1997 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9L

Its time to work on my steering issues. There are so many, I figured I'd ask where to start, what would you do type question. First, the steering wheel is positioned at about the 3 o'clock to drive straight. Second, both front tires have serious uneven tire wear, the treads closest to the truck show wire and the outter roadside tread is barely worn. Third, it wobbles like mad when rolling down the road. Fourth, there is fluid coming out of the axle on the driver side.

Where do I start? Do I get the steering straight first then look into the alignment? Any suggestions would be great. I can post pics if they help. I figure at the least I'm in for new steering stablizer and steering box supports. Then take it somewhere for alignment. Is there anything I can do, or test, or fix on my own?

Thanks.

 

Steering stabilizer is a waste of money.

Check tie rod ends and ball joints. And track bar.

You can reposition the steering wheel by adjusting the drag link.

You can do your own alignement with a few jacks and 15 feet of string.

Google that part.

 

Ok, thanks for the reply. I just was reading on tie rod and ball joint replacement. I did notice that the alignment bar on the drag link is not clamped in the adjuster clamps.

 

The absolute FIRST thing you do is search for NEW tires!!! Get online to get quotes, call the shops, etc.

Then you drive there with care, maybe even pull the spare to replace the worse of the front tires.

Dude...you're a couple blowouts away from taking out a bus load of nuns!!

I'm being serious though. Driving with the wire showing?? Getting an alignment, which would capture other issues by a "reputable" shop will not change the tire wear. It will also make your components worse b/c the tires are so effed up.

 

The first thing you need to is get some new front tires right away, as already mentioned, even if there used they will be way better than what you have now.
My truck was in the same condition as yours when I got it, except for the tires. All of the suspension was beyond worn out, as yours is now. The first thing I had done was all new shocks, and brakes, as well as the sway bar end links. A couple of months after that I had the tie rods replaced, they were so worn out you could see the play in the joints when the steering wheel was turned. So with the new tie rods, shocks and end links it felt like a new truck. I still need to have the steering gear box replaced because its worn out and causes the steering to wander going down the road.
The fluid you see leaking out of the axle on the left side is gear oil, and its leaking because the inner axle seal is bad and needs to be replaced. This is pretty much a dealer repair only, because most repair wont do it because the whole axle needs to be disassembled to replace the seals, and it takes special tools to get the new seals in place. Also, you want to have both seals done at the same time.

 

If you replace steering components go with moog very good parts. Rockauto has than cheaper than most I've seen. Fixed my dodge Rams drifting issue

 

Thanks for all of the replies. Just to be clear, I am not driving it. It is now parked and I am slowly going through everything and fixing and making it safe. It sat for a loooong time in a field after years of heavy useage. It was in the field due to transmission failure. The transmission has now been rebuilt and so I'm moving on to the next major problem, the front end.

Since everything is hammered, I'm thinking about just going through and replacing all tie rods, ball joints, shocks, and sway bar end links (i'm not sure what those are though). Then give it a DIY alignment with new tires, then take to a reputable shop for final check out. Does that make sense?

 

Yes do it take pictures.

I did my own alignment then took it to a shop and they cam back and said everything was in spec and didn't change a thing. So yeah..... May not even need to do that.

 

Although, I probably outta get the leaking axle fixed first. Is that a must fix item? How about the cost on that, sounded expensive.

 

How bad is it leaking? Could maybe get by just topping it off once in a while if it's a slow leak. Should be fixed sometime though.

Is expensive and labor intensive becuase iirc you have to pull the carrier out to get to it.

Of course, you could always be on the look for a Dana 60 to throw under there. The front will literally bolt in.

And since you're not driving it anyway, you're not really losing anything.

Expect to pay lots of money to have seal replaced by a shop. The rest is very doable by any level of diyer.