i have about a 250 lb.and abot 400 lb. or more of stuff in the back. would the weight affect the steering and make the inside of my front tires wear? it steered a little bad when it was empty but the more weight i add the worst it gets. i replaced the track bar, stablizer shock, axle seals, u joints, newer ball joints, tie rods and every thing else looks fine. if i add a spring or somthing would that help?or do i need adjustable ball joints or???

[the truck is not fully loaded in this photo]

im stumped on witch thing to try next. thanks for any help!!!
THE GOOSE

 

I'm not trying to sound assinine here, but did you try a front end alignment?

 

i have a appointmet next week to get a allinment, but the truck drives straight down the road.the steering is just very senitive.

 

i'm not sure about your weight, but i know about 1000-1500 pounds of firewood sure makes one skate.
this will fix it, but the ride is a little stiff.
http://www.timbren.com/timbren-appli...dodge-jeep.htm
(the fronts are for snow plows)

 

Alignments address more than just wheel pull ("Caster" angle). They address "Toe" adjustments which can lead to tire wear too. Your Ram is not adjustable for "Camber" unless someone has changed out the factory ball joints with adjustables. So caster (which can result in wheel pull, but not tire wear), and toe are all that are adjustable on your truck. You can have bad toe settings and have the truck drive straight down the road. Don't assume just because it drives straight that your alignment is right.

I would recommend having the alignment checked and adjusted. Also if you have more than 60,000 miles on your shocks, I'd bet they are bad too which can also lead to tire wear.

To answer your question though, your truck is designed to carry payloads well in excess of what your claiming you have, so I don't think any adverse steering effects can happen as a result of having 500# in the back.

 

THANKS NHLBILL FOR THE INFO! you answered all my questions hopfully the alliment next week fixes it. i was already planing on changing the shocks to.

THANKS!

 

if your going to be carrying a bunch of weight on the back quite often id reconmend a set of air bags as well they will help out your ride alot and if you have an uneven load (more weight on one side) you can level the truck with them

there main page
http://www.fsip.com/riderite/
here is the application listing for you
http://www.fsip.com/riderite/applica...h/dodge.shtml#
and the installation instructions (so you know what they look like)
http://www.fsip.com/pdfs/RR/installationmanuals/RideRite_Kits/RR%202071(DPU92A)/rrin2071.pdf

as for 500 lbs afecting the steering/tire ware, i cant see that happening but id also think a cabnet like that loaded up would be more than 500 lbs...when you get your alignment done they will tell you if anything is wore out in the front end to ie. ball joints, wheel barrings, ect

 

i had a bad ball joint on the left side and the a bad tie rod end on the right side both could move a good 1/4 inch if not more but mine drove straight down the road so u could have parts bad and it still drives straight

 

The other thing I forgot, is make sure you have your truck loaded like you normally would when you take it in for the alignment. That can make a big difference too when talking about large payloads.

Sometimes we ask the customer to be in the vehicle when we do the aligment if they are really big and the car is small. Sounds funny, but it can make a difference in drivability, as yours might with your constant load.

 

i thought about air bags but never installed them before and didnt know if the weight was my problem. pending on what the allinment shop says i may get a set of air bags.
THANKS