Steering Wander?

[Russ Roth]

I did both on mine and the upper adjustment was way out. My steering wheel did not seem to have excess play but certainly must have had more than it should. I just checked it yesterday and it has virtually no real noticeable play now. I can one hand it pretty easy in almost any driving situation including towing. The only place it has a bit of back and forth is on those darn ruts from studded tires if they are pretty deep. My PW drives great but does the very same thing in the same spot. Not sure about the Durango since I almost never drive that rig. All 3 rigs drive very well.

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

Unfortunately already wasted the money on the stabilizer. My borgeson box is sittin in the garage waiting for it to warm up so I can put it on. Since my truck is QCLB it won't fit in the garage so I can shut the door. What 3rd gen track bar do you recommend there is alot of them out there.

are you talking about the actual shock stabilizer or steering brace? if it is the brace, it is a good investment for anyone running oversized tires and or offroads a lot. the brace will keep the sector shaft bearin/bushing from premature wear. if its a daily driver with normal tires i wouldnt invest in it. i run 35" tires and offroad a lot so i need it especially with tue original box.

[white buffalo]

As a newbie I'll drop 2 cents here. The steering gear adjustments are the best steering improvements I have done to both my 12V and 24V trucks. I had to do both adjustments on a new rebuilt steer gear. I also agree the steering brace could take away some lateral stress to the gear output, maybe extending some wear in that area. But as a fix to steering slop, it won't work in my experience anyway.

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

As a newbie I'll drop 2 cents here. The steering gear adjustments are the best steering improvements I have done to both my 12V and 24V trucks. I had to do both adjustments on a new rebuilt steer gear. I also agree the steering brace could take away some lateral stress to the gear output, maybe extending some wear in that area. But as a fix to steering slop, it won't work in my experience anyway.

the steering brace took out a lot of slop on my worn steering gear so it does work as advertised.

[hex0rz]

What about this product? Anyone use it before? http://rocksolidramtrucksteering.com/

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

What about this product? Anyone use it before? http://rocksolidramtrucksteering.com/

this i hear works if in fact your steering wheel shaft bushing is worn and there is radial play in the steering shaft going to the steering box.

[white buffalo]

[h=2][/h]

What about this product? Anyone use it before? http://rocksolidramtrucksteering.com/

This works well for a worn lower steering column bushing. It took away an annoying clunk I had in my 94, while turning. On my install it actually tightened things a little too much. The steering wheel wouldn't return to center. I took it back apart and had to remove a little material from the inside with sandpaper, and oil it good before reassembly. Works like a champ now.

[Direwolf]

How much if any play should there be in the steering box if I grab the pitman arm and move it back a forth? or should it be rock solid? I can get a 1/16 or so of movement. Will the over center take this out?

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

preferably zero slack, but i dont think 1/16" will hurt on just the steering box, but it is magnified via the radii of all the arms and such and is also cumulative from one end of the steering to the balljoints.every joint adds a little play. so if you have 1/16" on the steering, on the pitman joint to draglink, to steering knuckle, to balljoint, factor in the tie rod and trakbar...yer lookin at 1/8" on each wheel of play. this isnt good and doesnt even factor in the radial magnification. hope this helps

[Rogan]

there should be zero lateral movement in the pitman arm's shaft. My 2001 had a good bit which caused quite a bit of wandering.. I put a steering box stabilizer on and it took all of it away.

[Cummin Dodge]

are you talking about the actual shock stabilizer or steering brace? if it is the brace, it is a good investment for anyone running oversized tires and or offroads a lot. the brace will keep the sector shaft bearin/bushing from premature wear. if its a daily driver with normal tires i wouldnt invest in it. i run 35" tires and offroad a lot so i need it especially with tue original box.

I was talking about the brace I'm only runnin 265/70R17 I doubt I really need it but I have wasted money in worse ways before.

[Rogan]

Given the weight of the Cummins, the age of these suspensions, I wouldn't call adding a steering brace a waste of money. My 2001 steered 100 times better than without it.. It took out about 90% of my steering wander.

[dripley]

The steering brace did help mine a fair amount. Replacing the rest of the tie rods, ends, ball joints, and track bar made the most difference. Guess I should not be to stunned since I finally replaced them 220K.

[joecool911]

My mechanic, who does anything I don't do myself is a real advocate of using OEM parts for anything that has bearings or wear surfaces. He's convinced that parts store stuff is all made in china with cheap metal. When he did my front hubs for instance, he used Timken hubs. Water pumps, wheel bearings, and even ball joints he claims do not perform adequately from Napa, CarQuest, etc.. My truck has wander too be calls it memory steer. Takes exaggeratd movement to bring it back from last steer direction. And I get pushed around pretty bad by passing cars/trucks on the freeway while towing my travel trailer. He thinks its ball joints on my truck. Precious owner had them replaced, but the hubs were replaced before too and I know the shop he had it done at uses Napa parts. Apparently there are knerals in the ball joints that get kinda crushed into place to fit tight. He's had nothing but problems with aftermarket ball joints. He has had to replace water pumps in just a few thousand miles from Napa. Not picking on Napa, all aftermarket stores carry the same stuff. There can be a pretty significant difference in price on these parts vs Dodge/Cummins. But he claims its the only way to go. He's fair with labor, so overall cost isn't too bad.

[Rogan]

I partly disagree with your mechanic, as far as OEM is the only way to go.Theoretically, if the OEM parts were so much 'better', then there shouldn't be any new car/truck returning from the dealer for service/repairs.. :shrug:As for dripley's comment, that is true. In my case, I had already replaced bearings, ball joints, TREs, track bar, etc., but still had a significant amount of steering input required to keep the truck straight.. Like 60* of steering input to stay straight in my lane on the highway. That's a lot of correction. The Steering Brace, for $100 or whatever I paid for it, reduced that by half!My steering gear box had a lot of lateral play in the output shaft. The SB put that in check..

[Cummin Dodge]

I found my issue, I decided to buy the borgeson box since I thought I had play in the one in the truck. So I bought one and took out the old on only to find out my true problem. The guy that owned the truck before me replaced the box and put the wrong length bolt in the end of the steering shaft so it was slipping on the splines and made it really weird to drive. Ordered a new borgeson shaft and boom trucks drives like a dream now. I really wish I could take the guy I bought my truck from out back and :banghead: this isn't the first time his mechanic skills have bit me in the butt.

[cajflynn]

I agree with your mechanic that it is probably ball joints. Are they greasable? Does your truck continue to turn after you let go of the wheel in a turn?

[ram350002]

I've been there, done that. Everything previously mentioned and the SINGLE biggest improvement or bang for the buck was a Borgeson Quick Ratio Steering Box. Take this for what its worth and hopefully it will save you some cash. One thing you do need to do it make sure everything else is in good working order.

[IW378]

I thought I read that the borgeson boxes were not worth the money as they had problems with them ? Did they get all the wrinkles worked out?Luke