My truck has a lot of play in the steering when going down the road and I'm not sure what to look at first. The front tires are wearing kind of strange on the outer edges. One tread is higher and the next is lower all the way around. I think I've heard this described as scalaped but I need to know what to check. I've searched the forum but didn't find anything that matched my description.

Any ideas?

PS
Also, on a hunting trip this past weekend I noticed a clanging while driving down several dirt roads. I did check the shocks and they still have all the attached hardware.

 

Well the first thing to check is the steering shaft coupler. If you have the stock coupler it is probrably shot, do a search on Borgeson steering shafts. The other thing would be kingpins. You might want to check the top kingpin bushing (white plastic thing). Pirate4x4 has some great articals on the Dana 60 front end rebuild. http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...pin/index.html.

 

Ok, but I guess I should have mentioned that this is a two wheel drive so does this change what you recommend?

Sorry for the confusion and I need to update my signature.

 

Check your idler arm. My old tires looked the same way and I noticed that my idler arm is really loose. I have a new one, just havent put it on yet. That's the only thing that I could tell was loose on my front end.

 

All the slack in mine is the worn out steering gear. unlock the wheel with the truck off. Reach in the fender and rotate the input to the gear by hand and see how much movement it takes to make the pitman move.

The coupler that was mentioned is also right before the input of the steering box, can check it while you are there.

Andy

 

ya i would say its that coupler and idler arm would be the first thing i would replace

 

The Dodge rebuild kit for the coupler works fine on the 2wd's. The shaft runs almost straight into the box, so the coupler is running at an angle it can handle. If you still have the truck 10 years from now, it'll be time to rebuild the coupler again. 4x4's will tear up the stock coupler in a year or two, so it's worth spending the money on a Borgeson or similar.

That said, your problem sounds like worn steering linkage parts. Check all the tie rod ends, the center link, and the idler arm.