i have the daystar leveling kit, rancho shocks, bigger tires, new sway bar end links, and just got an alignment done. the noise didnt start till after the alignment. now whenever i turn left till a certain point a squealing noise can be heard from the wheel? any ideas?

 

Bad power steering pump?, Is the fluid filled?, do you have a leak on one of the pressure lines?
Are you using the stock wheels with larger tires?
Is the wheel rubbing on the suspension?
Do you hear the squeal only when driving, or when sitting still also?

 

Is it a tire squeal? Or is a power steering type squeal?

That is the first thing you need to figure out. Big difference. I know these trucks do well with a tad bit on negative camber on the front end. Only a tiny bit, on the outer end of what still keeps it in spec. At least this is what my alignment guy told me...and my tires wear well. I had to get 3 different alignments before I found this guy and he showed me all the things the previously tech did wrong. It was enlightening.

If the squeal is your steering system...its time to get it checked...I know when I had larger tires and a leveling kit a few years ago, I replaced a few power steering racks. They just could not handle my setup. I have had zero luck with leveling kits. I had a TM, and a Daystar.

Honestly if you don't know what the sound is, you need to show a mechanic, because if it is steering rack/ pump related, that can be costly.

 

ya its deffinately comin from around the tire nothing to do with the pump or anything. i can be at a stop and rock my steering wheel left and right and it will just kinda squeek. im gonna go back to the guys that did the alignment after i get out of the field this week see if they got anything to say about it. maybe i need to grease the bushings that came with the sway bar end links? if that even makes sense? i dunno. and no its not on stock wheels, put on american eagle style 185 16" wheels.

 

Interesting. Are you talking about the 265/75s you have on it now? I put 265/75/16 tires and rims from a ram onto my truck a couple weeks ago, and I have noticed sometimes I get a squealing while turnining when sitting still in a parking lot. I think its the front end because I know it needs bushings and shocks, but maybe its the steering now that you say that.

 

after i got my leveling kit i got a sort of chirping sound everytime i turned, Could that be what your talking about?

 

Oh, I need to change my signature, I don't have those larger tires anymore. I am completely factory. No leveling kit, and 245/70 R16 tires.

Honestly, I cant say for sure that the kits caused the problems. We have quite a few members on here that have had zero issues. We even have some members that 4 wheel off road all the time with leveling kits installed, and havn't reported steering issues here. Dodge told me it was the kits, my father told me it was the kits, the shop that put the TM leveling kit on told me it was the kit and tires. And finally a good friend of mine at work, who is quite mechanically inclined, who is rebuilding a Post World War 2 Late 40's Dodge Power Wagon told me, that "you simply cannot make a strut longer without causing these problems. Geometry issues blah blah blah." I didn't listen to them though. My larger tires weighed in about 20 more lbs then the stockers, and with the kit causing bad angles on the tie rods, that about did the rack in pretty early. I got 10,000 miles on the first rack with a TM kit and large tires, and 6000 miles on the second one with a Daystar kit (needed the extra .5" in the front). All 99% on road daily driving. Once the kit was off and the tires were stock, I never had a steering issues again. The current rack has been totally reliable.

My advice? Just have your front end looked at. A year ago on this site, a member did a leveling kit install on his dakota, and provided a nice write up in the DIY section of this forum, its still there today. He and I both did the kits at about the same time and we both agreed that the tie-rods need to be flipped to the top of the lower control arm, in order to take stress off the tie rods on the steering rack, because the angle is sort of pushing the limits for the rack. Over sized tires make it even tougher.

But, no one ever really toyed with drilling out the control arms and flipping the tie rods. And rightfully so, because only a small amount of members had a problem with there kits. Me, and maybe 1 other, or 2 others MAX.

Regardless, I wouldn't panic about it, I would just get some opinions, and if you hear noise get it checked out. I think THE best thing that can be done however, is the flip if you level 2" or more.

Ive been stock for quite some time now.

 

hey thanks alot. im gonna go back to the place tomorrow to get it looked at and hopefully they will see something. i had thought about flipping the tie rods when i was installing but a mechanic told me that it wasnt needed n to just keep it the way it was. there doesnt seem to be any problems yet besides the noise, even took it off road a couple of days ago for the first time with the new set up. the tires make one hell of a difference .

 

i think i found the noise might be coming from the ball joint. ive always had some sqeaks with suspension travel probably from worn out bushings anyways so im just gonna replace the control arm hopefully that does it