Finally got around to replacing the headlights. Also did the distributor cap and rotor but it is still a little slow to start up. Looks like I'll be replacing the plugs and wires now! Hard to do that with all the surgery I went through so I'll have the wife help (; Unfortunately, a rust hole just popped up on my driver side rear door so I'm currently looking around for a replacement. I could patch the hole but I would rather just paint a new one! Seeing as I'm in Texas where there are rust free trucks, it sure does make it easy.

So there is a ton of play in the steering. Where should I start? I know most people do the ball joints and whatnot. I'll have to get in touch with my dad to see what he recently replaced. Should I invest in a Rock Solid steering upgrade? I was also thinking about trying out that fix where you tighten up the steering box.

 

While your wife is helping you with the plugs/wires/etc, go thru the steering as well. inspect EVERYTHING, from the base of the column, all the way out to the tires. See what moves that shouldn't, or, what doesn't move, that should, take it from there.

 

Sounds good! Gonna have her help when she comes home from work today. Went to the junkyard and picked up a nice door! It's green but there's no rust so hopefully the paint turns it out decent. Went to Canyon Lake the other day and took a nice picture of the truck.

 

After closer inspection, it looks like my steering gear/box is bad. At least it's not that bushing on the column haha! Doesn't look too hard to replace so I'll order that today.

 

Careful with those.... I would be more tempted to get one locally, so you can inspect it before installation, and if you don't like it, it's easier/cheaper to return. The stock reman units are real hit and miss when it comes to the quality of the rebuild.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be looking at the nearby auto parts stores for price comparisons. Maybe I'll take a look at that TSB regarding the preload adjustment for a temporary fix...

 

I just got a door for my 97 1500 club cab. The door came off of a 96 extended crew cab. Will the front drivers door match up? I want to know before i start tearing it apart. Thanks

 

Crew cab? So far as I know, the 96 model year only came in a two-door version?

 

Its an extended cab Dodge, that has 4 doors. The regular doors in the front, and the 1/2 doors in the back. I need to know if the front door from an extended cab will fit the front of a club cab?

 

They came as either a single cab, or an extended cab. The 98 and later trucks have the half doors on the rear. These doors will not interchange with the older trucks.

98 and newer extended cab doors will interchange with each other only.
94 to 97, any door will interchange.
94 to 02 (or whatever the last year was) single cab (front seat only trucks) will interchange with 94 to 97 extended cabs.

Dodge may have used different names for these cabs when they changed models, but these above are the general terms used when comparing the two types of cabs.

Hope this helps.