I've searched and searched and searched to no avail.

Question for you guys at DodgeForum; When i make a left or right hand turn in my truck the truck turns, but it feels in the steering wheel that it wants to go back to straight? like i have to force(hold) the wheel to the right or left and i can feel it pulling back to the center (sensation)? If that makes any sense. Sometimes i hear noises going around not quite 90 degree turns (like at a stop light and you make a right turn) but like 130 degree turns (kind of like when you are at a stop sign making a left hand turn and you have to go around the median to enter the lane of travel). It sounds very familar to a bad trackbar and the noises that it makes when failing.

Truck is a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT (Club Cab) 5.9L 360 V8.
Brand new steering stabilizer shock, four brand new shocks around the truck.
Front passanger side wheel hub/bearings have been replaced in the the last 1000 miles.
Front drivers wheel hub/bearings is checked as a-ok.
Front drivers & passangers ball-joints checked as a-ok.
Trackbar: DT PROFAB TrackBar (put on in 2007, I just hit 30,000 miles on the stock bushings) i believe this maybe the problem but i am checking with you guys, i bought a rebuild kit and will be putting that on Friday.
Checked: I had buddy rotate steering wheel back and forth, and i saw absolutely no play (out of the ordinary, like with a bad trackbar you can see/notice slop in the bushings) in tierods/steering linkages (everything looked normal, but i'm no mechanic but i am a Do-It-Yourself person) and the trackbar 'looks' solid with no play but that could be deceiving and have bad bushings. I'm out of ideas guys :x.

I'd appreciate anyone's advice/comments/concerns!

Thanks ahead of time guys!
DodgeRAmPower

 

it honestly sounds like its in 4wd. you should maybe check that out.

 

The steering wheel will alway try to return to center on a Dodge if you let go of the wheel it is built into the design of most vehicles. As for the noise I'd check the steering gear and ball joints, it kinda sound like the steering gear may have some play in it and can sometimes cause a noise, normally not but I've seen trucks with that problem before. Also how were the ball joints checked, on jack stands or on a lift, reason I'm asking is if it is on a lift then the results will not be correct, best way to check them is put on some jack stands and use a pry bar under the tires. From working in a dealer for 5yr's I've seen some strange problems so hope this helps you some.

 

do you by any chance have aftermarket wheels with a really negative offset?

 

@ helms The four wheel drive shifter is all the down in 2wd (has been sense last winter). I haven't physically got under the truck to check the transfer-case and the rims i have: http://www.tirefactory.net/Crater.html i have the: Teflon 3984-6885+ 16x8 5-5 1/2 2WD & 4WD 0 4 1/2 on BF goodrich 285/75/16 All Terrain K/O's.
@ sanford35 5.9 the garage i goto jacked one tire at a time (drivers and passanger) and used a long steel bar and wedged it under the tire and another guy checked for play on the backside on the tire. They also checked top and bottom and side to side for play and both sides are tight.

 

Friday i'm going to have my custom garage guy that put the trackbar on, rebuild the trackbar for me and i'll have an alignment done again (its only been maybe 3 months sense i've had it aligned) and hope that it fixes the problem i am having. i hope my steering gear box isn't shot :x.

 

Oh one other thing you can go to a shop and put chassis ears (electric ears) on the front to find the noise. On the ball joints I'd recheck them with jack stands cause a jack can still have some play in the jack and cause a false problem. Dodge has a TSB on how you check the joints. There is a slight adjustment to the top of the steering gear that you can make it is pretty hard to do but if that is loose or making the noise then you can try that before spending hundreds on a new or reman gear.