I suppose someone else has answered this but I've looked through 4 pages and can't find anyone that is explaining the noises I'm hearing/feeling.

Less than 3 months ago, I had my steering gear box replaced because I heard a loud pop and lost quite a bit of fluid all over a driveway. After replacing that I installed one of those steering stabilizers that holds the central shaft of the gearbox in place. I've also installed a Luke's Link because my tracbar was binding up when I turned the steering wheel to the left.

My problem now is: Whenever my tires are facing nearly straight or turned all the way to the left...if I rock the steering back and forth I'll hear and feel a pop in the steering. I feel this same "popping" when I brake hard or come to a complete stop and accelerate again. I took the truck to a shop (which I later found out does a better job destroying things) and they told me diddly squat, but other resources are telling me wheel bearings.

When I installed the Luke's Link I made the idiodic decision to use high-strength threadlocker, because I didn't know there was a difference between that and any other stuff that you put on threads to keep them from turning out....so now I can't even adjust the Link if that's the problem.

Hope you can help-because I'd really hate to lose a tire driving down the road. Oh and it worsens if I'm pulling a semi-loaded 20'Lx8'Wx6'H box trailer.

 

Just a shot in the dark, but I would check the lower steering column bushing. Dodge's design for the lower bushing is sub-standard, to say the least. If you do a search on lower column bushing, you should get more info.

 

yea - i ordered the "rock solid steering bushing" to see if that would tighten up that specific spot, but I also had some other things taken care of. My wheel bearings got so bad on my driver's side front that when I called a mechanice to pick it up, the brake froze on him halfway to the shop. Driver's side new wheel bearing, new rotors (both sides) and new pads (both sides) cost $1320. I told him I'd do the passenger tired and upper and lower ball joints. Me and a friend ruined one ball joint remover, but got the driver's side ball joints replaced and spent ~4 hrs trying to get the passenger side hub assembly out and couldn't get it. (tried everything i found on here and the cumminsforum) Put it back together and gave them my 500 dollar replacement hub assmebly and 120 dollars in 2 new ball joints and the replaced those for me for only 600 bucks. They also found I had a broken tooth where my pitman arm connects to my steering linkage (90 buck part). After all this, I still hear that "pop"....but not as often.

Long story short - I had a lot replaced for the first time in 117k miles, but the original problem is still there and I still have no idea what it is. And I don't know how to knock loose high strength (red) threadlocker to see if I can tighten Luke's Link up anymore.