Steering and Towing

[wlowe]

It seems to be a well known fact on the TDR that many of our Dodges suffer from steering ailments (4X4's). Mine tracks fairly straight on flat roads but wants to wander a little on roads that have dips. Haven't decided whether or not I want the dealer to try and make it better, but thats another story. My question is for those who tow with a truck that has a steering wander/looseness problem. Is the steering better or worse when towing. Is it bearable or is it dangerous. I'm thinking about getting a fairly large fifth wheel trailer and wanted to get some opinions on this.



Thanks

Bill

 

[RBergman]

hi

i have no idea about a newer truck.

i do have a few thoughts i do not like or trust

dealers at all!!!!!! sorry to many bad things have happened

unless it is covered by warentee i would take it to a

front end/frame and axle shop.

when i was working on fuel trucks we used

seattle frame and axle or fosters

both in seattle and got a job well done!

that was a few years ago. and in the north end

my family has used north west brake shop!!!

they have saved me well over 1,000 dollars

the dealer was going to sell me front hubs and spindles

funny thing my went to n. w. b. s they looked at it fixed the

problem and repacked the bearings for 106. 00 and that was

50,000 miles ago! of coures i did get them repacked 1 time

after that.

bob

 

[Batman]

wlowe... ..... I had, and still do have a wander problem. 58kmiles on my truck. Here is what I replaced my trackbar and all 4 ball joints due to wear. I don't go offroad or beat on my truck.

I was at a front end shop (a guy I really trust) the other night and he said my trackbar is worn (again), this time where it bolts to the chassis looks like the bushing is shot.

I have towed with this slight wander and have not found it to be a problem, more of a nuisance.

HTH

George

 

[pwr2tow]

My truck really dosn't have much of a wander problem but due to the dually's it likes to wander on roads that have tracks in them.



My truck actually steers better and rides better when the 5th wheel is on back. EDIT: truck has 51,000 miles on it.



Ron

 

[Big-D]

Wander

Thus far with 46K miles on my '99 3500 2wd, I haven't had any front end wonder or problems. I will say as mentioned previously, my truck will steering differently when riding on roads with deep grooves. Pulling my trailer and taking some of the weight off the front end makes steering seem more "stable".

Dave

 

[RustyJC]

If your TT or 5ver causes the rear of the truck to "squat" at all, you're adding caster to the front end. The more squat, the more caster. Generally, increasing caster will make the truck track "straight and true" better, but will increase steering effort. Too much caster will ultimately lead to "caster wobble" - the same thing you see on the front wheels of a shopping cart at the grocery store.



Our 2WD dually doesn't squat that much when towing our 5ver, but I can notice the improvement in tracking when we're towing.



Rusty

 

[Dane]

Mine tracks fairly straight on flat roads but wants to wander a little on roads that have dips

Bill,

Your symptom is called "bump steer" I just replaced my tracbar with a DT tracbar. Bump steer is now gone completely. I installed a Borgeson steering shaft a couple of days later which helped but not as much as the DT tracbar. Shocks and steering damper can cause wander too.



The DT tracbar install is not an easy "bolt in", but well worth the effort imo...

 

[nhincher]

my 01. 5 wanders pretty badly at times, dealer = dead end, got used to it and don't feel like fighting with 'em...



anyway on to the point. I've noticed a decent improvement when towing (18 ft carhauler w/ fullsize pickup w/38's total weight 6- 7K I'm guessing). there is a 30 or so mile stretch of I75 that I can hardly keep the truck on the road unloaded, but with the trailer it handles the stretch just fine.



A friends 00 dually wandered pretty bad until he lifted it, was just fine afterwards.



in both circumstances (towing, lift) the caster has been changd.

 

[DIESELMAN]

Actually, Caster on the four link ( Ram / Cherokee ) doesn't change signifigantly ( less than . 5 degrees / foot ) with suspension extension and compression. The links serve to keep the axle perpendicity constant, provided the cams are aligned exactly the same on both sides. Added benefit is the keeping of U-joints on same plane with suspension changes.



If one side is out of alignment with the other, the axle changes in caster and in alignment along the axis of the vehicle, causing a bump steer.



Wander is usually the well known track bar problem, when worn it wanders, thats because as the axle moves side to side it works against the drag link turning the wheels and causing wander. The track Bar needs to be perfectly parallel with the drag link and tight at both ends.



Camber is only an issue if its bent. Fords Change Camber drastically with suspension height changes, and old solid axle single link fords also change caster with extension and compression.



Most of the time, its the link thats loose that causes wander.

 

[jmadden]

Toe (basically compared the distance between the fronts of the wheels to the distance between the backs of the wheels, if the front is closer there is toe-in, if the backs are closer toe-out) can also make a difference... a toe-out condition can result in some darting/wandering around. At 85k got the truck aligned since it got new tires and at that time there was 1% more toe-in than spec. When it was adjusted to spec it began to wander more. Back to slightly more toe-in it goes.



Steering does not appear any worse when a well-balanced 20" car-trailer is attached.



jm