Mopar1973Man

How I know this I managed to destroy my 1972 Dodge Power Wagon with a lift kit and manage to eat ball joint for lunch, tie rod failures very common. I made myself a promise I'd never lift or modify my new truck. Ever since I made that promise I've NEVER had any steering issues. Keep the geometry correct. In a mere 100k miles I managed to ruin that 1972 Dodge to the point I use it for the trade in on my current 2002 Dodge.

Did you test your current alternaotr for AC ripple? The ground wire mod will not fix a bad alternator.

Not true. I'm completely factory height, no lifts, had my front axle aligned back at 350k with my first set of tie rods. My truck has always had good lane holding. Hold center extremely well. At 300k I replace my stock steering box for a quick ratio. (Don't add one if over 31" tires) You need o use a standard ratio box because of the wide wheel this give better ratio to pulling wide tires. Since I'm running 245's stock tire size I've never had steering issues, death wobble or anything. Again the geometry is correct and no issues to report as I passing 421k miles. If it not handling well then the geometry is not right. Factory power steering pump (Never replaced) Ball joints replaced at 180k miles and still going on these. (241k miles and counting - Cheap RockAuto) Steering box replaced at 300k miles and install Blue top quick ratio (Input shaft seal damage by rust) Stock Track Bar is about 150k miles to change. No death wobble ever! Truck below...

Won't work. For one there is large drain holes on the cowl that will draw in air. The cowl filters don't capture fine dist just large debris. Like I gleen this knowledge from watching older gent in Rhode Island try and keep mice out of his truck. The biggest entry is the HVAC case to the cowl. He was stuffing stainless pot scrubbers in every hole he could. There is just no way to keeping the debris and dust out of the system. The only thing I can suggest is run MAX A/C when your running dirt roads or super dusty conditions.

Are you hauling heavy commonly? I would consider air bags possibly to aid in suppression of the bounce. I would consider having a in-cab controller for the air bags so you can inflate or deflate as the road condition require. We've got a few old instates and concrete highways too. I've ran both Rancho's and now KYB shocks. Both are good shocks and help with bounce some what. Most here will jump for the Bilstein's shocks.

Most likely not. You not lift off the axle but pushing the axle downwards which turns the caster neutral. Ive seen several lifted truck and the steering just purely sucks. Wanders quite a bit more. Because for the lift and caster being neutral or not correct. Most don't even take it in to have the caster angle reset. Most whine about the poor steering, problems with darting, poor lane holding, a few months later. I seen a shop that installed a 2 inch lift on a Ford and watch the mechanic use a come-a-long to pull the axle over enough to hook up the track bar. Then just seeing how far the axle caster angle changed is rather note worthy. After it was done, I drove it and not impressed the entire handling was change for the worst. @JAG1 just pulled his 2 inch out and return to 1 inch lift and made the road handling much better. Again he never aligned afterwards and never correct the caster angles. He did have a adjustable track bar. He had the thrust angle correct. Biggest thing is returning the geometry to the axle. If you going to lift the front then make sure the geometry is returned and possibly tweak so the steering and handling is corrected.

Another way to look at it... 238k miles to the moon. It's 476k to the moon and back. 421k miles I'm almost home. @dripleyhas over 500k miles. There is another one past 800k miles too. He's closer to two trip to the moon and back. (952k 2 laps)

Just o be clear on my design... Tap point -> Needle Valve -> Snubber -> 5 foot air Brake line -> Fuel pressure sensor. Tap point is best at the stock filter bottom. This gives a bit of distance from the pulses coming out of the VP44. Also there is typically a air bubble trapped in the lid so the filter is a good suppressor of the pulses. Mine is in between the stock filter and the VP44. Then the needle valve is a bit spendy. WH6820 from NAPA. The snubber can be bought at ISSPro. Then Air Brake line is fuel and oil resistance and will no get brittle like nylon oil pressure line. I used PTC (push to Connect) fittings for the tubing. This is better than compression ferrules. Again got those at NAPA. Injection pump makes a lot of pulses. Being every time the rotor fills the pressure drop as the rotor closes and pumps the fuel to the injector then the pressure in the line rises. Then as it opens again it drops to fill the rotor again. Like putting your ear next to a chainsaw muffler running. Now move your ear way from the saw its bear-able. Drop ear protection on (snubber) now move away from the chain saw 5 feet it not as loud isn't it? Distance and a muffling device is what quiets the pulses down with distance allows the pulse to fade.

Washable anything is bad idea. Every time you wash the media you break down the media and not ot mention washed incorrectly deposits dirt on the wrong side of the filter for when its dry again it is inhaled by the engine. Washable filters are extremely bad idea. I've seen several dusted out vehicles ruined early in life. BHAF some claim do not flow enough air which I call BS. I'm at 500 HP last time I had a BHAF with my filter minder it never moved. Now if oyu place the filter minder to your lips and pull a very light vacuum you'll find that it only mere inches of water column to move the disc. To this day mine has never moved even after 150k miles of dirt road. After 400k miles I quit putting the filter minder in because its just not making ANY restriction on air to even move the filter minder. 421k miles and still twisting...

