Heya all you happy Ramheads. I'm relatively new to Dodge trucks, though I've got a fair amount of experience working on vehicles in general. The 2500 I bought recently has a steering problem that I haven't dealt with before.

The steering has a lot of play, but only to the left. I'd say I have close to 35 or 40 degrees of play to the left of center before the truck really starts to turn. By contrast, the steering to the right is almost too responsive, to the point where the truck is a little unstable.

The truck otherwise handles ok, with the usual squeaks and squaks of any 14 year old vehicle. But driving in narrow lanes or on roads with no shoulder tends to make me nervous. I had the brakes done about a week ago with a full inspection, the mechanic didn't mention anything unusual underneath.

Any general impressions about what could be wrong?

 

Worn Ball joint?

 

yeah i had alot of play in mine in both directions but i recently got $2500 of work done including upper and lower ball joint replacement on both sides and i had a loose tie rod. i also got new U-joints on the front and an alignment. after all that the play in the steering wheel is gone and it rides much smoother.

 

Mine had the same sort of symptoms the track bar was shot replaced was good to go again

 

yeah id bet on the track bar also but don't buy a new track bar it will just wear out again in no time... but this thing called lukes link... it replaces the ball joint type joint in the track bar so you don't have to replace the whole track bar and its adjustable so if it wears you can tighten it up... and its much cheaper than a whole track bar.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Once I have access to a garage, I'll start looking more thoroughly into these things.