2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Neat Track Bar R&R trick

[dan_gilson]

I upgraded to 19. 5 Rickson wheels a couple of weeks ago. Shortly after that the steering started doing funny things like changing direction all by itself. After a search or two I found out that I had the dreaded death wobble. After another search I found Lukes Link. I can tell you what a nice piece of engineering a Lukes Link is. It is a really good product!

 

[dan_gilson]

The rest of the post...

Sorry, My browser went funny and cut short my post... .



Getting the track bar out and back in (and completely worthless instruction from the Dodge service manual) is another thing. I could not find anyone that carries the Dodge specified tool. I found that getting a wider enough pickly fork does work.



Upon reinstalling the track bar after installing Lukes Link I found that something had shifted and I could not like up the bolt hole. I had seen pictures of trucks with all the wheels on the ground using a come along to pull the suspension over. That could not work for me. I had followed the directions from Dodge and jacked the truck. If I anchored to the ground I took a real chance of pulling it off the jack stands. I tried a block of wood and a big hammer but that did not work. It just shifted back.



Sorry for being so long winded but I had to set the stage.



Here is the trick. I was able to get a pipe clamp running along the track bar. That way I was able to put force exactly in line of where I needed it. I couple of turns on the clamp and everything was dead centered.

 

[cosborne]

Thanks Dan!

I'm getting ready for a track bar fix and have looked at the full replacements and Lukes Link. I have the original bar and 119,000 miles on it... . after the new tires went on I can now feel some steering play.



Whats a pipe clamp? Where can I find one and are they expensive?



Thanks again!

 

[scotmartin]

Just have someone steer the truck slowly while you are uder there and when the wheels turn, it will come back into place, or get worse if you turn the wrong direction.



Scot

 

[dan_gilson]

Will turning the steering work if the wheels are off the ground? I had not tried that.



Pipe clamps are available at hardware stores. The clamps should be ~$10 and a couple of more $$ for the piece of pipe.



Thanks

 

[DBCooper]

Steering with the front wheels off the ground prob'ly won't work, but you dont' need to lift the front of the truck. I have been able to turn the steering shaft from under the truck to get it to line up the ball joint to the frame. The motor does need to be running, and be sure it's in park or blocked or both. Makes reinstalling the ball joint a breeze.

 

[wcjp]

The motor does not need to be running. The engine off facilitates communication with the helper. The amount of movement required won't be much.

 

[John]

I did virtually the same thing as Dan several months ago. I had the front end of my Ram on jack stands while also performing a front brake upgrade project.



To re-center the front end while installing a new track bar, I used some chain, a a couple of clevises, and a turnbuckle, anchoring so the pull was almost mirroring the angle of the track bar.



Worked great!

 

[pcarlson]

Here is another option we used on a friends truck. He started the R&R before I arrived and had his on jack stands as well. I used my cargo strap hooked to the left front frame and the other end to the right front tire. Then started the truck and turned the wheel until the bolt holes lined up on the axle. Worked really slick and took less than 2 minutes to do.

 

[DBCooper]

wcjp, re-read the post. This is doing it without a helper. If you can turn the steering shaft from underneath the truck without the motor running, I'd like to see it.