drolex

I tried to find nice a tread about upgrading the steering, but was unseccuessful.

I had my first death wobble experience (twice) yesterday. The previous day I went to the lake and towed 3 stand up jetskies with a trailer and 4 other people.

I need to fix this ASAP. Of course, I need to fix the DW, but that's not all I'm interested in. I beleive that other parts need to be replaced that may not be related to the general cause of DW. I've noticed these things before, but I wasn't sure if that's just how they were supposed to be. I think a few things are bent. I've taken some pictures for you guys. Isn't there something where I can upgrade from the Y to the T style or something? I want you guys to look at the pics, tell me what you notice, maybe request more pics, and tell me what I need. Give me some part numbers or links maybe. Maybe I could buy most of the stuff from rockauto? I need new shocks too. Are any of the shocks from autozone or napa any good? I'm usually on the road, but I am looking for some quality parts for a dependable truck that can do other things and take some more abuse. I still want to keep the price reasonable though.

Thanks.

Thundercraft

Hmmm... looks like someone has been avoiding crawling under the truck too much & using a grease gun.
Don't forget to change that leaking steering damper too.

Hammily

I have also been working on mine and found this thread very useful.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=201388

drolex

I want you guys to assess my situation, please. Is my stuff all bent? I need to know what I need.

rob24vctd

I would start off by replacing the tie rod, draglink , track bar and steering stabalizer first, you can get lifetime warrenty ones from napa and schucks for fairley cheap, and then do sway bar bushings with the poly ones,

drolex

Thanks. What is the draglink? Is that it's real name? So is my stuff bent or what? Does anyone know? I just looked at some pics of new track bars and it looks like the bolt is not straight on them either.
Isn't an upgrade to a cross-over style or something possible? I don't really know what I'm talking about here.

wcbcruzer

The first pic is the sway bar end links. You can get them from Autozone along with sway bar bushings for about $25, Energy Suspension is good. VERY easy fix, you don't need to jack up the truck or anything. You gotta order the bushing kit, get the black ones because they last longer. Your sway bar is 32mm as far as I remember. I also recommend getting a steering stabilizer from PSC, about $150 shipped. It helps tighten things up and prolongs the life of your steering box.

Next, get a new steering damper. Anything is better than stock. To check the one on there now, just unbolt one end and see if it's hard to push in and out. If so, then it's still good. Obviously if it's leaking, then get a new one.

Then get an upgraded track bar. You can spend more and get a Thuren or 3rd gen conversion, OR you can get a Luke's Link for $85 (w/ end bushing) and call it a day. Luke's link takes longer to install and the end bushing is a pita to get out of your stock track bar. Note that the Luke's Link will not work if you or the previous owner already changed the trackbar to something like a Moog brand.

You will have to get your ball joints checked. I'd just take it to a shop and have them lift it and check it. Some shops will do it for free if you're nice and tell them you'll take your truck there. Make sure you take it to a good shop that deals with lots of heavy trucks. A frame shop should be better than a tire and wheel shop. If your ball joints are bad then it can cost upwards of $1000 as they are labor intensive.

Also check your front wheel bearings. Jack up a wheel, grasp it top and bottom, and put some muscle into it to see if it wiggles. If there's play you should look into getting new ones.

Check tie-rod ends and u-joints for play. For the tie-rod ends, have someone wiggle the steering wheel while you look under the truck, the engine doesn't have to be running. See if there's any play at the tie-rod ends or ANYTHING that has bushings under there for that matter.

Check control arm bushings. If there is cracks on the outside, it doesn't necessarily mean they're bad.

It's hard to tell if anything is bent but do you have a good reason for anything to be bent? Do you do offroading?

For shocks, Bilsteins seem to be popular.

I'd just ask a shop to go through the front end with you. It doesn't take them very long.

