Just a suggestion, but hold off on the bigger tires and sort out ALL the steering wander first. Take a close look at your track bar ends. Can cause a lot of flex

 

And look at idler arm and pitman arm. After doing this and the ball joint, you will need to have the alighnment done again.

How many miles on truck? Any and all wear items on steering and suspension are probably in need of replacement.

 

^+1 now that you're this far in, might wanna look at the control arm bushings as well.

 

I'm New to this Forum thing. So hello to everyone I also have steering slop. I also agree to replacing anything that looks like it needs replacing. However with my truck, my steering box is leaking. So my question is, do I get a remanufactured one or a new one? If a new one, what brand. I have an 01 Ram, 1500, quad cab, sport. I'm running 38" Nitto mud grapplers on 20" chrome wheels. A lot of extra weight. The truck just wants to wander. I also heard I could use a box from a 2500 or a 3500. So new to this forum thing that I'm not even sure if I'm posting this properly. Thanks

 

You want a Red Head steering box.

 

+1 on the Redhead. Seems to be the best replacement out there! It costs a little more, but if it is the last one you have to replace, it pays ffor itself over time.

 

FWIW, I had a pretty good case of wandering front end. I had the front wheel bearings repacked and re-torqued and it fixed it 100%. If the wheel bearings are loose, the tires themselves will wobble and follow the cracks and ruts in the road, like mine was.

 

Loose wheel bearings is pretty scary!

 

thanks for the info on the brand of steering box to get. My road wander isn't horrible. But i find myself holding the wheel tight. Appreciate it
tom