Hey all, my ram seems to have a slight pull to the right, it was a lot worse before I had it aligned, the guy at the shop says that there is no caster adj. on the truck, I told him I realized that because it was a strait axle but It shouldent still pull, I know its pointless trying to ague with the guy, but I tried to explain it didnt pull when I bought it 3 years ago(46000 miles on it) My point was that pulling to the right is not a feature of the truck!!! My tires are faily new, and I just put new shocks on it, it has about 73000 now, Im thinking its the trakbar, ive heard these dont last very long on our trucks. Any info or personal experiances will be greatly appriciated Thanks!!

 

i will be interested to see the replies to this. every dodge i have owned in the last ten years has done the same thing.

 

I think you are correct in assuming it's the trackbar. Easy to check it.
Tires on the ground climb under while someone else turns the steering wheel back and forth. You should see no movement on either end of the bar.

For replacement I prefer a lifetime warrantied bar from Napa. Hard to beat lifetime and the price is right.

 

Also check to see if you have a spacer behind one of the front wheels. This was a Dodge "fix" for brake pull in the earlier 2nd gens, but even in straight running the truck will pull toward the side which has the wheel spacer. In other words, if you had a spacer on the right front wheel, you could remove it and see if that cures the problem. If it needs more correction, put the spacer behind the left front wheel and try that.

Rusty

 

Thanks for the replies I will check to see if it has the spacer, need to pull the wheels off to check the pads anyways. About that napa trakbar, is it just a direct replacement? also how much is it I know a factory bar is two hundred somthing. Is there some kind of catch to this "liftime warrenty" or when it wears do I just trade it in? I like the looks of that thuren bar but MAN, 300 bucks!! I also forgot to mention I have 2inch leveling spacers, but I didnt think it mattered.

 

Yep, it matters. When you lift the front of the truck with no other changes, the front Panhard bar will pull the front end off to one side. Measure the distance between the outside of the front tire to the edge of the fender on each side and see if both sides are equal.

Rusty

 

Just went and checked it, its about 1/2 inch at best towards the drivers side. The lift is so mild it couldent have thrown it out of whack that much could it, I mean it almost looks stock still. Maybe enough to max out the ball joint and make the trackbar wear prematurely

 

Well, when the front axle moved toward the driver's side, the steering box, pitman and idler arm didn't since they're fixed to the frame. At a minimum, this would mean that the steering wheel is no longer centered. It also means that the geometry of the steering linkage isn't operating as designed.

Rusty

 

RustyJC, ? for ya. Mine was doing the same thing had it aligned everything was fine til last week. Started pulling again and really messing with my tires again. Would a L.CV Joint cause this? Curious. Thanks Cin

 

So who makes a decent adj. panhard bar? Anybody have any ideas? Rust that all makes perfect sence what you said!

 

I have the Thuren Fab bar, http://www.thurenfabrication.com/ adjustable, much heavier than the oem, plus rebuildable, if it ever wears out.

 

I like that thuren bar. Now I run into the problem of convincing my wife I need it!! Any suggestions on that!!!!!!

 

Take a look at other alternatives before making your final decision. The track bar distributed by source automotive is a redesign to fitn the 1994 - 2002 trucks. This design appears to solve the ball joint wear.

Check it out........http://www.sourceautomotive.biz/steeringsuspension.htm

Fully adjustable and easy to install and rebuild(only need bushings)

 

My truck started doing this after I went to the 285 tires. No change after an alignment. This normal?

Thanks;
Jim

 

I think that if you put on a more aggressive tread, that would augment any problems because the tires grip better. Also the 285's might be wider than what you had on before and could intensify the problem.