 

[Shooter]

My camber is a -. 1 and a +. 4, forgot wich side is which but it has always pulled a little right: about 10* from steering wheel straight. Centered steering box, locked s wheel and set caster at L 3. 25/ R 3. 5 and toe at 0. Slight pull to right even towing. Front end shop says probaly camber pull. When track bar and or gearbox gets sloppy the truck gets squirrly. 65k mi and 2 gear boxes and 2 track bars.



FTB87: Do you have the Ingle part #'s

Thanks

 

[mediccummin]

Shooter

Go here to get the web site and part number for Ingle adjustable and greasable ball joints... .....

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56045

Scroll down to Mark K.

 

[athompson]

Mine pulled slightly until I got rid of the POS Michelins. Now I have no pull at all, even with the MT/Rs aggressive tread. Man am I glad to finally be rid of those Michelins. This was only ONE of the problems solved by trashing them.