2000 4x4 2500 . no death wobble after or before was aligned 6 months ago . put on new steering gear box and death rattle started . but it wasnt perfectly aligned after new gear box as the mechanic said the pitmanarm needed to be moved a few teeth , and the steering wheel wasnt in the right position . so at that point i grab the steering shaft up 12'' away from fire wall and i can wobble it back n forth with easily a 1/4 '' play probably more . so my mechanic , hes a 50 year experienced all aroundmechanic but not suspension or gen 2 expert , says the shaft inside the steering column could be worn out so put a used one from junk yard in it . this is where it got iffy to me because he cant say the shaft in steering columns bad , and ive driven the truck most its miles , 140,000 , and its never ben used to tow or been beat up as i baby it . so i disagree with the column shaft being the next step , ecspecially junk yard version . so can i test steering column shaft ? or can i test bushings to know if theyre bad because my mechanics saying the column will fix it without even knowing if bushings are bad or not which has me doubting what hes saying

 

There is the Rock Solid Ram Steering fix.... which might address your issue, but, so far as I know, steering column parts are not generally available. The dealer would just replace the whole thing if there were an issue. (read that: expensive.... )

 

update - put in a non worn steering column from junk yard with no play in it = still had death rattle . aligned it , still had death rattle . also know that less than say2000 miles ago new moog ball joints and tie rods were put on . also new shocks . the suspension shock was replaced 2000miles ago too . and that other bar across the front closer to the engine than the sway bar . so then we put on new sway bar links on both sides after seeing there was lots of play in them = death rattle fixed ...

 

thanx for the info h.y. i got a non worn steering column for 85$ from a local michigan junk yard and my mechanic friend installed it dirt cheap . was an easy repair once i watched him do it . he just warned me you have to be careful to not set the air bag off . i think im going to buy the rock solid fix in effort to prevent this current column from wearing out