stering cliunk

[rich m]

Ok, guys, it;s finally happend to me. I have a "clunk" at both ends of my steering (right, and left locks) that I no t only hear, but also feel when my foot is resting on the floorboard... I never paid attention to the posts that discuss this beforem, and now don;t know if :seardch: will wrk again very soon to dig trhught the archives and find them... what is it>? ball joints, sthagft>, I haven't slid under and wiggled anything yet..... see signature for buil d dedtails on truck. . got about 90K on original shox, and never neede d to go to alightnment shop... . forgive curmmy typing, by my 2 favoirite keys are broken --backpspaece and deltede... at least i can still make faces at you, even though my fingers don't spell too good.

 

[KatDiesel]

First thing to check.....

Check your track bar first.



I had a "clunk" when turning either direction and I got a new track bar out of it (warranety). So far so good... ... ... but it would come and go depending on the weather so hopefully its gone for good.

 

[John_P]

Rich:



I just had my entire front end completely re-done!



At 120,000 miles the "clunking" on mine was the

right side ball joints AND the track bar! They were

worn pretty bad! I also replaced the steering shaft

and the upper and lower control arms. The truck

drives like new now! I probably should have done

it awhile ago, but like you I waited until that

"clunking" started.



Hope this helps you.



---------

John_P

 

[rich m]

hmmmmmmmmmm..... hope it's not too horribly expensive--I've still got BOMBing to do!

 

[John_P]

rich:



If you decide to do anything, especially the ball joints or

the track bar, go with NAPA parts! The track bar has a

lifetime guarantee and is alot "beefier" than the stock

Dodge bar. Cheaper too!!!!!



---------

John_P

 

[rich m]

Originally posted by John_P

rich:



If you decide to do anything, especially the ball joints or

the track bar, go with NAPA parts! The track bar has a

lifetime guarantee and is alot "beefier" than the stock

Dodge bar. Cheaper too!!!!!



---------

John_P

Beefier and cheaper at the same time is KEWL! happy to hear (read) it!..... Any specialty tools required at all? I've got the "basic" set... sockets, torque wrench, vise grips and a wide variety of bashing tools. I think I'll at least have it examined/diagnosed by an alignment place, so that they can tell me what's worn out, and then i can decide whether to use wrenches or the wife's checkbook (best tool I have, quite often )

 

[tmacc]

Mine had a slight clunk when it was new, but when cold weather came it "seemed" to go away. Well, the first 80* day we had, it came back w/ a vengence. DC replaced the track bar and the drag link tie rod end (at the pittman arm). It helped, but there was still a clunk on hot days. I checked it out and the tie rod where it connects to the right front hub was loose. I could see it move when my daughter turned the wheel. Took it back to the dealer and they said that it was within specs. Has to be . 070" (skosh over 1/16") of play before they will replace it. Un-believable!



FWIW The service mgr. said that when a truck is out of warranty, they go to the local auto parts store, rather than use DC parts. He said that some of the DC tie rod ends have a little play in them when new.



You might want to check out Luke's Links. They have some interesting replacement parts.

Good luck.

Tom

 

[John_P]

rich:



Sorry for the delay in answering your post!



I had my local Dodge dealer do all the work on mine.

After they did everything I had a "four wheel align-

ment" done too to make sure the front end was

right. My BFG's were starting to wear and I wanted

to correct that. BTW, the wear was most likely

caused by the worn front end parts.



--------

John_P