C-Chaplain

Hello I am a newbie, that has finally bought his first diesel. It is a 1997 Dodge Ram 3500. I have been told by the original owner that it has a severe case of "walking" when it hits a pothole. What do I need to do for this. I have not been able to duplicate the "walking" yet.

wagontrain131

Hello and welcome to the site. I assume you have a 4x4 , I have the same problem with mine. Fill out your signiture so we can see what you have. The biggest problem with Dodge Ram 4x4s is the trac bar. It's a stupid design, but it can be fixed. I just ordered lukes link (www.lukeslink.com) and Darrins sterring stabilizer (www.solidsteel.ca). Lukes link is suppose to rebuild the end of the trac bar that attaches to the frame, and keep it from moving around. It's a cheep fix ($60) and is greaseable and rebuildable. Lukes linc will also replace the tie rod ends too. I ordered all five links. (they give you a discount) Darrins steering stabilizer (dss) mounts between the cross member that holds your steering box on, and is suppose to eliminate all the slack in your steering wheel and fix the wandering problem. It's made in Canada, and they only take checks, so it takes a while to get it. I ordered mine 4 weeks ago and have still not gotten mine. The same company that makes the dss also makes a kit to retro fit a 3rd generation Ram track bar on our 2nd generation trucks. It's brand new I don't know of anyone using it yet. I dont know if you plan on lifting your truck, but if you do you may want to look at this site (www.dtprofab.com). They make a complete replacement trac bar. It's way overbuilt for my needs. I hope this helped, but what ever you do don't replace your trac bar wih another OEM trac bar , You are wasteing your time and money. If you have 2 wheel drive, this means nothing to you, cant tell you what your problem is, and sorry for wasteing your time


-Kyle

BigBlue

What he said.

dodgeram

http://www.solidsteel.ca/news.htm

might as well go with darin and marv for both the steering box stabiliser and the track bar fix now

C-Chaplain

Thanks to you all. You can tell I am a newbie. I will add my signiture for it is a two wheel drive. Information and knowledge is never a waste of time. Again thanks.

Fishbait

THANKS WAGONTRAIN!!

I have just replace my track bar on my 2000 4x4 and it is bad again!

I put on Skyjacker front springs and Bilsteins and just replaced all my tie rod ends. I noticed my axle is more toward the driverside and my swaybar ? is shifted where the studs connect it if this makes any sense, not sure of the exact terminology.

Thought I might take a pix and post to all. I don't know where to take it in Austin Tx to get a front end alignment and the axle centered?

The Dodge dealer in Bastrop aligned it and it sucked. After a week I noticed all my front end parts were worn. I then replaced them and the dealer realigned it but the axle is shfted and they said they couldn't do anything about it.

I am leaving for Tenn for a family reunion in 2 weeks and need this fixed!!

Any suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated!!

dodgeram

when you put the skyjacker d25's on and keep the stock track bar the axle is shifted to the drivers side .......................

only way to "correct that is with a longer or adjustable track bar ..........

I just left mine shifted over ................got it aligned and it's been good for 30,00km

BigBlue

I've got 2" spacers on mine and just had it aligned last friday. No problems at all. Stock track bar. Guy said it was really easy to do. Even with the 35's.

Lil Dog

Is there a bushing kit available for the 2003 track bars? If I am going to upgrade to that setup I would like to put in some urethane (sp?) bushings instead of the plain rubber..

Solid Steel looks like the fix for me.. Also they are just over toward Wildcatville....LOL..

J-eh

Fishbait

So the only way to get the axle centered with the Skyjacker d25's is to find an adjustable trackbar?

If I run it like is will it adversly affect my tires, alignment or tie rod ends?

I just had to put an injector pump in it last week and am el broko!

dodgeram

shop I took my truck to after the installation of the d25's was able to do an alignment within specs

I've been running this way for 30,000km now with no funny tire wear and the handling is good


just wanted to add that while my alignment is on my front diff is still about 1/2" to the drivers side .......just wanted to be clear on that

BigBlue

Same here.

wagontrain131

As far as I know, the only adjustable trac bar is the dt trac bar (www.dtprofab.com). They have two different models, stock to slight lift, and major lift. It's kind of pricey for my tastes though.
I hope this answered your question.


-Kyle

Fishbait

OUCH...YOU WERE NOT KIDDING! I will go back to the old springs if that is the best price for an adjustable track bar. I hope that the offset does not start to wear out my front end components. I will keep in mind Luke's Link also when this trac bar wears out!

Thanks!

dieselcrazy

maybe i missed while quickly reading over the posts but what is the reason for usinf the 3rd gen trag bar ?? is just a thicker bar ?? scott