Steering upgrade

[leathermaneod]

#'s 112 & 115

[notlimah]

Oh ok. That actually doesn't look bad at all! Looks like guys with stock wheels are good with a little trimming yea?

Edited June 30, 2016 by notlimah

[dripley]

Maybe this will give you and idea of what I see under my truck. Stock rims with 265's.

[leathermaneod]

After seeing those pics I certainly have high hopes! Not sure when I'm gona get around to trying it. Gota first get this steering sorted out and then save up some $. I may have to order the "rock solid ram steering fix" to get rid of my clunking and popping too. I'm hoping the intermediate shaft will help things a lot, but we'll see. Truck gets inspected next month, if the current TRE's pass I will be able to hold off, if not I'll be doing it sooner than I planned. 

[notlimah]

@leathermaneod What's the rock solid ram steering fix?! I completely understand not wanting to throw more money at the truck but FWIW, I talked to my local 4x4 shop and they said prices on these kits has gone up about 75ish dollars for them. Not sure if that's going to end up being a nationwide thing or if it's just regional but that's another reason why I bought this now since I could still get it shipped to my door for 300, and he quoted me 445 to his shop.

 

@dripley those pics look a lot more snug then I would've thought! I also don't know why I didn't think to just crawl under my 99 and see how it looked haha

Edited June 30, 2016 by notlimah

[leathermaneod]

Check out these links

http://rocksolidramtrucksteering.com

and just FYI @dripley's pics look pretty much just like mine so I guess all stock setups are that tight. Thanks for the heads up on the prices btw!

[dripley]

If your wheels have a 0* off set it gives you about 1 3/4" more clearance than the stockers. My 96 had American Racing bullet hole rims. The stood proud of the fenders about 1 1/2", That would have my ball joints clear of the wheels. Pretty much like your previous picture.

[BIG-BLACK-DODGE]

 I just got my kit in. Holy cow are they big compared to the stock set up!!!! Actually my truck had the latest update in it but compared to that this new one is huge !!! I'll take some pictures of my tie rod clearance before and after as well as the kit itself.

Hot off the press! Lol was just made a couple months ago.

She's got some beef to her!!!

[BIG-BLACK-DODGE]

Last picture is what clearance i have with the stock steering. All washed up and ready to install at 9:15 pm lol

goes in for an alignment at 7:00am.

i never thought to order new castle nuts... Oh well we don't use salt on the roads here so they don't look too bad. Stay tuned...

[BIG-BLACK-DODGE]

[notlimah]

What wheels do you have? Looks like you have quite a bit of room compared to stock OEM wheels.

 

From what I've heard, most people just buy new nylon lock nuts for the steering links themselves. 

[notlimah]

Ok so anyone still having questions about this, check out HCb's post on CF. He answers a lot of questions and has plenty of pics. Should be a pretty quick swap!

 

I'll post the link just in case. It's post #778 http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-non-powertrain/372455-09-10-steering-best-322-ever-spent-20.html#post6207660

[BIG-BLACK-DODGE]

12 hours ago, notlimah said:

What wheels do you have? Looks like you have quite a bit of room compared to stock OEM wheels.

 

From what I've heard, most people just buy new nylon lock nuts for the steering links themselves. 

Not sure the brand but they are offset for sure compared to stock. The TRE's are very close to my mangled up vacking plates though! Lol

 

yes i will get some new nuts for them dor sure. 

That's my old steering. NOTE it is/was the lastest updated steering for my truck. (2002 Ram 2500)

I have the steering damper off right now. I shouldbe able to bolt it up easy but i'll need a sleeve because the bolt on that new steering is smaller in diameter. 

This is the bew steering setup. 

Fits very close to my dust shields. But mine are bent a bit and i need new ones. 

This is the new steering installed. 

It seems as though the ball joont studs don't have much grease in them??? I will bump some in with a needle greaser since these r none greasable. 

I was able to grab the passenger side tie rod and u can hear a slight noise like there is a bit of play. We'll see if that goes away when I grease them. 

On the last pic here u can see when the wheels are turned to the right i believe the clearance is very close to the sway bar link. I forget how close the stock one is. 

My truck gas the 2" leveling springs. I think the extra height helps this swap work compared to if i had a stock truck height. ???

Ok so i took it for a drive late last night.  I just put it as close to the way the other steering was set up as I could and even though it was off quite a bit by the time I road tested it WOW what a difference !!!  It feels like a sports car now ha ha .  I honestly thought at first it wasn't going to make much of a difference but it makes a big difference and also I find my suspension seems a lot softer now like as if the bumps were getting transferred into the steering before, rather than the suspension??? I don't feel every little bump now. 

 It still wanders though and I think it's because of my steering box, there seems to be about an inch and a half of movement in the steering before the wheel starts to turn when the truck is shut off I think it should be a lot tighter than that . 

I took it in for an alignment and after test driving it again it still feels like my suspension just works better everything is just plain and simple better but the truck still pulls to the right and now I have to research that because I think I heard somewhere that second gens were famous for this.

 Anyway I'm done posting for a while I feel as though I've kind of hijack this thread ha ha. 

I am really curious to hear the OP's findings with his steering upgrade. 

One last thing I will say is my old steering was definitely worn on its way out so I wonder how my truck would have felt had I just put the stock steering back in it???  I guess I'll never know now LOL   Either way this steering I have now is just so much beefier and looks so much more durable. 

Edited June 30, 2016 by BIG-BLACK-DODGE

[notlimah]

Awesome stuff! I take it the install went pretty easy?!

 

No worries on the 'thread jack' we're talkin about the same thing so might as well have it in the same post!

 

Also, let me know how the TRE holds up to the needle grease.

 

I'll be getting mine thrown on the truck sometime this weekend.

