I know there is alot of threads about these trucks steering like crap... well I have some questions.

Mine has steered like crap pretty much the entire time ive had it (about 3 years). Its got about 103,000 miles on it. Ive replaced trac bar, shocks, and just put new ball joints in there... I also finally got around to putting in my rock solid ram steering fix bushing , which was the most overpriced POS ive ever put in the truck for waht it did, its absoulutely worthless and looks to be designed by a 13 year old wannabe engineer. anyways...

I thought the ball joints would fix my problems, and they helped alot (they were really really really bad) but it still doesnt drive like it should. It feels to me like the driving lane is a bowling lane and there is bumpers out, it goes back and forth and back and forth, And I constantly have to correct it. If the profile of the lane changes instantly my wheel has to be slightly turned to compensate for it.
It had an alignment like 4 months ago, and I just adjusted the steering box when I did the ball joints.

Its just sucks becasue I honestly can say I love this truck, I just HATE the way it steers!!! its rediculous and I have a hard time driving for more than 15 mins without getting extremely pissed... Its just frusterating.

Ive driven behind my truck before with my friend driving the truck and its all over the road, much more than the rams I see around here.

But what gets me is my steering is tight, when im driving like 1 inch at the top of the steering wheel makes it turn, and when your not feeling the wander it feels incredibly tight for a 100k truck.

I have a thought in the back of my head about a pitman arm... seems like I remember reading somewhere that they go bad and casue steering problems... ??? ...

Tie rods feel tight when I grab the tire when its off the ground, but im not competely ruling them out.

I need help becasue ive come to the conclusion that this truck will no longer be my daily driver and im looking into getting a car for this very reason and I would like to get it fixxed.

btw, just recently my steering box has developed a leak right around the pitman arm, I dont know if this could contribute in any way.

 

Try changing out the rag joint.

Change the pittman arm.

Change the idler arm.

Those big tires dont help any either.

My **** slopped arround like a boat. Changed those three things, felt right as rain.

 

4x4's don't have an Idler Arm.

 

What's a rag joint?

 

tis the "bushing" in the steering column.

 

Intermidiate steering shaft. its the peice that goes between the column and steering box (in the engine compartment). the splines and rag joint (like indyram said) wear out, i just bought my new one.

Also check out aftermarket steering stabilizers. When you get into wider tires (im assuming yours are 12.5") they like to wander on the road. This is due to the ruts ion the road created by all the other cars over the years, and since the ruts were made by mostly skinny tires, your wide ones will ride the edges of the rut with the edges of the tire tread, instead of the center of the tread, causing it to search for a stable center. A stabilizer will minimize this effect. Skyjacker recommends to use a single for up to 35" tire, and a double for 35" and over, but you will see a benefit from doing a double with your 33s.

 

When I had my steering shaft out to put in the bushing, I twisted that shaft by hand and it felt tight... when they go are they kind of a "bindy" tight... casue I excepted it would be a clunk clunk type and could feel it.

My truck has a aftermarket rough country cheapie steering stabilizer on it that is less than a year old.
I know that the big tires hurt me for this, and I noticed it slightly when I put them on but it wasnt drastic.

One thing that I thought of right after I posted this message is, all of this started getting bad after I hit this really big curb at 35 mph (I did have a thread about it maybe someone remembers) and my ball joints were actually BROKEN because of it. Im thinking the impact might of broken my new track bar. I dident think to even check it because its new and dident put 2 and 2 together.
I will check into it more this weekend.

Any other ideas would be great!

 

I agree with helms about the ruts in the road. I do think you are having issues with your steering, but there will always be a little float in there as long as you have big tires on it. I remember my dad used to have a Geo Tracker and the wheel base was so short that the car literally bounced back and forth from one rut to the other constantly.

But definently keep looking into the issue.

 

It sounds like you knocked the toe out. get an alignment

 

First thing, pitman arms don't go bad on 4x4s. They are a hunk of metal-can't wear out. 2wds have a ball joint on the pitman arm.

Secondly, road ruts is the funniest reason I've ever heard for Ram crap steering! There's something wrong in the linkage or steering gear, not in the road. There's a difference between steering against a groove in the lane and see-sawing the wheel because there's no response due to 2-3 inches of play.

I got 85-90k miles on stock original parts cross country several times and my steering was as good as a race car. I could never figure out what everyone was complaining about. Then I had a u-joint causing jerky return and it was mis-diagnosed as a bad track bar. Had the track bar replaced and THEN the steering went to crap. Get that? After a NEW track bar was installed, there was 2-3 inches of play. Every shop I go to says everything is tight and aligned. I now believe its in the steering gear itself but the point is, these trucks can and did steer like a dream! For many thousands of miles! So there's gotta be something wrong and not just a rut in the road. Hilarious.