Intermittent Left Pull - Help

[Keegan Williams]

Hey yall.

I have an 06 Ram 3500 4x4. New drag link, ball joints, pitman arm all recalls and 08 steering upgrade. I had drag link replaced last. Said an alignment was done.

Got truck back, had a pull to left.

The last time this happened, I had another alignment done at an “old school” shop and it fixed the pull. Tried that again. This time it didn’t fix the pull. The pull is slightly intermittent though.

I do a visual inspection and see that my steering damper is covered in grease. Undo the end and check if it extends again, and it’s toast. Why no one under the truck told me the damper was covered in grease and dead is beyond me,

I assume this is what was causing the pull since everything else has been replaced. I order a Bilstein replacement.

It’s in today. I’m holding them next to each other and notice the Bilstein is a couple inches longer so I assume it compresses to the correct length.

Now that I’m looking at it though, it looks like the damper pushes to the left. So if I put this new one on, Will it make my left pull worse? Do I have to install and then get an alignment? Is there anything I need to adjust to correct this left pull?

 

[Ozymandias]

A steering damper usually dont push out, it stays solid in the position.
Pushing out would be horrible to drive.
Second the steering damper for the 08 upgrade steering is different then the oem 06 was, they aren't interchangeable.

At first drive a round without any of the two damper to determine if it is the damper or not.

Pulling to one side, especially left, is mostly a brake caliper sticking.

 

[Ozymandias]

Oh, which balljoints did you use, please don't say Moog.

 

[Keegan Williams]

A steering damper usually dont push out, it stays solid in the position.
Pushing out would be horrible to drive.
Second the steering damper for the 08 upgrade steering is different then the oem 06 was, they aren't interchangeable.

At first drive a round without any of the two damper to determine if it is the damper or not.

Pulling to one side, especially left, is mostly a brake caliper sticking.

I will test drive without any damper and see what happens.

I had the brake pads and rotors changed all around last oil change.

I have checked with laser thermometer the disks after a 20 minute drive and all are comparable.

I’m not sure what brand ball joints were used. I had them replaced a few months before the last time and the next time I was in they said they were shot, and warranties them out for heavier ones. ? Not really sure wtf happened with that. Jacked the front up and shook wheel. No side to side or up and down movement. I assume they’re still good.

As for the damper:
https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com...ing-stabilizer-shock-03-13-ram-2500-3500.aspx

I got the part number off this site for the upgraded damper. Ordered it off Amazon. I will have to compress it to fit.
I’m looking at it now, and it seems that a small amount of force keeps it pressed in. I don’t think it will cause pull or push.. so that’s good. I’ll replace that in a few minutes.

But I still don’t know why I’m pulling to the left. I’m not sure that’ll fix it.

 

[AEdelheit]

As for the alignment I would ask the shop for a printout of the specs, most shops put in way too much toe which can cause handling issues. The damper being bad wont cause a pull but good to have a properly working one.

Did you change tires recently? Some tires will cause a directional pull.

 

[Keegan Williams]

As for the alignment I would ask the shop for a printout of the specs, most shops put in way too much toe which can cause handling issues. The damper being bad wont cause a pull but good to have a properly working one.

Did you change tires recently? Some tires will cause a directional pull.

Just replaced the steering stabilizer. Went in perfectly.

I might go back to the shop and ask them for the specs. Or explain that I replaced the stabilizer and see what they say.

I haven’t change the tires. They are big sons of guns. 315/70/17. Mastercraft. Came with them. Not a fan. Saving up for new ones. I’ve noticed some cupping. Because of the pull. I’m also replacing the shocks right now. After the shocks I think I’m going to do a rotation. See where I’m at after that.

 

[Ozymandias]

The problem with the Moogs is that they bind, sure you have no play wiggling the wheel, but they bind with the weight of the truck.
And an axle balljoint(s) must work absolutely free.
Without the steering linkage connected and the tire lifted from the ground the knuckle must move with a !!!fingertip!!! ,must fall to full lock without any resistance.
If there is any resistance at the knuckle then the truck will never track straight even with the most perfect alignment that is possible.

Many here had that problem with the MOOG balljoints, including me.
Was burnt money, had them in for half a year and the truck has driven me crazy in this time.

 

[EDankievitch]

I agree as I've had nothing but issues with Moog ball joints. I'm currently running a set of XRF ball joints... So far they are ok but No where the quality of the Carli units I had finally installed in my 05.
That said I've found the Caster setting on our trucks to be very excessive. On the 5 link system almost every truck I have checked , some still on the dealer lot have come in between 7-9 degrees positive caster. The book calls for 3 to 5 degrees max. The more caster you have the more the truck will want to roll down hill away from the crown of the road. If you have installed a leveling kit on the 5 link front end your caster numbers will increase even more so due to the different length of the control arms . The shorter uppers cause the axle to rotate for more positive caster.

