Truck has 126k km on it now and right from day one the steering wheel column always made a bit of a popping noise when turning full turns. Noticeable when backing into a parking stall and backing up my boat trailer.

Just recently I noticed when you drive at hi-way speeds and are turning a long corner either right or left you will notice the steering wheel to bind then you will have to apply a little more pressure while turning and it releases or pops and creates and over-steer problem. This is a little scary and requires a trip to the dealer ship that has down all of the maintence.
Dealership diagnosis: Need to replace steering column and intermediate shaft. Parts and labor $3k WOW

So I figured this is a good time to purchase a used steering column from used auto parts depot. The steering column had a blow air bag and was salvage from a truck that was hit from the rear. Purchase price $325. Ok had the depot deliver it to the dealership and got a call a short time later from the dealership. They said they cant use this column as the airbag has being deployed and broken clok spring. I said yeah well strip that column down to the housing and use my trucks (Steering wheel & air bag) and what ever other parts are needed. He then says that because the air bag has being deployed they do not want the liability issue. Also saying that there are tabs inside the column that get damaged when air bag deploys....never heard of this before. But ok its safety issue so let find another used steering column which we are waiting for. Has anyone ever heard that you must replace the steering column when the air-bag has being deployed? That seems like an unnecessary task if there is no other physical damage....

I did investigate with Chrysler warranty would do as I was able to find one article on the net with the same column issue. This person was able to get the dealership to pay for the repairs. I on the other had had no luck convincing them. Once they found out the trucks year and mileage the standard answer was sorry sir your vehicle is out of the warranty period.

Bad timing as the new ram is still one month away from delivery....

 

Ok still trying to get a steering column.
Has anyone ever replaced their steering column in their ram? So does anyone out there know of a fix for 4th gen steering columns?
So far all the used columns that have being shipped to the dealer to install into my the truck the dealer rejects. This is their reasoning. Have a look at the photo. They claim that the bushing is missing from the column and the only way to get a new one is to order a brand new steering column....I find this hard to believe? This aluminum /plastic bushing looks to be worth pennies...I suggested that they remove the old bushings from my steering column if they are in good shape. They informed me that you cannot reuse them once they have being removed they are compromised. They say they are crimped into place. Too me it looks like they just slide into place.....
I know that some manufactures have these bushings taped onto the column for shipping because if they get slightly bumped they will fall out and most likely get lost. Is it possible to remove a steering column with out damaging these little plastic/aluminum bushing? Has anyone else ever come across this phenomenon? I really find it hard to believe that the only way to replace this bushing on my steering column is to replace it with a complete new $2600 one vs a $325 used column?


Any comments appreciated!

 

2010 Ram 1500 Steering Column Noise