I have a 2001 2500 Q/C with 2" lift with 305's. My Problem is there is alot of play in the steering. I feel like I have to chase the tires around the corners. A little squirly at speed to. I am in Alaska on small island, just can not drive it to the shop for repairs. So any help would be very appreciated!
Shep

 

Have you checked the ball Joints, tire rod ends, and also the steering shaft. How long has the truck been lifted?

 

Check your track bar too.

 

Thanx for the replies. I bought the truck with the lift. It looks just like it has the 2" leveler. The truck only has 65k on it, should I be worried about the ball joint? Seems a little soon. Everything else seems good. What about Stering box? Ususally the chatter before they go, is this correct.
Shep

 

Yes you are right about the ball joints, I would really look at the stearing shaft, They are a weak link, and if you are running over sized tires, it really stresses them, You can get an upgraded one with a U-joint for about 200 buck, and its really worth it.

 

Are you talking aftermarket type? Any suggestions on where to start? Is this a comman thing with trucks taht have this amount of milage? The tire are not much bigger than stock maybe one size.
Shep

 

Yes i am talking about an aftermarket one, you can buy them at any 4x4 shop, even summit carries them. If you grab the stearing shaft see if it moves, It is really Just a poor design, and I would prob change it, Its worth the peace of mind.
I even put one on my 84 ramcharger, that i only paid 200 bucks for, it only had 100,000 on it and it looked like it needed to be changed a long time ago.

 

AK2STAY,
I bought my truck used from a dealer in Anchorage in June of '03 with just under 30K miles on it. A week later I took it back complaining of poor steering...a lot of wandering and correcting. Well they replaced the trac bar and all four ball joints under warranty. The stock ball joints were so tight/siezed that with the steering linkage removed from the spindle you couldn't even turn the wheel left/right by hand, and once the old ball joints were removed, you could not turn those either.
I didn't hear any noise coming from the front end prior to this.
Try jacking the front end, disconnecting a tie rod from one side and see if you can move the wheel left/right.
btw...are you getting lots o' rain down there too ?

 

Moose, thanks for the help. I will check that out when it gets here. Just put it on a barge in Seattle should be here in a week. It turns out that it has a much higher lift than I thought. It is sitting 20 inches to the door. Will this have anything to do with it? ALso what about the steering box. Have been told to replace with a one ton, but from I can figure out they are the same? I think I am going to pull the lift on it maybe this will help.
And yes you would not believe the wind blowing 60 yesterday.
Shep

 

Make that 30 inches, mis typr.
Shep