Hey all, a few months back I posted regarding loose steering in my '84 Ram. Hard to track straight on a moderately rutted road, too hard really. Received nice responses regarding fixes (steering shaft & linkage replacement or adjustment, etc.) but the real reason was one I didn't expect. After a few months of on/off (mostly off) working on it to try to fix it I finally had my nephew sit in the truck and twist the wheel left and right while I got under and watched the linkage. Hmmm, everything looked tight as usual. And then... WHOA! The frame where the steering box is attached is flexing like crazy! A little further investigation reveals that the 2 rivets holding the frame together in the front were VERY loose, I could literally push them up and down in their hole about a 1/4"! I got out the hacksaw and removed the rivets, went to Home Depot and got 2 new 1/2" nuts and bolts, installed them in place of the rivets. Took the truck for a ride... LIKE NIGHT AND DAY! Way better, I couldn't believe it.

Here I was worried about a $300 fix, cost me $3.10 and about 45 minutes of time, unbelieveable. My luck never goes that way.

Later!

 

Steering couplers on the dodge trucks seem to go bad quite a bit as well. They are getting to be discontinued for the 1st gen rams, but you might look at that too and see if you have any slop in the coupler. This part is only about $30 from the Dodge dealer if you can find them. Otherwise its a new steering shafter for about $200.