2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission steering box

[MCharlebois]

i put my truck on stands tonight,had my kid spinning the wheel ton see where the play is coming from,i can move the steering shaft 3/4 of an inch befor the tires move which trans to 2-3 inches at the wheel,i have searched a few times but i think my problem is at the box???????LOVE the truck i just hate the way it wanders right now. i have looked at all the upgrades but they don't seem to adress my problem,dealer said ball joints but the truck has wondered since i bought it new so !@#$% them. any help would be appreciated. truck is stock 54k

marcel

 

[stacerbob]

set it on the ground and shake the wheel, look at the track bar.

 

[jkern]

mine was the same, not quite that bad though. took it to the dealer who had just but a trac bar on it about 3k miles ago, and told them that it still wondered alot and that i noticed some side to side movement in the output shaft of the steering box. the manager came out and talked to me a little bit, spit alot of 'baccy juice on the pavement, listened to me as i asked if they could replace the steering box under warrenty. he said that with the diesel engine and the straight axle that steering play is not uncommon in these trucks... told the service guy "order this boy a steering box" i had to wait 10 weeks on it, but it finally got done.

Oo. Oo. this was with 33" tires on the truck and a winch and bumper too!

 

[CRSmith]

Sounds like you might need to do the bearing preload adjustment in this TSB

 

[DirtRider]

Darin's Steering Stabilizer! Replaced a ton of parts on my trucks front end, did all the adjustments to the steering box but nothing made it better than new except that steering stabilizer! Couldn't keep the truck straight to save my life before installing it.



Check out the many other threads on this site for more info on it

or better yet check out the following website for yourself

http://www.solidsteel.ca/

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

What DirtRider said. Darin's steering stabilizer does an excellent job of tightening up the front end. One of the best BOMB's I ever did. And relatively inexpensive at that.



Jim

 

[MCharlebois]

thanks for all the info --the tract bar has alot of play,this site was worth every penny!!!!!!!!i will be adjusting the box also

marcel

 

[CFAR]

Sounds like my truck, I have the DSS, I've done the alignments, it all helped a little but I'm convinced I need a new box.



You might also.

 

[Groover]

I too went through all the ball joints, track bar and 2 warranty steering boxes. The preload adjustment will help but if the bearing is loose in the housing as all my boxes were it will only help so much. The DSS bracket is a big help.



I put a rebuilt box on mine that is machined to correct the original problem with all Dodge steering boxes. The steering boxes are manufactured by saginaw now called Delphi which is a GM component and may explain all the problems.



I now have 14k miles on the rebuilt and it is tight where the new warranty replacements started to "loosen" up at 5k miles.



Do a search on "sloppy steering box" if interested in the rebuilt box.

 

[MCharlebois]

tract bar

i just picked up a tract bar from n apa today- a MOOG-$160-put it on when i got home,keep thet 4' bar handy-helped alot ,plan on a dds soon. thanks for all the input

marcel