flagmanruss

There's extra wear on the Right Front tire... I suspect a bad Tie Rod End on the RF. I have asked for a complete underbody inspection. There may be more problems. I previously had new springs seats fabricated & installed on the front axle (OEM spring seat cups were rusted out). It could be a rear problem or a front track bar or ??? It's worth rebuilding... only 60K miles.

I had wife drive the truck when we dropped it off to the shop that's to do the work... while I followed... took her to dinner as a reward. The heat was getting to me & the AC in the truck needs repair too... works good in the Cirrus. I've not followed my truck recently & noted a lot of slop in lane position & the front was usually to the left of the rear track... except for once. She got the same lurch treatment! So it wasn't just me. It should be easy to find if it's that bad!

Ditto on the start bump w/o turning over, fuel pump should run for several seconds to build pressure & then stop. My suspicion would be a leak... air leak on suction side?? Rusty lines? Also possible to have leaks on pressure side of lift pump. A temporary test fuel pressure gauge would be a help I think. I wouldn't be surprised if the VP44 is toast after a lift pump failure. Codes?

I honestly don't know. I expect it will drive as well as new. But what I don't know is how far my OEM track bar has worn... it makes sense that these parts all 'must' wear until they reach the point of being out of spec. It's unclear to me why one part would suddenly fail, as they seem to, say a Tie Rod End, when the others are still "good". But are they really? This replacement may be just precautionary, in which case, I wouldn't expect much change. If the original is well worn, then I would expect new parts to tighten it up. I'll feel better knowing when I hook up that heavy camper, that I can count on being in control. ADDITIONAL: I was still impatiently waiting for the tracking information for the Titan 3rd Gen Track Bar KIt... when UPS rolled up my driveway this afternoon. (6/5) Yes, it was my kit. So now I need to get my truck into the Wheel & Brake Shop. Can't fault the shipping speed.

CPP promises to "ship at once"... I ordered first thing Monday 6/2... I had received order confirmation & a link to check status. Nothing changing over 2 days. I admit I'm a little itchy but I messaged this morning asking for an update because I'm waiting for the part before taking the truck in. I don't want to be twiddling my thumbs waiting on a part that didn't get shipped. I received a response that they would check with the warehouse & send me tracking information.

I am going to have my shop go over the complete suspension/steering. My attitude at this point is the truck needs to be 100% or better than new so I can have confidence to make plans. I'm waiting for the kit so am keeping the truck parked at home. I do thank you for your thoughts... adding to the inspection list.

There's always a risk of using after market... Quadzilla, Airdog, etc... but one can always go out & buy another complete kit from somebody & start over. Junk a Cummins truck??? I am STOCK height & Running the ACTUAL OEM tires & wheels the truck came with... 3 tires still good but the RF is iffy, where I suspect A TRE. Call me in another 13 years to see how the Track bar is doing?

I have ordered the 3rd Gen Track Bar Conversion from CPP. http://www.cumminsperformanceparts.com/2ndgento3rdg.html $390 including the track bar & Free Shipping. Looks to be all complete, no drill installation. It will be installed at a professional front end shop. http://forum.mopar1973man.com/index.php?/topic/8560-omg-truck-suddenly-lurches-to-right/?p=92810 I expect there will be other parts needed, but they are available locally.

I am putting off the trip to the Front End Shop until my 3rd Gen Track Bar Conversion gets here. I have too much at stake here. Since I have to pay to get it fixed, I'm going to do it all at once... with instructions to make it new condition or better. Trying to stretch it out, has messed me up.

True but since I'm not running brakes on this little trailer, some grease out the back is of no consequence... and lubes the seal. Bearing Buddies do nothing for the inner bearing if the hub is not full. Very difficult to push grease through the outter race, fill the hub then the inner bearing. I'd rather this does not need to be serviced for the rest of my lifetime! LOL! I haven't got the BB on the hub yet.

