Hi,
I have a 1997 Roadtrek Dodge 3500 with 58,000 miles, which has steering play. The former owner had done front end work and I have taken it for wheel alignment. I Replaced the steering box with a re-manufactured one from Napa, at first I did not notice any difference in the steering except that I did not hear the bumping noises I had with the old one when I steered to one side getting out of my driveway. I have been driving a little bit around and I have noticed that the steering play is getting considerably worst than when I had my old steering box. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

I'm certainly no expert on these things, but 58,000 is kind of early for a steering gear to go bad.
The play in the wheel is caused by the gears themselves wearing down. When you get a "reman" from the parts house, all they've done is replace the rubber parts and seals and cleaned them up. They don't / can't replace the gears because no one makes them anymore. There is one place that will supposedly sell you a new gearbox, but they are expensive, and only have select models -- maybe someone else remembers the name -- it escapes me right now. Your best bet is to try and find another box in a salvage yard with 100,000 miles or less. I have the same problem on a '94, and I'm just dealing with it. One thing that might help is to make sure the front wheel bearings are adjusted properly.

 

Thanks for your input sparkzz.
I probably made a mistake by replacing a good steering box. Last time I had the alignment the technician wrote on my bill, recommended repairs "Gearbox (sticky)" and "Drag link." Maybe I should have started with Drag link.
Thanks again.
By the way, I have around 32 degrees play before wheels begin to turn from right to left or left to right.

 

Try the TSB on tightening the gear box.

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1997/19-10-97.htm

Though it says it applies to the truck it works on the van as well.

 

Is there any similar adjustment possible for the 1993 and earlier steering gear input shafts? I need to resolve input shaft slop on my earlier steering gear by either fixing or replacing it. Tightening the output shaft has not been enough to take up the slack and I'm hesitant to buy a reman unit.

 

Yeah, there are two adjustments on the box. You already found one. The other is where the steering shaft comes into the box. There is a lock ring you need to back off a bit, then turn the inner collar in till it seats, put some reference marks on the collar, and the housing, and back it off half an inch. (misalign the marks by half inch) Tighten the locking collar, and you are done. MUCH easier to to this with the box OUT of the van. But, it can be done with it installed. If that doesn't help, time for a new box.

 

Cool, so it is essentially the same procedure for the old boxes as it is for the TSB on the newer boxes?

 

There's a TSB for that???

 

Yes, TSB 19-10-97

I had a look at my van and the steering box does not have the same input adjustment. I read through the service manual regarding how to overhaul the steering box and the adjustment is beyond what I feel like doing so I guess I'll order a reman box. Options are Lares, Cardone, BBB, and AC Delco. Any recommendations? I am more concerned about quality than price.

 

Redhead, or Borgeson. The typical 'reman' you get from the parts store is a crap shoot. The box you get may be worse right out of the box than your 100K plus steering box.

There is also a 'new' company that is doing steering boxes, I don't recall the name at the moment, but, they paint the top cover on the sector shaft blue, instead of red. (like redhead.....)