New to the forum, and already picking brains.

We have a 99 Durango 4x4 with the 5.2L, it's been aligned by a proffessional alignment tech, ball joints replaced with quality aftermarket parts. It's better than it was before, but pulls to the left, and has about 5 inches of play in the wheel. My mechanic is stumped, and frankly, so am I. What other causes could there be? the front tires are wearing on the edges, big flat spots, I dont remember the exact term for it right now. I am wanting to get new tires, but dont want to spend almost 1000 dollars on tires only to chew them up.

In a non-related topic, my engine takes forever to warm up on cold days. I can drive for an hour on the highway, or stop and go city driving, and the needle barely moves and the cabin air does not heat up. What can be the problem here? I have had the evaporator core replaced, could they have messed something up when they did that? The work was not done by my mechanic, but the palce we bought the D from, and I am far from satisfied with their work...as we had to get it aligned after they "aligned" it...

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated,

thanks in advance,

Bear

 

Once your D has been aligned, if the tires are already worn, they will still tend to pull because of the uneven tread. It's best to get new tires and then get it aligned. However, i don't know if the tires are all of the problem you're encountering, the 5inches of play is what is leading me to believe there is another issue.

check the intermediate shaft in the steering column. Get somebody inside to turn the wheel left to right, and look at the play in the shaft. The intermediate shaft is connected to the input shaft of the Rack and Pinion. you're looking for the play in the flex joint.

The engine not warming up can be caused by a stuck thermostat. It's possible that your thermostat has crapped out, but is stuck open as opposed to closed. On cold days your engine is just being over-cooled by the rad. If the coolant is really cold the heat inside the cabin will also be cold. The heater core gets its heat from the engines coolant.

I hope this gives you a starting point of what to look for.
Welcome to DodgeForum

 

oh, also for pulling to the left, an old shock will cause you to pull to one direction. Is the pull constant, or more evident going over bumps?

 

Ok, the cooling issue sounds easy enough to fix, so thats no longer a concern.

As for the pulling issue, when my mechanic worked on it, he rotated the tires all around, and no matter how they were it still pulled. He inspected all suspension parts, and all were within specs. I can talk to him, and see if there's still more that he can check, but he is at a loss for explanations. He's been in the business for well over 15 years, and has worked on many of my vehicles, so I am not worried about quality of work...and when he's stumped, I know its bad. I do appreciate the help and advice, I will stop in and talk to him. My biggest concern, if everything was good with the alignment, wouldnt the wear on the tires eventually correct itself? The outter edges are feathering, the drivers side worse than the passenger, and there has been no improvement, if anything...it's worse. If you have any further ideas to check, I am all ears, thanks again,

Bear

 

there is no way I have the same knowledge as your mechanic of 15 years (I'm only 19)

I'm trying to think of what components will cause a pull.
Tires - if they are already unevenly worn, they will cause a pull, no matter how they are rotated. However, if you switch the tires right to left, the pull should change direction.
Brakes - Dragging brakes (especially front) will make it pull in the direction of the stuck brake
Toe in - toe in will cause feathering on the outside of the tire, and will cause pull in the direction opposite to the tire with more toe in ....... However this issue was addressed with the allignment
Camber - *also addressed with the allignment* positive camber will cause pull in direction opposite the worse camber
shocks - crappy shocks will cause uneven rebound over bumps (if the pull is constant, discredit this)

Is the mechanic doing a 4 wheel allignment, or just the fronts?

That's all i've got left in my mind, I don't know what else to suggest.

 

I do appreciate the replies, and I was not trying to step on any toes, just tryin to see what other things I can look into to get this fixed up. He rotated the tires right to left and back, with no change in the pull. He checked the shocks and said they were good for a while yet, but the pull does not seem to be constant, but that may just be the road as its worse on some roads than others. The pull is not my main concern so much as the steering play, it makes it hard to steer. I appreciate the help, it has started me in a good direction.

Bear

 

Talked to my mechanic the other day, and he gave a few ideas, so it will be going back to him to see about getting it all fixed up. He said it can be something in the steering box itself, or some other hidden problem. Once we get the money saved up, the truck will go to see him.

Thank you for the advice,

Bear