OK, makes sense. On a used truck & non-supported product... you are at the mercy of the previous owner's set up... good or bad. Hope you like the next product.

I have the hub back on, as full of waterproof bearing grease as possible (same as I would use on a boat trailer). Can't get the imitation bearing buddy to start... the point of filling the hub is to eliminate as much of the air bubble as possible so when you pump grease into the outside... it forces some through into the inside bearing... which won't (and didn't happen previously) because the inner bearing had failed. Undoubtedly the Imitation BB is made in China on metric machines... I've run into tolerances problems before. I've bagged the hub for the night (again). EDIT: Miked the hub ID 2.00" & BB OD 1.98"... with a sharp machined edge. I'm thinking of cutting an edge bevel via Mr Southbend. Thinking of using a gear puller on the hub to push the BB on. I might have to discard the Imation BB & go buy the real thing.

I am taking a baby aspirin a day and Ginko Biloba both of which act as blood thinners. If I'd known I was gonna nick my knuckle with the grinder... I'd have skipped the blood thinners... LOL!! Putting the bearing on was just a test fit... but if it wouldn't go on naked, it wouldn't go on with the hub. After greasing, the bearing cage must be seated in the hub & then the seal. Never Seize on the axle where the bearing will ride. Put the hub on the axle. Yeah!! Reassembling! I wonder what the other side is like? But I have the parts now & I know how to attack it. I'd really like for the other side to be just a simple parts replacement.

OK, things returning to normal after Rendezvous Camp (and my week long commute)... leaving wife to put away everything she took. Because of the problem with the Dodge, I'm going to have the front end shop fix any / everything to new spec. or better. I'm waiting on a call back on the track bar 3rd gen track bar conversion. So that left me free to get back on the little trailer. I swapped the grinding wheel for a flap sander disc from Home Depot & gently started on the scored area. Then I got down in a position bending over a small stool (don't get any ideas) to do the underside. I was about the test with the bearing & the disc was winding down when it just nicked the knuckle. Bled like a pig! Inside, get it washed & eventually the blood loss stopped. Cleaned up the blood on the railing, door knobs, safety goggles & shirt (Ooops, new shirt I actually like). Nope, bearing no go. Inspected with a mirror. Seemed like it needed more 5 o'clock & 7 o'clock. Touched it. & the bearing goes on now. It took surprisingly little buffing to seat the bearing inner race... I don't want to remove too much. I sprayed it down with WD40 & bagged it until I get back. This was the hang up. Next to grease the bearings, install in hub & install seal (ARFF! ARFF! that's a seal). I'm going to wait because every time I wiggle the finger it starts bleeding again. (And I don't want blood in the bearing grease.)

Quadzilla suddenly closed their doors 1/23/2013. Why do you want to remove it?

Quadzilla made very well respected products until they suddenly closed their doors. I am happy running the Quadzilla XZT+. A nice basic unit.

Truck is worth ZERO if it doesn't run... or maybe parts value, salvage... at a certain point, fixing a problem is the most important thing.

I'm on the verg of pulling the trigger on this 3rd gen track bar upgrade... $360 seems like a good price & doing it along with the TRE & aligning the truck once seems smart. Ad is still up.

Day tripped with V8 Explorer (gas hog)... 16' landscape type trailer was more than I wanted to tow any distance with it. Used it to retrieved the wife from rendezvous camp on the closing day... in light rain... So she spent yesterday drying (real) canvas before it could mildew. ($1500 worth of tents) The Dodge has been parked for the duration. If it is the track bar, I want to do the 3rd gen track bar upgrade. Does the upgrade use the same tie rod ends or would they need to be replaced to upgrade? I'm seeing the track bar as ~$500 upgrade. I don't use the truck much... I use occasionally just to keep it going, but the reason for owning a real truck is to HAUL HEAVY. I need it to be 100%. As good or better than new. WE know the 01 track bars were weak & prone to failure. Should I just do a complete overhaul... I'd save by only doing the alignment once!

