Steering gear needed for 2001

[Briar Hopper]

Posting this request a second time, in hopes someone will have enough experience or knowledge of parts sources to help...

My steering gear has been leaking for months on my 2001 3500. It's getting worse. I didn't catch it in time to have it fixed under warranty.

Well, guess what. Not one auto parts place out of many that I've called, carries rebuilt units. They all say that 2000 was different, and 2001 was different AGAIN, so none of the older units, such as a 98, or 99, will fit. I'm going to have to get it fixed or replaced soon, while I still have options. An "emergency" fix means going to the local 5 screw stealer, definitely not an option. $600 for a new one, plus labor.

I'm shopping the salvage yards online right now, hoping to find one off a wrecked 2001. Got a favorite salvage yard that might have it? Email me, and of course I'll return the favor anytime if possible!

 

[LSMITH]

Briar, I will make a couple of calls tomorrow and see if I can dig one up for you around here. I will drop you a line if I find one and we can arrange a phone call. There are a couple of big salvage operations within about 40 miles of here, maybe we can get lucky.

 

[Briar Hopper]

Thanks guys. I'd appreciate it... . Dan, yes, I've thought of trying to get it rebuilt right here, but most of the service shops are horrible in this part of the country. Tire stores, dealers, independent garages, I can't trust very many of them. If one isn't busy trying to scam customers, then another is busy trying to hire punks away from the local Valvoline Instant Oil Change, and slap some ASE patches on their sleeves... my mother's entire family lives in this town, all are car or racing enthusiasts. They know their stuff. If they say not to deal with this or that place, then I don't.

I have a place I can go to in Indiana, but it's expensive and a long drive. Indiana and Ohio got all the good shops, and speed parts, ain't none left for us poor folk down here. If I could just talk Dave Mitchell and Pete Pyfer into moving to Kentucky...

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Briar,



See this site for an AGR Steering chuck on a Dodge Ram.



http://members.home.net/racamach/

 

[Briar Hopper]

Thanks Bill, but wondering if it'll work on a one-ton? He has a light truck. I saw an article about the AGR in Four Wheeler magazine just two days ago...

They can be found at www.agrperformance.com

It's probably pricey... I'm trying to get by on a budget for now...

 

[QRTRHRS]

Briar, No promises but I will call a local yard tomorrow. I have no idea what he has around right now. I will put it on the "hotline" too.

 

[Lsfarm]

Salvage yard in Milwakee?

Hi Briar, there have been several ads in the classifies from a guy who salvages dodges. He is in Milwakee Wi.

His ads stated several whole trucks being parted out. I'd check the older classifieds.



good luck. Greg L

 

[Fireman Dave]

Hey Hemi,



Is that Princess Di on your avatar?

 

[Mad Bomber]

steer leak

Napa might carry rebuild. I replaced one on my dodge van,hard to do but can be done. DON'T TRY TO REBUILD YOUR SELF!!!!!

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

Paranoid..?

Tom just a quick question... . I'm curious to know how many miles were on your truck before you noticed this undocumented feature . I've never seen/heard of this on the TDR before.



Being so far away from the USA is this something I really need to be aware of or was it just your misfortune? Hope you get a result. BTW, did Santa bring you a laserjammer?

 

[Briar Hopper]

Hey John, great to hear from you! Well... I guess I'll have to tell this one on myself, in order to answer your question. Maybe it'll help others, too.

I had the regular 36K mile warranty, I'm not a big believer in extended warranties, due to the high cost, and mechanical incompetence of a lot of dealers. I like to have my pick of shops and aftermarket suppliers, and do it myself whenever possible.

Okay, so I noticed an oil drip from what I ASSUMED was the blowby bottle, which hangs right above the steering gear. At that time, the truck had 25,000 miles on it.

Power steering fluid never looked low, so I didn't have a clue until the leak was bad enough it soaked the entire steering gear.