 

[Keegan Williams]

Is there a way to tell what ball joints I have? I guess I can call the shop back. Bleh

Not doing them myself, I would LOVE to not make this a routine.


Got the front two shocks installed with little trouble. 2 hours total. Both were thrashed. Why wouldn't a shop recommend new shocks to me after seeing how quickly the first set of ball joints had to be replaced? Annoying.

Socket broke when trying to get at rear two and I was losing daylight, so I saved those for later today. Instead spent 30 min installing a set of Timbren rubber jounce springs for when towing the fifth wheel.

Was at parents for the install. Drove it home last night and it felt like a dream on the highway! That's with the front shocks and stabilizer new, but the ride quality is already 100% better. It didn't pull at all on the 20 min drive home. Felt like the newer F350 I drive for work


Drove to a coffee shop in town to get some work done this morning and it was pulling left the whole time again.

I'm leaning toward tires being the issue now. Going to rotate them asap.

 

[sfpcservice]

Is there a way to tell what ball joints I have? I guess I can call the shop back. Bleh

Not doing them myself, I would LOVE to not make this a routine.


Got the front two shocks installed with little trouble. 2 hours total. Both were thrashed. Why wouldn't a shop recommend new shocks to me after seeing how quickly the first set of ball joints had to be replaced? Annoying.

Socket broke when trying to get at rear two and I was losing daylight, so I saved those for later today. Instead spent 30 min installing a set of Timbren rubber jounce springs for when towing the fifth wheel.

Was at parents for the install. Drove it home last night and it felt like a dream on the highway! That's with the front shocks and stabilizer new, but the ride quality is already 100% better. It didn't pull at all on the 20 min drive home. Felt like the newer F350 I drive for work


Drove to a coffee shop in town to get some work done this morning and it was pulling left the whole time again.

I'm leaning toward tires being the issue now. Going to rotate them asap.

Are you getting any strange noises from the steering box? Another thing to check is to fire up the truck and have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth while you watch all the steering components to see if any of them are moving in a manner they shouldn't.

 

[Keegan Williams]

Are you getting any strange noises from the steering box? Another thing to check is to fire up the truck and have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth while you watch all the steering components to see if any of them are moving in a manner they shouldn't.

That's too simple. Shoulda thought about doing that. Will try just for peace of mind.

 

[Keegan Williams]

I got the shocks finished. Definitely recommend Bilstein 5100 shocks for anyone looking to improve their ride quality. My wife said "it feels like a new truck" I agree.

Back to the issue, I noticed the cupping on the front driver tire from the worn out shocks, so I had the tires rotated and balanced. Didn't fix the intermittent pull problem.

Pulled pretty good on the drive home. Checked with IR thermometer again and found the driver disc to be 15* hotter than passenger. Pulled the front wheel off to check for brake drag. Brake was dragging. Bottom caliper slide pin was stuck pretty good. Pulled it all apart, cleaned and lubricated accordingly.

Truck doesn't pull now!!

Moral of the story, if you have a pull before or after alignment, check your brakes. Don't rely on an IR thermometer for testing because I checked several times and didn't get any noticeable variance from wheel to wheel.
IMO it wouldn't hurt to periodically pull everything apart for routine brake maintenance. Very easy to do. Do not take it to a shop because I promise you can do it with minimal effort.

Thanks, guys!

 

[Ozymandias]

That was my first answer, nice that you solved the problem and also did some also needed maintenance.

For the IR Thermo, they need a dark (best black) surface to measure accurate values, on a shiny brake disc they are far away from being on spot.

 

[sfpcservice]

Nice glad you got it solved!

 

[EDankievitch]

Good catch

 

[jghflys]

I got the shocks finished. Definitely recommend Bilstein 5100 shocks for anyone looking to improve their ride quality. My wife said "it feels like a new truck" I agree.

Back to the issue, I noticed the cupping on the front driver tire from the worn out shocks, so I had the tires rotated and balanced. Didn't fix the intermittent pull problem.

Pulled pretty good on the drive home. Checked with IR thermometer again and found the driver disc to be 15* hotter than passenger. Pulled the front wheel off to check for brake drag. Brake was dragging. Bottom caliper slide pin was stuck pretty good. Pulled it all apart, cleaned and lubricated accordingly.

Truck doesn't pull now!!

Moral of the story, if you have a pull before or after alignment, check your brakes. Don't rely on an IR thermometer for testing because I checked several times and didn't get any noticeable variance from wheel to wheel.
IMO it wouldn't hurt to periodically pull everything apart for routine brake maintenance. Very easy to do. Do not take it to a shop because I promise you can do it with minimal effort.

Thanks, guys!

You may think about changing the brake hoses, internal swelling caused a similar problem on my 2005.