I can't get the Dodge into the shop until I retrieve the wife from camp next Wednesday... I have borrowed the inlaw's 'spare' Explorer. I am thankful for the loan but man, I don't like this rig. Besides it being a gas hog... they claim 14 mpg... It's a ***** for me to get my into with my bad legs. It drives like a boat... trying not to get seasick! Probably all the shocks are gone. But I need to get to camp & back a few days so I'll be keeping the Saudi's in business... I will be towing my bigger landscape trailer with my big scooter... to haul my swivel cannon around camp.

Weight distributing hitches are required if your trailer is out of balance. I used to fit boats to their trailers... and we would move the axles to get the tongue weight to 10% of load & not more than 2-3 hundred pounds. When I hauled 2 horses in the rear of my bumper pull stock trailer... 2500# behind the axles... I used to ballast the front with weight bars besides our camping gear... Rear Heavy) Like wise you can be tongue heavy & either ballast the rear or use a WD hitch. Can't move axles in RVs generally, though you can change the loading. With a gooseneck or 5th wheel your tongue weight is centered (or I prefer a couple of inches forward or rear axle if possible, like my 79 C30 was built) the tongue weight is on the rear axle instead of using leverage to try to carry the load... so hitch weight can be much higher. My old Scamper 5th wheel camper was nicely balanced on the axles with very minimal hitch weight. My horse trailer has a very long dressing room in front of the axles which are under the horses... It towed fine but man I hated cranking the landing gear to uncouple.

With my Multiple Sclerosis, I'm unable to get under the truck. I thank you for the ideas... I am going to be sure everything we think of gets checked. I am concerned about possible brake drag on a little used truck as I had this before... so that inspection is on my list. I think this shop is pretty good though I wish they were more aggressive about somethings (trying to save customer's money) but sometimes that costs more in the long run. They gave me a free second alignment in my Cirrus when a second different parts failure in a few months put it back on the alignment rack. I have seem worn out tie rod ends on heavy equipment walk all over... at walking speed, it doesn't much matter.

I'm waiting on a call back from Shop. Most of my use is either local, between trips... (low speed) or long haul, running heavy with camper on. This camper has always been a bear to keep tracking... The reason I keep going back to a tie rod is I think the shop said it was getting loose but not bad enough to replace. I think it is NOW! I wonder how long it's been going South? With the short miles I've run in recent years... might have been the trouble all along.

This is the 16' landscape trailer, not the little one I've been working on. Thank goodness it wasn't the 30' camper in tow. I brought the trailer home, empty. Will need to make another round trip next Wednesday. I cut the speed to 50 & it gave less of a jolt. The lug nuts are tight & no sign of bearing issues... was not braking though seemed to happen most often just when backing off from climbing a hill. Weight shift? I'll have the wheel & brake shop check the brakes aren't dragging after the winter of rare use. I can see wear on that tire, not present on the rest of the set. The inlaws have successfully towed this trailer with their Explorer before so I can day trip to camp with my big Wrangler outdoor scooter... (still a light load). My scooter can haul one of my swivel cannons in a wagon to the demo area. So I can salvage that part of my vaca. All it's going to cost me is an extra tank of gas in the Explorer (as a thankyou).

Holy Crap! Scared the **** outta me! Not just once but several times... when you're not expecting it. Yeah, our camping trip week. I left wife setting up the tents! I had a big dose of yellow pine pollen & seasonal allergy response... an immune response. Multiple Sclerosis is an auto-immune disease. So my symptoms are increased right now. I'm not well enough to camp. I was planning to commute to camp... day tripping for me... towing my landscape trailer each day with my big scooter on it... so I can really get around camp... especially hauling a cannon... To salvage the vaca, I am borrowing the inlaws F word Explorer. I will need the truck to pack up camp but that's a single round trip, not 5 trips. I can't get the Dodge into the shop until wife is home for transport. I expect a tie rod end or something has sh*t the bed.