I went back to an OEM length exhaust pipe. I had it dumped off the muffler but grew tired of the extra volume. It was fun at first but I'm over making that much noise. Still happy with the aero turbine's sound but I appreciate the lower volume at low RPMs in the cab with both windows down on my commute.( somewhat quieter outside also, so the neighbors will probably appreciate the reversion as well.)

 

Easy swap and made a world of a difference for me! Remember to really crank down all the nuts on the joints so there is no play. I would like to get a Redhead as well but might hold off till after winter since I have put a good chunk of money into the ram over the last year.

 

Rotated the Mud claws on the 98, oil change on the 98. I'm showing 234,900
on the ODOM, but it had and engine/tranny replacement with 150k miles on
it 4 years ago. When I purchased it it was showing about 218K.

I only run about 5k per year on miles, (second truck also). Keith

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm still tweaking the front end ever since my lift went on. It's getting pretty solid but still has good days and bad. For instance, yesterday it steered nearly perfect for no reason. Most days, I'm all over the road. I know there's play but it's forced play, as in I hear and feel the gear's resistance but it still turns a little before response. I'm hoping it's the Y parts flexing or something. There's also no play in the spring/bearing at the column which is good since I'm in no mood to remove the brake booster to try the rock solid bushing. That just seems way too impossible to install. Plus there's as many bad reviews on it as good. Moog parts should be here today and maybe I'll start tomorrow after church!

 

Since today is almost over.... here goes... I finallly cleaned some, not all, the junk out of it. tried to figure out what the odd noises were and where the drip was coming from inside but ran out of daylight.

 

Drove it like I stole it! :-)

 

Got the HD tie rods all on and did my own alignment and the verdict is . . . .

No change. Steers exactly like before. Still wanders, still leans around a corner, etc. So there's $300 I'd like back. I guess in the defense of it, two boots were tore and all but one TRE were original to the truck. So it wasn't a bad idea to replace them, I was just hoping for a more dramatic difference like the whole world seemed to point out.

Boy, I really need to stop reading this forum. Things like plenum gasket, timing chain, and now HD steering have all cost me much over the years and none of them had to be done nor made any improvement. Ah, sorry, just sort of venting here.

I guess it's on to the Redhead but it'll have to wait for the funds. I just can't bring myself to swap a cheaper gearbox from Napa. My original is not leaking but there's play in it I guess. Nothing else could have play.

 

Check the track bar. They are notorious for causing issues. The 'ball joint' end at the frame was just a bad idea. Upgrading to the third-gen style helps a lot. (bushings on both ends.) of course, that's another 300 bucks.......

 

Check my sig, Hey You. I've run the THuren bar for almost ten years back when track bars were cool

No, I think my issue is still alignment. The diesel trucks have it worse so I've researched for years over on those forums. The best settings I can find are 4deg caster and 0 toe. I don't know what 4 deg looks like but they have said to put the cam bolts straight up. I remember my stock settings were NOT the same side to side. After a shop ruined my alignment, I have no way of knowing where they were. I had it almost perfect except for some slop driving which should be the box.

 

went to the pick a part today and grabbed a passengers side door lock actuator
unfortunately I couldnt test it with my jump pack because someone had ripped
apart the fuse box BUT for $5 figured it was worth a shot.. current actuator
occasionally wont lock.