 

 

[BIG-BLACK-DODGE]

8 minutes ago, notlimah said:

Awesome stuff! I take it the install went pretty easy?!

 

No worries on the 'thread jack' we're talkin about the same thing so might as well have it in the same post!

 

Also, let me know how the TRE holds up to the needle grease.

 

I'll be getting mine thrown on the truck sometime this weekend.

 

 

Yes very easy install. Took me about 1.5 hrs but that's me crawling around on the driveway runing back and forth for tools ( shop not totally built yet) 

very straight forward install. Just have 3 nuts to take off and the steering dampner. 

I am going to probably change the steering box next or read up and see if i can tighten it up maybe. I think i read somewhere that you can put the newer style steering box in that only has 3 turns lock to lock instead of 4.5. 

That would make it feel like a brand new truck i bet. 

 

 

I will put a D.O.R steering brace in last because i feel that is kind of a band aid fix. 

It is supposed to make a big difference from what i'm told. 

As for the needle grease i'll put some in then maybe a dab if silicone where the hole is.

When you get yours installed grab it on the left side close to the TRE and give it a good shake and see if u hear a little clunking noise.

 

Edited June 30, 2016 by BIG-BLACK-DODGE

[TFaoro]

For those who see this thread and do some off-roading, I would definitely recommend having some sort of leveling kit or cutting the stud off of pitman arm joint. On a stock height truck, a couple inches of deflection will cause the stud to hit the bar that runs between the two knuckles.

[notlimah]

That's good to hear!

 

I got my steering brace from Vulcan and I think it definitely helped out a good amount. I'm sure DOR makes a solid one as well. Are you still using the stock track bar? If so I'd upgrade that next before the steering brace, I'd go DOR here as well, it's what I'm running as well and I'm really happy with it.

 

As far as steering box goes, I'd look at just rebuilding your OEM one if you can afford to have your truck down for a bit. Leathermans post goes into some good info on this.

 

Tyler, didn't you mention before that yours still hit even with your level kit?

Edited June 30, 2016 by notlimah

[TFaoro]

18 minutes ago, notlimah said:

Tyler, didn't you mention before that yours still hit even with your level kit?

 

Yes.... But I hit something I wouldn't want to hit with a rock crawler  Maybe a trophy truck! I'm pretty sure with the leveling kit it still bounced off of the bump stops.

 

I think you'd be perfectly fine with some of it cut off of the end.

Edited June 30, 2016 by TFaoro

[BIG-BLACK-DODGE]

9 hours ago, notlimah said:

That's good to hear!

 

I got my steering brace from Vulcan and I think it definitely helped out a good amount. I'm sure DOR makes a solid one as well. Are you still using the stock track bar? If so I'd upgrade that next before the steering brace, I'd go DOR here as well, it's what I'm running as well and I'm really happy with it.

 

As far as steering box goes, I'd look at just rebuilding your OEM one if you can afford to have your truck down for a bit. Leathermans post goes into some good info on this.

 

Tyler, didn't you mention before that yours still hit even with your level kit?

Cool i check out rebuilding myself but does it change it to a tighter steering? Like 3 turns instead of 4.5 lock to lock? I'll read up on it.

 

As for the steering brace i have always heard how it makes a huge difference. I like DOR's because it only attaches to one frame rail. Thet say that the other style that goes frim frame to frame will take out your steering box eventually and i have a friend that put one on and right away his steering box started leaking... DOR. Explains why/how it happens and it makes sense to me. 

As far as the track bar goes i just didn't want to spend that kind of money on this old beast for one bar lol. I bought the Napa one and i think it's guaranteed for life. Heard the 3rd gen style is the way to go though. Maybe later...

Right now my big problem is it pulls to the right. My tires are new Duratracks ( 35"x16) and some people say certain tires pull to the right??? Not sure but the first thing i'm going to do is get that slop out of the steering box because it's brutal. It's not the original box i don't think. And even the steering shaft plays a roll so i'll look into a borgeson one. 

Fun to mod but i wish this stuff was cheaper. 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2016 by BIG-BLACK-DODGE

[notlimah]

10 minutes ago, BIG-BLACK-DODGE said:

Cool i check out rebuilding myself but does it change it to a tighter steering? Like 3 turns instead of 4.5 lock to lock? I'll read up on it.

 

As for the steering brace i have always heard how it makes a huge difference. I like DOR's because it only attaches to one frame rail. Thet say that the other style that goes frim frame to frame will take out your steering box eventually and i have a friend that put one on and right away his steering box started leaking... DOR. Explains why/how it happens and it makes sense to me. 

As far as the track at goes i just didn't want to spend that kind of money on this old beast for one bar lol. I bought the Napa one and i think it's guaranteed for life. Heard the 3rd gen style is the way to go though. Maybe later...

Right now my big problem is it pulls to the right. My tires are new Duratracks ( 35"x16) and some people say certain tires pull to the right??? Not sure but the first thing i'm going to do is get that slop out of the steering box because it's brutal. It's not the original box i don't think. And even the steering shaft plays a roll so i'll look into a borgeson one. 

Fun to mod but i wish this stuff was cheaper. 

 

AFAIK the rebuild WILL make the steering tighter but just a straight rebuild won't change the amount of turns lock to lock. From what I've heard from companies like redhead they suggest sticking with the 4.5 turns lock to lock for our trucks, but obviously go with whatever you prefer.

 

I've heard the same thing about the steering brace, but I've had mine on for a while now with no leaking or other issues. I may however in the future swap over to the DOR brace just because I like their design, but that'd only be if I had money to blow haha!

 

I know the bars not cheap but it's one of the only track bars specifically designed for the 2nd gen, so just something to consider.

 

Don't these trucks always pull to the right? I thought that was the norm but maybe I've just accepted it as the norm haha