Quote:

Originally Posted by baskhana

I have an extremely sensitive steering wheel. Seems it is so easy to swerve with the stearing????

I have an '08 with 42,000 miles. It seems to change lanes too quickly. While I'm checking my blind spots, the truck has already drifted into the other lane. It's not my driving, been down the road on everything from 1 wheel to 18. It turns out I had 2 bad tie rods, one really bad. The slop in the front end was not detected until I took it in for a vibration. I noticed increased vibes off the throttle caused by a siezed u-joint. Got both replaced, now the steering has less play on centre and it doesnot change lanes before I'm ready to.
I was never a fan of "sealed for life" components, gimme a grease zerk please!
I'd pay extra to have the truck fitted from the factory with grease zerks on every moving part!

 

Thanks... Very Interesting........ I need to get my truck into the dealer I guess. It seems to do it much less with the goose neck, heavy trailer hooked up. It has done this from the start but I thought it was just me getting used to the 'feel' of the truck. Yup, it does it the most when checking blind spots. Darn, I just don't have a lot of time for this stuff. I was stopped by police in WA state for touching the 'white line' on the right side of the road with my duelly tires. It was a narrow road in the first place!! Did not help that I have TX license plates.

 

1 wheel? Do you still have the unicycle?

Baskhana, that gooseneck with the heavy trailer must have taken alot of weight off your front end, hence the difference feel. I never had any vibrations, just the clunk coming from the left front, when hitting a bump. It does feel alot firmer now, but I haven't done any highway to notice any difference there, yet.

 

Well no, it's got 2 wheels, but with 170 hp, I don't always use the front one!

 

Ok, filed a report with D/C corporate. What do they do? Ask the dealer what they think! ARGH. However they said they haven't gotten enough reports on it. They just want to keep putting bandaids on it (new trackbar, new dampners every year, etc) instead of fixing the real problem. So here's the number for those of you with unresolved or continuing DW problems: 1 800 763 8422

Put together a list for them. Thought y'all might want to see it. Short version is - ELEVEN visits to the dealer for DW in 3 1/2 years!!!

10/07 DW Replace Steering dampner
11/07 DW Put on dual SuperLift stabilizers
1/08 New tires- stock size AT
2/08 DW tighten everything
10/08 DW tighten everything
3/09 DW replace track bar AND steering dampners
(all's good for awhile!)
5/10 DW dampners leaking- replace with different type, rod ends worn, replace, replace multiple worn parts in front end
10/10 DW Track bar bolts loose, sway bar loose, replace steering linkage, replace pitman arm,
11/10 DW can't duplicate at dealers so too bad
1/11 DW Replace steering gear recirculating ball type, replace steering gear box
3/11 DW Replace tires (although still within limits)
6/11 DW front hub has play, right dampner blown.

AND NOW? With new tires I get the death wobble turning a corner at LOW speeds (30-35)- so bad it almost takes the truck off the road. Local mechanic won't ride in the truck anymore!

So there it is. They keep replacing stuff but aren't asking WHY does that stuff keep going bad? I can't drive the truck without being nervous and wondering when it's going to shake, rattle, and hopefully not roll! Oh, I don't off-road. I drive easy. I occasionally haul a two horse trailer and that's it. I wonder what their excuse will be now?

 

This just in: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/5700...lls+Ram+Trucks

 

I have a 03 that has been in to the dealer ship 2 times for the steering and have not had any luck! They act like I do not know any thing. I hope some one can take this to the Federal highway on a safety issue. They might get RAM to fix this pro bin on a large recall. 73.000 miles now THANK TO ALL ON HERE THAT HAS BROUGHT THIS UP ++ BEN ++

 

http://www.tampabay.com/features/con...n-more/1181270 states the models included are
2008 Dodge Ram 1500, 2003-2011 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 models.

Call Chrysler toll-free at 1-800-853-1403.

