Hi there. First post, but have learned a lot here.

I have a '97 2500 that is my beater truck. it is the 5.9 standard cab, long box, auto and twin 60s. I have painted it a lovely shade of rattle can black. It is sitting on 2" leveling spacers in front, stock rear and 35" tires.

It was pretty rough when I got it, but the price was right. The front end was shot, so I replaced everything. Rides much nicer now.

I did the 98+ HD steering conversation. Y to T and all that stuff. I ran into a few issues that I didn't come across earlier as I was researching. Appreciate the collective experience here.

i know I used all the right PNs. Triple checked. And everything bolted on nicely.


1. Drivers side tie rod end is pretty deep on the knuckle. This was a Moog unit and was kind of spendy. It showed so much tread that the castle nut was about 1/16" below the hole for the cotter pin. I put a couple washers under the nut and retorqued. Problem solved. Normal?


2. Drag link and pitman arm tie rod end. I can get the drag link short enough. They are totally butted up against each other in the adjusting sleeve. But if needs about 1/4" less overall length to center the steering wheel. It is about 10 degrees of center to the left. Drives great, but I know the steering box should be centered. Common. I think this will solve itself, when my longer track bar comes and I can slide the axle back over to the passenger side.


3. Steering stabilizer. The old setup had the high stabilizer mounted off the drag link. I am not seeing an obvious way to make that work. What are you all doing for a stabilizer. Easy enough to just bolt a bracket over the tie road and weld a little bracket to the front axle, but wanted to check in.


Thanks guys! :-)


BTW, these are the parts i used.

The parts numbers for the 98-99 HD steering components are:
- Drag link: DS1459
- Long tie rod (passenger side: DS1456
- Left tie rod end (driver side): ES3496
- Drag link upper end (at pitman arm): ES3497 (ES3527 for '00-'02)
- Small adjusting sleeve (drag link): ES2012S
- Large adjusting sleeve (long tie rod): ES3498S

 

Wouldn't worry about the knuckle issue. The tapers may have changed over the years.

The drag link didn't give me any trouble at all but I have a 3" lift. Not sure on that one. I have read that on 00-02 trucks when using the 4th gen kit they have to cut some length off the rod. But I was able to adjust my steering wheel just fine and there's room in the adjuster still.

The stabilizer you can just do without. If you really want one, after market kits exist or you can make your own bracket. I was fortunate that 99 came with a bolt on bracket so I just put it on the new rod but haven't actually ran a stabilizer yet and I really don't miss it.

You can find a lot of info on this on diesel forums. Search google for best results.

EDIT: There's a major flaw in the MOOG parts!!! The ball joint boot at the passenger knuckle has been changed from a puck style to a boot style. This allows the rods to twist around and change the length of the drag link. It is a major flaw and some companies are aware. The linkage will move and stay off center until turned the other way. I fixed it by installing flat washers between the ball joints and knuckles to keep the tie rod from twisting. It is now nice and level and doesn't twist. Look into it. AC Delco still makes the puck style which was OEM. I guess Moog decided to cheap out.