I was driving through a dirt parking lot and heard a pop from up font. Now the steering wheel is not centered when I am going straight. I stopped and looked underneath. I grabbed the tie rods and tried to move them, they didn't move. So anyone know what could be wrong? Thanks.

 

You could have hit hard enough to pop a thread or three loose from your tie rod, Ive done it many times in my Baja, but these Dakotas are strong, youd have to hit pretty hard. As long as the thread isnt stripped, you could just do an alignment and possibly need a shim kit which is cheaper than tie rod ends. A factor to that might be if youre wheels are straight, see if one of them are poking off to another direction.

Its also possible you simply lost a bolt and cotter pin on your lower which will cause the affecting side to go bald quick, and when you floor it, it feels like the front end is twisting.

 

Tons of possibilities. Could be tie rod ends, like you said. Pitman arm, Idler arm. Steering shaft. Just got to go look. Do not drive it till it is fixed.

 

Jacked up each side one at a time. Grabbed the tire at 12 and 6 and tried to move it, to check ball joints. I didn't feel any play on each side. Wile it was up grabbed the tire at 3 and 9 and tried to move it to check the tie rods, no play. Looked over all of the steering linkage and nothing seemed wrong. Took it for a ride around the block, turned around, and as I turned the wheel i heard the pop again. So could it be the steering box? Whats left?

 

Figured it out! One of the bolts to adjust the camber came loose on the passenger side front tire. Anyone know the torque specs for that bolt?

 

can you feel it on the floor of the truck? mine did the same and i checked for play and found nothing. out of desperation i knew it was in the steering so i replaced the pitman arm, problem solved.
if your ball joints, tie rods and idler arm are all good it's hard to tell if the pitman arm is bad. the same goes for a bad idler arm if everything else is good.
my idler arm did go shortly afterward so it might be a good idea to replace them as a pair. save you time in the long run and there cheap.

 

210 Nzm (155 ft. lbs.) torque

 

Nevermind

 

hate being a slow typer. thats pretty rare i had to beat each bolt off with 220lbs of torque with an air gun for 5 minutes each. if you checked it 6-12 you should of had movement at the top of the tire? and you could see the tire leaning in or out at the top. you cannot have the tire moving left or right because there is ridges on the arm and mount. you can only move the top a-arm in or out. i tried to angle the upper control arm out and it just slipped back straight ahead.
somewhere here i got the exact measurements for the upper control arm after a 2 inch lift but nobody seems to care.