I have a 2003 2500 4x4 CTD on 315 BFG AT's and just replaced the passenger side ball joints (moog), the passenger side hub/bearing assembly, both axel u-joints, and all 4 tie rod/connecting rods. Driver side ball joints and hub/bearing are fine. Truck has 113k.

I had the truck aligned after doing all of this and the truck tracks strait down the road. I do still have some play in the steering wheel and noticed when I go around a corner the steering wheel does not go re-center on it's own and the truck will keep turning until I turn the wheel the opposite direction. If I for example I make a right turn I will need to turn the wheel to 11:00 to get the truck going strait again.......then I can keep the wheel in the middle and everything seems good and turning the wheel slightly to 11:30 or 12:30 (maybe a little more than that) will make the truck move in that direction. Just seems like it should recenter itself......but I can no longer remember how it was when I bought it.

I do have a leak by the steering gear or power steering pump....not sure which. When I was replacing the tie rod I did grab the pitman arm and pulled it back and forth and got an audible clunk and it moved slightly when that happen...there was a little play in it. I also sometime have hard steering when I am going slow and on the brake....such as pulling in and out of parking spots.

 

Your steering box's lower bearing is worn - the unwanted movement has compromised the integrity of it's seal, so it leaks in addition to being hard to turn and perhaps feeling a bit squirrelly.

See if you can find out what the alignment specs were; the caster was likely set somewhere in the "green zone" instead of spec'd to the max of 4.5*+.

Large tires just put more stress on under-engineered factory front end parts, causing premature wear of the components and handling issues.

A sector shaft stabilizer locates the Pitman arm shaft and protects the steering box's lower bearing & seal from excessive sideload. It also reduces steering effort - especially at slow speeds. Even 50lbs. of lateral pressure on the unsupported sector shaft will significantly increase steering effort.

You should have an assistant turn the steering wheel back & forth with the engine on while you watch the steering/suspension components under the front end for unwanted movement. The soft OEM track bar bushings are also a common source of problems.

 

Thanks for the info. It was set to the green zone....I watched them while they did it. I did not know better until I did more reading here.....but the truck drives good as is now besides the steering being lose. It's better thans it was a few weeks ago.