I have tried everything I've upgraded ball joints, added a steering stabilizer, adjustable track bar You name it, I've tried it.

Even with the BD steering box stabilizer I still had an incidence of death wobble - Who knows Maybe I would have experienced it more without it But the one time I did experience it I had the steering stabilizer installed.

So what made my steering issues go away?

Borgeson steering box & shaft and a proper drop pitman to fit the box from Diesel Off Road Sales.

Best steering upgrade out there.

Thought I would post this so people can save their money and do the steering box/shaft upgrade first

 

Good to know!

 

This is good info, wish I had it a couple years ago .....

We had our steering gearbox replaced under the 5/50, and our service manager told me that he was surprised the gearbox didn't fail on me driving it to the dealer. It was apparently on the verge of complete failure.

The sad part is this was the second (and more knowledgeable) dealer we took it to for issues with excessive input at the wheel just to keep it in a straight line.


-Kris

 

just going to bring this thread back to life if I can, how much of a wander did you have in it before the swap to the borgeson box?

I've got about 2" of steering wheel movement and its all in my stock steering box. it will walk me all over the road if I let it, looking at options right now and the borgeson box and steering shaft are looking like where I want to try to go to correct my wander

 

I recently experienced issues with steering wander and thought for sure the steering shaft was worn due to hearing a noise and feeling it in the steering wheel when driving over small imperfections in the road. I also experienced an uncontrolled steering issue that progressively worsened.

I recommend getting under the truck (with the truck off, key in on position and steering unlocked) and have someone turn the steering wheel rapidly back and forth. Look around and listen while the wheel is turning. You may see and hear the movement in the output shaft( pitman arm) location and/or the input shaft of the steering box. As my daughter turned the wheel, I could hear and see the play in the steering box at both the input and output shaft locations. I was also able to move the pitman arm and the steering shaft by hand and could see the play in both the input and output shafts on the steering box. The steering shaft was in good shape and did not have any slop in it as I attempted to move it by hand. I then moved the steering wheel between the 10 and 2 o'clock positions before any solid engagement was noticed.

The steering box wear issue is a very common issue with third gens. The old steering box is very small and has been superseded with a larger steering box ((Mopar part# 68170214AA Power Steering Gearbox (Mopar upgrade)) which is a one for one replacement. I purchased the new box a month or so ago from AllMoparParts.com and was very pleased with the cost as well as the communication provided during the transaction. I do not have any experience with the steering shafts on our company CTD's as we have not had any failures. But I also have heard the Borgeson shafts do not fit properly and are not robust compared to the Mopar units.

 

My steering wander was bad enough that if I glanced down off the road for a few seconds I would be partly in the other lane or shoulder - I had to be much more attentive in using peripheral vision.

I've been VERY happy with the upgrade and would recommend doing an upgraded steering box first before the other more highly-advertised steering upgrades. As an example, I'd only replace ball joints with upgraded ball joints when they fail, tie rod ends when they fail, etc. The add on steering stabilizer box can wait until later (hardly noticed a steering improvement with this upgrade - and my only onetime death wobble experience occurred when it was installed - so it probably helps but it isn't 100% IMO).

The Borgeson box on mine has different internal ratios than stock so it doesn't take as many steering wheel turns to go from full side to side - helping to give a more solid steering feel. Not sure how the Mopar compares with its ratios

The only issue I have with the Borgeson box is that I cannot use the longer pitman arms included with all lift kits (the Borgeson box has a different sized output shaft than stock). So Mopar might be better in this regard.

So make sure you do your research. When I upgrade my lift to 6" I'll likely need to elongate the pitman arm through fabrication.

As many new truck owners install upgraded intakes, exhausts, gauges, tuner and levelling kit as a sort of "core basics", I'd easily add a new steering box/shaft to that list...hands down.

 

Ive heard many positive things about the borgeson box and shaft. I was going to do this upgrade. but the truck im currently driving came with a new "2008 and up" upgrades box from Dodge, it is physically bigger. Dodge is hoping that the bigger shaft and bearings will last longer. So far so good on my truck. I also added a steering stabilizer to help the box last longer.
But I thing the next truck I get will, Ill try the borgeson.
I have used Mopar reman boxes In the past on other truck and they weren't much better than the bad one I took off.

 

I had my dad turn the wheel the other day and mine is all in the steering box, virtually no play in the output shaft (it has a DSS kit on it to help that part) it is all in the gears, the steering shaft moves 15 or 20 degrees before the output shaft will turn at all.

 

I ordered the new borgeson steering box and shaft from peak diesel today, I will get it installed as soon as my cows and mother nature allow time to do the install and report back on my finding with regard to the steering feel

 

Looking to do the same thing,.... My linkages were just replaced under the recall and I still have the looseness in the steering. Not paying the Mopar prices!!! I'll look elsewhere.

Sent from my high tech squawk box

 

All I can say is zero issues with my truck since new. I use stock tires, no lift, drive it like a truck (not a Ferrari) and not corner hard. So far at 117,000kms (75000miles) it has zero issues. It does need to be steered but I attribute that to highways that have tire track hollows worn in (from lack of replacing paving), road crowns and the never ending crosswinds. When pulling my 5er it is actually easier to steer. I added the steering brace and that was the best thing I ever did to this vehicle.