Im new to the forum but need help bad. I have a 2004 2500HD 4x4 with the 5.7 Hemi. Truck only has 82,000 miles and all 4 ball joints were shot.Everything else was tight. Truck is all over the road and lot of play in steering. Is it gear box related or something else?How can i tell? Any help is appreciated!

 

well, tell us what you have and haven't done to it to correct this.

 

Well so far ive put in new moog ball joints,upper and lower,new tie rod ends, alignment,new tires,and its still all over the road! Figured id ask for help before i dump more money!

 

Did you check the axle U-joints? If one is stiff/dry/frozen it will cause wandering and sloppy steer feeling.

Does that year have the AAM axle, or is it still Dana?

Our '09 (AAM) needed ball joints and axle joints at 52K miles (and TRE's before that)

My '95 had over 100K on it before we did the ball joints and axle joints, and it had an 8 1/2' BOSS V plow hanging on it most of it's life.

 

Shocks?

 

I have been through this struggle with my 1500 ram as well. Granted mine has a rack and pinion up front but my findings should still apply. I had the same problem as you: sloppy, wondering steering with the truck veering all over the road when you hit bumps at highway speed. I replaced everything up front except the steering rack and ball joints initially; I had a replacement reman rack installed a year ago and my ball joints were checked and were found to be slop free. I pursued to replace all 4 shocks, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings and end links, front wheel bearings and had 2 alignments done. I was told that my truck was in spec. and to consider some sort of steering stabilizer to fix the problem. I troubleshooted on my own some more and found that with the truck off and on the ground I could grab and turn the steering shaft between the rack and the first steering shaft u joint probably 5 degrees in each direction. This translated to significant steering wheel motion before the tires themselves turned. I have since replaced the steering rack with a TRW unit and all is well. Steering is super tight and responsive considering everything except the ball joints is brand new up there! Before replacing more parts in hopes that the problem will be fixed, grab your steering shaft and check for slop. Poke your head out the drivers window with the truck off and compare your tire motion to the steering wheels motion: there should be little to no play at all (mine is immediate, the tires move with a twitch of the steering wheel). Post back with your findings!

 

I did what you said and there is a large amount of play in the lower part of the shaft. I can turn the wheel a couple of inches before it turns the wheels.Now i just need to find one at a reasonable price.Thanks for the info! Hopefolly that fixes it.I was getting discouraged!

 

And yes it has new shocks,hub bearings and u-joints.I have a 99 Ram 4x4 with same problem but not as bad.Anyone know where to get the shaft?