I have a 2001 1500 ram 2wd.

I recently replaced inner and outer tie rod ends on both sides. I measured the old tie rods so the steering wheel stayed fairly centered. Then I replaced all four tires and the steering wheel became turned to the right a little. I took it to get an alignment and the shop said I needed control arms and ball joints for about 1900 dollars before they would do it, I declined.

The ball joints were replaced quite a few years ago, not sure how many miles on them. I greased the ball joints when I replaced the tie rods so I wonder if they just saw grease that seeped out and called it bad. The truck was only in there a few minutes and I'm not even sure it was on the lift.

The truck seems to track fairly straight, except for the steering wheel being off center, and it seems to ride pretty steady at highway speeds. I don't feel a lot of shimmy or wobble.

I'm about to Jack it up and take a look. Any suggestions or recommendations?

 

Check the ball joints. See if they are sloppy.

No idea why they would want to replace the control arms.... unless the bushings were really bad.

 

As stated, check the control arms (ball joints and bushings) to ensure they have no play in them. If that's all good, then take the truck somewhere else for the alignment. As an FYI, if necessary, you can purchase a complete new control arm for that 2WD truck that includes a new ball joint and bushings via Rock Auto pretty cheap, if you are so inclined to replace it yourself.

 

On further inspection it appears that at least the center link is bad if not also the pitman arm and idler arm. I can move the wheel side to side but not up and down.