 

I just took my truck in and they said i had the old Steering Linkage, however the reason I have the DW is because the Steering Linkage 3 out of the 4 are bad and the 4th is really loose. I didn't know that there is a difference in what they used. I think they should fix it for free. They quoted me 647.17 to get the whole linkage replaced. Parts and Labor included. Seems a bit steep to me, what do you all think?

 

I have tried to enduce a controlled death wobble and can get the shakes as low as 40mph, tires chirp and hitting the brake only slows me down without any effect on the shaking, it stops eventually, I run stock size Michellin M/S 2's and they are new, pressure doesnt seem to matter, I have layed in the driveway and pondered this issue, it all comes back to the track bar bushings, I have the Moog "blue" bushings in and they are a week old, if I have my son turn the wheel back and forth slowly while I look at the track bar its alarming just how much stress is on that thing, I cant imagine how much it shakes when you actually hit something at speed, those hard poly bushings look like pudding when the wheel is turned, I think the answer may be in the offset bushings that are of a harder compound mentioned on this site earlier, look at your own track bar while somebody turns the wheel while idleing, I think you will be shocked to see that thing moving 1/2 inch side to side in the driveway.

 

Curious, has anybody had the wobble with any of the newer aftermarket track bars installed? all my stuff is new and it still does it, going to make the jump to a heim joint ended design that is more level with an adapter, this seems like it would really tie that front axle to the frame.

 

I have the same issue on my 2007, Dodge replaced the whole front end under warranty last summer with approx only 24,000 miles. It was good for a little while then started doing what you experienced above.

Brought it into Dodge again a few months ago, after my 3/36 expired but still within the 1yr/12,000mile warranty of replacement parts, told them what was happening and all they replaced was the end that connects the drag link to pitman arm, it never fixed the problem though, so now I brought it into an alignment shop in town, told him the ordeals I have had, he said the drag link was bad, had him order an aftermarket one, he went to put it on and found out that the first time dodge replaced the front end parts they upgraded everything to an '09 or '10, great, so he ordered a part from Dodge this time except it is backordered with no expected date to ship out yet, real great.

So at this point I told him to just get it back together and align it the best you can, I am going to look at replacing everything with aftermarket parts, such as this http://sourceautomotive.biz/2003-200...ariation=35007 , not sure when I can get to it but when I do I will post a report on it here.

 

I have an 07.5 dually and the first time I experienced DW I was cruising down the road at 75 mph with a 35 ft gooseneck an the old girl let loose and it wasn't good at all scared the pooh out of me thats for sure. However as a service tech (no brand specific) I knew what was happening. The truck had around 32k miles on it and after inspecting the front suspension for worn loose or broken parts and not finding anything I turned my attention to tires the edges of both front tires were rounded not cupped or any abnormal wear just normal steer tire wear (rounded edges). I rotated front to rear and the problem went away for another 30k miles then one day it happened again once again inspected front steering and suspension no problems found but i noticed normal steer tire wear they were rounded edges rotated front to rear again with the other tire from the rear that hadn't been on front yet and problem fixed once again. I am a believer that this problem is an tire issue when I get the DW I know its time to rotate my tires its like the oil change light. The truck now has 70k on it and now its time for a new set of tires and that sucks!!!

 

Hey guys glad this post is up. I just bought another 06 mega cab gas job off the company were subcontracting for for 1500 bucks. Needs sone Work brakes interiors a mess etc. It's a crew truck. Any who my diesel doesn't have any death wobble issues at all. But I drove the gas job from camrose to redwater last night an from redwater to bruderheim today not a problem I went to jet at lunch and get a heater motor clippin doin 140k hit some train tracks and it went wild and into oncoming traffic. After changing my shorts an going bak to work I flipped on the company owner who said "it's a piece of **** old dodge" and rolled up his window and drove on. The *****. Anyways. I was told it was a "steering dampener" and tires. After shaking my head a few times I figure I'd ask....

 

----------------
COALROLLER:

The "death wobble" is NOT limited to just the Dodge CTD Pickups! Dodge has had issues with some 1500 trucks also and they had a big problem with it in some of the earlier Jeep models.

--------
John_P