Hello,
I have a 99 Ram 1500 4x4 Reg Cab Short Bed.
It had the stock size tires and 16" rims on it when I got it. It had alot of play in the steering. I got a good deal on stock size 20's 275/60-20 and put them on.
Later the tranny went out so I took ot to Aamco to have the tranny rebuilt. While it was there I told them about the steering play and they said the box needed replaced too and all my other steering components were like new. So I told them to replace the box.
Heres the deal:
There is still about about 3" play in the steering wheel and also the steering is stiff and wont return back to 0 when let go while driving down the road, Also when the truck drifts to say the right...you can correct it by going to the left and it will hold that posisition and then you turn it back to the right it will hold that posisition also, They told me it was all because of the oversized tires.
My first thought was they didnt change the box and they tried removing the slop by adjusting the box and over tightend it at the same time. But I did look and all the signs are there that the box is actually a different box. It looks brand new and the bolts look like they have been removed and re installed. Its also marked Remanufactured.
They told me they got it from Advance Auto.
Whats strange is how the box is acting with it being a new reman box. It seems like the gears are so worn out in the box that by adjusting it to the point where its hard to turn and its real sloppy is what they had done.
Im taking it back on friday for them to replace it again.
Whats do you guys think.

 

welcome to df. the search feature seems messed up again, but there's a few threads in the past from forum member zman1 about his experience replacing steering boxes. he went through 2 or 3 bad ones before he got a good one. seems like it was a couple of dormans that were bad out of the box and finally a fenco that was good. seems odd to me that a steering box company can't rebuild and test a steering box, but it does seem to be somewhat common.

 

Those were Cardones that were bad, which is what I think Advance sells. Most companies reuse the old valve body, and I think that is the flaw. You should also check the intermediate shaft ujoints and slip joint for play.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to give it a try after this snow stops.

 

BTW, if it was returning to center, right before you changed it(without replacing anything else at the same time), it's junk.

 

I was at a shop and the mechanic said I was better off just removing the steering stabilizer all togather. He also said his truck had gone through them so fast he was sick of replacing them. Here in Michigan we have some roads that'll rattle the teeth outa your head. Have you heard of this being done and if so. Does it help?

 

Well I had Aammco put the 2nd Advance auto parts steering box on and its alittle better as far as slop. I now have 2" slop from right to left instead of 3". These guys down there dont know what there doing on top of that cause they still insist that there is nothing wrong with the box and keep saying its because I have current factory size rims and tires on it.
275/60-20. I tried telling them that that doesnt have anything to do with slop in the box. They said well we called Michael tire plus and also expert tire and they told them its because of the 20's too. (Where do these people come from?)
OR AM I WRONG??? Even though the 2nd box is a inch better then the 1st new box.

 

You're not wrong. You're just using the wrong brand. I've never read a story where any gear box from a regular parts store works perfect. Check out Redhead Steering as they completely rebuild with better internals. Mechanics don't know crap anyway.

 

Does it help in streighting out the steering wheel also?

 

No, but that's easy enough to fix.