yup forgot to mention the steering sector shaft...look for play in that. Would probably replace that steering dampener if the shop is recommending it...like you said it cant hurt....Also have you done the upgrade to the 08 heavy duty steering setup?

 

mine has been doing the same thing since I replaced the balljoints last october. the steering sucks. I have yet to find the culprit.

 

I not exactly sure what the 08 upgrade is. Y vs. T or something like that.

I've got a replacement steering damper on the way (mopar 52106909ae). I read good things about this one OEM piece.

 

I too have the exact same issue. I just replaced my ball joints with Carli's, replaced the tie rods, steering box, installed a steering brace, and one other part that escapes my mind right now.

So after $2000 +, it still seems to wonder back and forth on the road which it didn't do until the ball joints were replaced.

It drives me up a wall and if I would have been thinking, I would have just done the 08 upgrade.

I do need new front shocks for sure. I wonder if the steering stabilizer and/or track bar replacement would fix this issue?

If anyone finds and answer, please post it here!

 

I bet there is too much friction in the new ball joints. This causes you to over correct each time you make a steering correction, hence the wandering. I've noticed this on other vehicles after changing idler arms etc. They tended to get better with some ware.
Ted

 

I'm hoping you're right Ted. I've put maybe 100 miles on them so far and I have to say the steering wandering has improved a bit. I'm waiting for UPS to deliver a brand new steering stabilizer now. We'll see what immediate effect that has here in a few hours.

update...

Well I couldn't get the "driver side" undone. Bolt comes off easy enough but the bolt "sleeve" is pressed in there tight. No room to maneuver a hammer. I'll take it to NTB sometime this weekend and get it installed. I'll update then about the effect. I will say the old shock does seem pretty stiff still. Not quite as stiff as the new one, but we'll see what difference it makes. I'm not counting on much here.

 

Dont mean to sound dumb but what does the 08 steering set up consist of?????

 

Update:
After the installation of the steering damper, I can say that the steering is still exactly the same. In fact, the old damper was still in fair shape.

So now, it's all down to breaking in the ball joints. I've got about 350 miles on them so far and tomorrow I'll put another 300 miles on them. I sure hope I don't have to go in there and replace the Carli ball joints.

 

I wish you the best of luck. I have the nearly exact same problem and I've been waiting 15,000 miles for the Moog ball joints to "loosen up."

At 45,000 miles my axle U's needed to be replaced (under warranty ) so I took the truck to the dealer. The ball joints were a little loose so I bought some moog ball joints, (same lowers as you have) and I worked out a deal with the dealer and for a little extra $$ they threw in the Moogs for me along with greasable axle U's. Couldn't wait to get the truck back and have it driving like new again. I took a right turn out of the dealership and just about smoked a telephone pole because the steering was so stiff and would not re-center on its own.

I turned around and drove back to the dealer and told them something wasn't right. They agreed but blamed it on the Moogs. The Moogs weren't their part so they said they would have to charge me more cash to redo them. The mechanic said they'd loosen up. Since then it has gotten a little better through alignments and driving. But it is still not right and still very dangerous to drive, especially pulling a trailer. You have to be on it all the time. Refusing to believe it was the Moogs, I got new tires, I changed my steering dampener, changed my steering box, I got new tires again, changed my shocks (bilsteins), had my axle alignment inspected (front and rear), cranked up my caster (resulting in the need for replacement control arms after I ruined them trying to get the bolts free - Thanks for those XLR8R), and had it aligned 6 times at three different shops.

Guess what?? Still drives like crap!!

If you do a search on here and spend some time reading, you'll find other guys with the same problem after having moogs installed. There was a member on here who had them installed and took them out after 500 miles because of the same tight steering. He had the chrysler ones installed and the truck immediately drove perfect. Mine and his flopped around effortlessly on jackstands with the tie rod ends off and didn't seem to bind at all but when you put weight on them, something changes. After all I've done, I am convinced that my problem is the Moogs, possibly due to improper installation. What else could it be?? I guess I'll find out. They're coming out in the next couple weeks. I just wish I knew what to replace them with...

 

My mechanic told me he was comfortable with the moog stuff on my truck and his suspect was the Carli upper ball joints. I wish I knew.

Does anybody think it would be helpful to get a video of a wheel in motion? My bumper would make it easy for me to mount a video camera in there and capture the motion. Although I wonder if you'd need simultaneous video of the other wheel too? I might just try it anyway.

BTW: Put another 300 miles on the "package" today (650 total). I'm going to grease them tomorrow and see what comes up.

It's hard to say whether my setup is slowly breaking in on not. It feels a little better than when I started, but that's about all I can say about it it.
It can be a little dicey passing (or getting pass by) a big rig and the steering on your truck is making you "work for your lane". Some roads are certainly better than others for me. My recent 600 miles was mostly interstate across a hundred different surfaces. Some surfaces, the steering felt firm and precise. Other rougher surfaces would tend to bring out the beast and the wander would be from mild to oh-s***. Ft. Worth on I-30 was hell. You can feel the front wheels are not dancing in unison.

 

Regarding the steering damper:

The napa pitman arm puller tool is the way to go. Popped that thing right off.

 

I have been following this post from the start.

I had the Ball Joints changed out of my 4.5 2500 4X4 5.9. I am having the EXACT same issues as grishfish. "work for your lane" is right on.

Disappointed that the steering stabilizer didn't fix the problem this would have been my next step. Shop told me "It might feel loose but it is really too tight just give it some time". I now have over 1500 miles since the change and it is not any better.

Something that was said that I noticed as well was that when you first take off after the truck has been sitting it doesn't feel as bad as when you drive on them for a while.

Frustrating!!!!!!!!!

 

What brand were your replacements? All four ball joints? Just trying to understand if these problems (yours and mine) are "brand" or "installation" or "other" type issues.

I'm wondering if my heavy front end will tend to break the ball joints in more quickly? I'm also wondering how this issue would present itself with a light (stock) front end? Wadediesel, is your front end stock, or do you have an aftermarket bumper?

 

Front End is stock. Not sure on the brand of Ball Joints but I had all Four Replaced. Either Dodge or Moog.No other repairs were needed I was told Tie Rod Ends and all other components were tight.


Truck has driven like it was on rails for the last 50k never had a problem. Then I fix the ball joints and it is a different truck altogether.

 

[QUOTE=grishfish;2559442]My mechanic told me he was comfortable with the moog stuff on my truck and his suspect was the Carli upper ball joints. I wish I knew.


Marcus,

We stopped using Moog's as a lower ball joint replacement a couple of years ago for the same reasons. There was a lot of inconsistency's with them right out of the box. The only brand of aftermarket I would, and have put on my own truck, is McQuay Norris. They have always had a smooth feeling right out of the box. We are currently testing our lowers, but don't expect to release them till the end of November.

As far as your mechanic questioning our uppers, each one is machined on a half million dollar machine out of a shop that is ISO certified. In other words our tolerances are +/- .005". I can tell you that the Moog's are nowhere near that. BTW I never heard back from you? Did you get a chance to look at everything we talked about?