Wandering….

[AEdelheit]

EMF ball joints. Not only will they solve all ball joint related problems, they do not require “wear in”, are greaseable..

EMF are great joints but as someone who has installed many sets and personally has them I can tell you they absolutely need to break in regardless of what EMF claims.

 

[Joe Mc]

You can only make an adjustable track bar soo short , it still wont be right.

Not trying to start anything, just saying I've had the 3rd gen adj track bar on my truck since around 2005 and it steers excellently, probably around 2007 went with Top Gunz upper & lower tubular control arms and lastly around 2014 a PSC steering box.

 

[KPotter44]

Hey all. Took a week off to do some deer hunting and now back home to deal with the truck. Took it to an “Off Road” shop in Upper Lake that specializes in suspension modifications. He took it for a ride and upon his return he seemed to think it was the track bar. The only component that has not been replaced so I ordered one and replaced it yesterday. No change. He also said if it wasn’t the track bar it was probably the “new” Napa steering box. He will not use them and highly recommended the Red Head steering boxes. Do these parts have a good reputation? Worth the extra money?

 

[Ozymandias]

You're beating a dead horse - the steering box isn't what makes the truck go straight. I bet a case of beer that it's the ball joints binding with load on them.

 

[KPotter44]

Pardon my ignorance, but it’s acting the same way it did before the ball joints were replaced. Whatever the issue is, it’s still there.

 

[AEdelheit]

You're beating a dead horse - the steering box isn't what makes the truck go straight. I bet a case of beer that it's the ball joints binding with load on them.

Eh I have seen steering boxes be too tight so they dont want to return to center and cause the left / right wonder just like ball joints.

If anything the OP couls loosen the steering box adjustment a little to see if that helps, easy enough to adjust back if not.

 

[Ozymandias]

By now you have replaced every single part at least once, some even three times..
Also your alignment is top notch.

I've explained above far and wide what makes a truck go straight and what not.
I don't wanna write that down again.

@AEdelheit, you are totally right at that point - but the box was replaced three times already, some remans, other new units. I've a hard time to believe that they are all binding.

But I see that maybe worn out balljoints have been replaced with binding ones - and so the problem persisted.

 

[KPotter44]

Ozymandias, what kind of beer you drink?

 

[2Farr]

On my 98 2500 I went through the bad brake and steering problems and pulled almost all of my hair out trying to fix the second gen front end. They have alot of problems. When I got my 99 I fixed the problem all at once. I installed a 2002 front axle. New brakes, all new 3rd gen steering and track bar. Used the EMF ball joints. At the time I installed free spin hubs. Red head steering box. I aligned it at 0 toe and 4 caster. It drives just great no more wandering. It now has over 25k on it.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Another BIG improvement is to change to 3rd gen pads, calipers and cradles.

 

[Matt42]

Another BIG improvement is to change to 3rd gen pads, calipers and cradles.

Has anyone ever posted a "this is how I did it" for the 3rd generation retrofit?

 

[Cummins12V98]

Has anyone ever posted a "this is how I did it" for the 3rd generation retrofit?

I believe I did. Not sure of the years applicable maybe 2000-2002? EBC Pads & Rotors and Power Stop Calipers. HUGE improvement!!!

 

[2Farr]

First gen and second gen trucks pre 2000 have a different steering knuckles that will not accept the post 2000 calipers. The ball joints are different on the steering knuckles also so you can't just change knuckles and calipers to the new style. I changed the whole front axle to a 2002 I got from a wrecking yard. In 2000 the Dana 60 axle was beefed up. The housing is larger thicker and the axles are bigger. You can see from the axle seal pic. The pre 2000 seals are on the left and post 2000 seals are on the right. When I was all done with the axle change I was able to sell my old Dana 60 to a guy that wanted to put it in a jeep so I made all my money back from the purchase of my 2002 axle purchase.

 

[KPotter44]

OK, so I took the truck to another shop. Supposedly this guy Frank is the go-to pick up guy in Lake County. This situation with my truck has been a real wake up call. until now, I have been doing all the work on this truck, so taking it to a shop for this front-end problem was problematic. Just seems folks don't want to do the work. put it on the rack, set the alignment specs, and ship it out. don't even road test it. Or replace the tires and say it feels way better when it doesn't. Or replace the driver's side ball joint and tell me it was so stiff he could hardly turn it. But did you feel it after you installed the new joint because it's still bad. So, Frank took it apart and discovered that someone had damaged the steering knuckles. If you looked closely, you could see where the joint wasn't making contact in the bore all the way around. Ordered used steering knuckles online and had them shipped to the shop. He wanted to go with EMF ball joints, but the budget said no. Ordered Moog ball joints on Amazon and had them shipped to him. Picked it up last week and it's really good. Driving with one hand again. Thanks to all for your input. Lots of experience out there and that's what this is all about.

 

[Cummins12V98]

OK, so I took the truck to another shop. Supposedly this guy Frank is the go-to pick up guy in Lake County. This situation with my truck has been a real wake up call. until now, I have been doing all the work on this truck, so taking it to a shop for this front-end problem was problematic. Just seems folks don't want to do the work. put it on the rack, set the alignment specs, and ship it out. don't even road test it. Or replace the tires and say it feels way better when it doesn't. Or replace the driver's side ball joint and tell me it was so stiff he could hardly turn it. But did you feel it after you installed the new joint because it's still bad. So, Frank took it apart and discovered that someone had damaged the steering knuckles. If you looked closely, you could see where the joint wasn't making contact in the bore all the way around. Ordered used steering knuckles online and had them shipped to the shop. He wanted to go with EMF ball joints, but the budget said no. Ordered Moog ball joints on Amazon and had them shipped to him. Picked it up last week and it's really good. Driving with one hand again. Thanks to all for your input. Lots of experience out there and that's what this is all about.

For the cost you incurred I hope you got the best Quality MOOG available.