Finally, take a look at the link below for alignment info. Alignment is VERY important on these trucks. Make sure it's done correctly and by a reputable shop. You may need adjustable caster dealies for the control arms and/or camber sleeves for the upper ball joints. At worst, you may need adjustable upper ball joints for camber. Camber is set to 0 from the factory so it's better not to use anything but the sleeves are good if you have to. I'd use the adjustable ball joints as a last resort.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ht=ball+joints

drolex

You want to know why anything might be bent. I got the truck with 96K miles on it about 4 years ago and I didn't look at this stuff back then. I was 17 then. It has almost 131k miles now. I don't know if anything would be bent from me or previous owner, but I have hit some speed humps going quite fast. I've been off roading or just taking my dirtbike out in the desert, and I try to be easy on it, but it might have done some hard bouncing on unseen whoops.

Anyway, the reason why anything is bent is not very important. The bolts on the sway bar links look way bent to me, for example, and shouldn't the links be straight verticle and not all slanted?

The rubber boots (?) on the tie rod ends are mostly cracked open. Is it possible to replace those or must I buy the entire tie rod end?

I don't see why I would need a new track bar, actually. How can you tell when they are bad? I gripped mine and tried to shake it but it stayed put. I looked at its bushing and it looks pretty good to me, but I am thinking about replacing the bushing anyway. How do I know what axel I have? I picked out some tie rod ends that say they work for the dana 40 and dana 60 and they look the same as mine. Why would I buy some "professional grade" tie rod ends for 70$ over the "service grade" $30 ones? No other specs are listed. It seems like you just pay more money.

drolex

I like how this guy upgraded his steering to the "heavy duty crossover style". His truck is a little weird because it's a 98 with a 96 axel. I have a 96 with all 96 parts. I want to know if I can do the same upgrades as him. I like his track bar, but that one might be too expensive for me. Will my track bar still work along with the other upgraded tie rods (new style)?
Here is his web page: http://www.mark74.com/ram_modifications.htm

CJ8mywallet

Yes you can use the 98-99HD steering parts as he did on your 96. I used them on my 2001, they were a large improvment. The inverted "T" steering is a much more stable arrangment as it doesn't change the toe in as the suspension cycles going over bumps like the stock inverted "Y" setup.
The primary reason you have deathwobble is caster - too much of it. If you were looking down the length of the axle tube, caster would be the angle from vertical that one would make if you were to draw a line through the ball joint (upper and lower) centerlines. This could be caused by the upper and lower ball joints being worn, the upper and lower control arms being worn or improperly adjusted. Take it to an alignment shop and have them check caster, should be around 4 degrees.
All of the other items like worn tie rods/draglink/trackbar can potentially amplify deathwobble but mainly just contribute to the steering being very sloppy. I would recommend using the 98-99HD tie rod and drag link if you find you are constantly hacking at the wheel going down the highway to try to keep the truck straight, this made the most significant change to the highway manners on my '01 so try it first. To see if your track bar is bad - have someone steer the truck sitting in the driveway and watch the upper end of the track bar at the frame for vertical travel (track bar ball joint moving up and down relative to the frame) as your friend steers back and forth. Hope this helps.

The bottom line is the front ends on these truck are junk, period. I got so sick of mine I ripped the whole thing off and swapped in a Ford Dana 60 front end with leaf springs. It works great . It was also a ton of work...

robert chilton

I dont know if anyone said to do this or not but get a person to help you out. Have them rock the steering wheel from one side to the other. Only go enough to start the tires turning in that direction. Check the ball joint end on the track bar. If you see any movement other than it pivoting it needs replaced. Chrysler says .001" of movent equals bad. Replace with any option you like as long as it isnt stock!! It also looks like your sway bar bushings are bad. Have your companion push down on the fender to make it bounce and check the ball joint ends. Any movement and they are bad. They are about $70 a set. These made a huge difference on my truck. It seems that the front swaybar does alot for keeping the axle in plain. These are the easy ones.
Now the ball joints. Jack the tire up a few inches and take a big metal bar and pry up on the tire. Look and see if there is any slop in the ball joints. Any visable movement is bad. Also with the tire raised grab the tire and try to move it side to side to check the wheel bearings. Hope that they are good as the unit bearing can be a real pain to get out and cost $300-400!