I had final confirmation that the gear was leaking, when I checked the fluid reservoir again. And that was at 39,000 miles.

Not very smart of me, to fail to pursue the leak source.

The culprit was the front two bolts on the top cover(referred to in the manual as a side plate) being loose. Apparently it's a common problem as the manual mentions tightening those bolts to stop leaks, and if that doesn't work, replace the seals.

All the mention of blowby bottles in the forums didn't help, but I have no one to blame but MYSELF for making assumptions .

 

[Briar Hopper]

Eric Wagener, NAPA doesn't have ANYTHING for 2000 & up, not ball joints, not track bars, not power steering components. 1999, 2000, and 2001 are all different, according to no less than five separate parts sources that I called yesterday.

Can you tell me a good reason why I shouldn't try to rebuild it

myself? It looks pretty straightforward in the manual, if you follow the steps correctly, and mark an alignment point at the pitman shaft and pitman arm where they go together. It doesn't look as hard to do as some of the Nazi machinery I have to fix at work every day. Achtung! der maschine sucks !

Buying one from salvage, on the other hand, will probably mean I end up with the steering wheel upside down by the time I get it installed... .

Not trying to be a smartypants here, if you do have a good reason, I'd like to hear it.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Briar, I spoke with this local who specializes in Mopar (he likes first gens mostly). He implied that something that new was gonna be tough to find in a yard. He wondered why I was looking for a replacement rather than rebuilding it which he said he would be glad to do. I had to explain where the box was. Nadda on the hotline either.

 

[Briar Hopper]

Many thanks, anyway, Brian ! I appreciate it. My thanks also to all the other guys who have been such a great help.

LSmith located one for me, it's used, at $350. I can get a new one for $374 from AGR Performance (the link I mentioned up above, thanks to Hemi-Dart for the heads-up on that one) www.agrperformance.com

They have one built specifically for our trucks. Awesome. They'll custom-build one for you, any steering ratio you want. That price is hard to beat.

I may try to rebuild it myself, and if I mess up, I have two to pick from, so no problem... .

 

[Cummins Corvette]

I wouldn’t put a remanufactured pos on my truck if you paid my to do it. I wanted to replace the steering gear on my old truck, and went to pep boys and got a reman. Well, it started to leak about one hour after I put it on. I lived with it until I was adding fluid every day (about two months). I exchanged it, under warranty, and the next one started leaking right before it developed about a half a turn of steering play. I took it off and made them give my money back, and went to Napa and got another reman. That one didn't even work. While turning the wheel, the "power" in my power steering would go on and off. I put up with that for about a week. Then I took that beast off AGAIN, and got my money back. I don't know about the rest of you, but I hate changing those things. It is a PITFA!!! The next one came from the dealer at a cost of $630. 00. It worked perfectly and stayed that way for the rest of the time I had the truck. I will never, and I mean NEVER, put another remanufactured piece of I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER on my truck again!



JM2CW



mabey 3CW

 

[Briar Hopper]

Thanks, CAnderson. But there are no rebuilt units readily available for the 2001's. Too new, they all say. And the one that my friend found was salvage from a wrecked truck, not a rebuilt one.

That price you quoted for a new one from Dodge, that's what they quoted me, too.

AGR looks better and better all the time... .

 

[Cummins Corvette]

No problem. If I save just one person from the reman he!! then I am happy. If you can get a used one, go for it. If you see a reman though, run away hellafast. Otherwise just spend the money and get a new one first. That wouldn't have saved me any money, just having to do that job three times. I wish so bad that I would have gotten the new one first. Would have saved me tons of

 

[Mad Bomber]

steering gears

Briar, the price for new gaskets were 3/4 price of rebuild is why I'd said rebuild and LOTS of new gaskets for time It's worth rebuild. Sorry about not able to find one for your truck for good $$$. P. S. Talking to someone at les schawb tires said that could cause leaks in case if you did hit a curb,just a little food for thought. Eric