Yes. These truck level out when the load is applied to the bed. The rake is so there is ample room for the truck to swat down and still carry the load without bottoming out. Be aware your going down a very difficult road now. Make sure to get adjustable control arms, adjustable track bar and then have the caster redone in a alignment shop and then also have them check the thrust angle. As you lift the front axle the control arms are too short and the caster turn more neutral steering center will be lost. Then with the fixed length track bar you thrust angle will be wrong because the axle will be towards the driver side more. If you do, never tow. It will put your headlight in everyone faces. (one thing I hate about lift kits.)

Let me PM my idea...

Because of the 24V powered I'm going to bet part of the PCM is burned up if there is a Dodge PCM used.

Yup... If it mounted right at the VP44 it will beat the seals right out of the sensor. I know this because it took me a few pressure switch and a few sensor before I realized what went wrong. Since now I'm relocated at the fender I've never had another problem with fuel pressure sensors or switches. If remote located anywhere make sure to have at least 5 feet of 1/8 air brake tubing. Never replace it again...

Not to hijack... i can match you. I fed my turbo a hose clamp. Yeah I know expensive mistakes. DAP would be a good place to call and ask about rebuilders. You might look up in your area for injection pump rebuilders. I've got one that I like is Idaho Diesel Tech in Lewiston, ID.

Gotta ask do you have over sized tires on the truck bigger than 265/75 R16? Larger tires do put a huge amount of strain on the steering box. Makes it worse if you have a quick ratio steering box and over sized tires. Like Ryan at Blue Top told me if your running smaller that stock tires (265 or smaller) you can run a quick ratio box. But if your going to run over sized tires (265's and larger) you need the standard ratio box to lighten the load of the steering gears and hydraulic pump.

You can get a pump from DAP as mention above. I personally like the injection shop rebuilders personally. I've got one in Lewiston Idaho which it is a 2 man team but like they said the old mechanical pump like p-pump are obsolete and getting more and more rare to even find them or anyone that want to rebuild them. They are now cutting hours back to only Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because there is not enough business to keep them open any longer. Being everything is electronic now on CR engines or VP44 engines.

Typically power steering fluid is a forgotten fluid no one changes. As for the clutch part. If the clutch is playing a role in noises it could be a throw bearing or pilot bearing. Typically they make noise if you press the clutch down. Like I've got a 2006 in my shop with blown throw out bearing and pressure plate fingers are worn. Every time you touched the clutch pedal it would scrap and grind noise. Let go typically the throwout bearing is just touching the finger but not seriously loaded. Pilot bearing will make noise typically when you foot is on the pedal being the input shaft is not moving or moving a different speed than the engine now that bearing will make noise. Typically pilot bearing will make it hard to shift gear either up or down. The only other subsystem is the vacuum pump but that is lube by engine oil. Never heard of a vacuum pump making a whining noise. It forward of the power steering pump. Like myself I've got 421k miles on my OEM power steering pump and never replaced it yet still working as designed!

What is the condition of the power steering fluid? (Amber or black) When was the last time you flush the power steering system? (Every 30k) Are you using Power fluid and not ATF? (DO NOT use ATF) Is the power steering fluid foamy when its whining? (Possibly low on fluid) As for my comment on flushing this means removing the steering box return line from the pump and route it to a waste bucket. Plug the nipple on the reservoir to allow it to hold fluid. Now with the front axle off the floor and Engine OFF key to unlock the steering wheel. Now go from lock to lock slowly. This will pump out the system. When empty fill another 3 times and pump through till the fluid is clean. Then rehook up the return line and fill. When you start it will foam up. Shut down and wait for the foam to settle about 15 to 30 minutes tops. Then top off and you should be good. Do NOT use a turkey baster to suck out the reservoir. You only getting about 1 pint out. The entire system can hold nearly 2 quarts. Steering box allow holds about a quart to itself.

Not enough flow rate. There is no electric fan that can keep up for our trucks. Especial for towing. There has been a few try it but most end up going back to the mechanical fan. Fan is normal just free spinning on the truck. Fully warm truck. There is no engine load to a good clutch fan till the engine reaches closer to 210*F now it will lock up. Heck I ran even for a full 2 winter without a fan to even see if there is a change of MPG from loading ... NOPE!

2,3,4...

No worse the all day affair doing a window motor in my truck door.

Some photos didn't show...

I usually right around 6 to 8 hours to tear down and reinstall the HVAC case. Typically can be done in a day. Just take the time to look at everything.

Yup I'd have to agree...

It will work just fine I've done at least a dozen heater cores now and still it takes me most of the day to do a full heater core and evaporator service. I do everything wash the two half of the HVAC case. Inspect the evaporator for oily spots if so replace. Then if it dry I will typically power wash and reused if in good condition. Then check the blend door shaft since it out you can easily change that plastic shaft if need. Change out the blower resistor if the ceramic is cracked. If resistor is poor condition replace the blower motor too being the bearings are failing which causes high load on the resistor and it over heats. Doing any cheat will skip all this and typically result in pulling it later on because of other issues. Trust me after as many as I've done now it BEST to PULL the HVAC case and do a full service and cleaning.