i have a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5.2 auto with aprox 340K miles on it. recently after replacing some front end parts it seems like i am kinda chasing it around going down the road no wobble or anything like that my buddy that does alot of my work told me they made a brace to tighten the front end just curious what anyones thoughts are on it. This is one of the ones i have found of course there are "similar" on ebay but the china sellers make me think of sub par quality https://www.badaxeparts.com/products...xoCFm0QAvD_BwE
I do not drive a whole lot but just trying to keep the old girl going she been good to me for as long as i have had it

 

That likely isn't your problem. The steering boxes on these trucks are notorious for developing slop over time. If you still have the original box with 340K miles on it, there is your problem. There are some adjustments you can do on your existing box, to tighten it up a bunch, but, don't expect miracles. Procedures are detailed in the service manual. If you don't have one yet, get yours here.

 

no i did change it out about 5yrs ago and the pitman arm was swapped out about 1.5yrs ago truck is a bit rough living in New England but it has been for the most part reliable granted it has a drinking problem lol any improvement in this old girl would be a miracle lol she had been patched and patched again lol

 

the other thing that i am leary of is due to living and driving in New England where we love our road salt is that kit says to undo the sway bar brackets and i have a bad feeling those bolts are not going to play nice

 

I have that brace on my truck after I replaced my steering box with the goal of minimizing the wear on the steering box due to the loads placed on the output shaft. I feel that it helps with this goal, but it is not a miracle cure for steering slop that's common with these trucks.

With regard to the sway bar link bolts in a high road salt area like New England, I would plan on heating up the original sway bar bolts with a torch for removal and plan on purchasing replacement bolts and coating them with anti-seize.

 

yeah my main issue is it feels like it is wandering and i'm chasing it going down the rd.and does seem to me to have significant freeplay in the steering

 

Have you jacked up the truck to determine if any other front end parts are worn? The track bar is another part that tends to wear and cause wander issues, which is a good reason to change it out to the later style 3rd gen track bar using a track bar conversion bracket..

 

i have and there is a little play in the front but oddly it does not seem to be coming from any of the steering ie tie rods and such i was wondering on the trac bar even though it was replaced about 5 or 6yrs ago i will have to have my guy look into it more next month as on a fixed income and can only do so much at a time even though he treats me really good on labor. I know this coming month will be complete rear brakes so it might sadly Jan. before i can afford to dig into it. and i think i have to have him replate the front frame horns as well could be part of it. I just love the truck even with it's issues it's been good to me even if i have to put a few hundred a year into it i plan to run it until it gives up and it shows no signs of doing that anytime soon

 

Turn the ignition to on, but, don't start the truck. How far can you rock the steering wheel before it actually starts influencing the front tires?

 

i will check that tomorrow before i go out