DWK

On my 06 2500 4x4 I took it in for the TSB front end. They also did a set of ball joints and did an alignment.

I picked the truck up and it drove noticably better with no front end shimmy. The one thing that changed was going over humps like intersections, the front end and steering wheel would shift and the front end pulls and wanders some.
I got home and put my dual steering stabilizer back on. No help, so I ordered a drop pitman arm. It came in yesterday and I installed it today. I have also ordered a drop bracket for the track bar.
All of this and at this point I would almost rather have my truck back the way it was before. Atleast all it did then was a light shimmy.
I plan on installing the track bar relocate when it comes in and having the alignmet changed back to 3.5degree of caster with the tires set at 1 degree toe in.

Am I on the right track or what am I missing? My truck drives like an old duce and a half.
BTW the truck has a 2 1/2" level kit, air bags in rear, 22" wheels with 35 Nittos

xtoyz17

Because of how the new style steering is, the wheel WILL move when going over bumps. This is because you have a solid link between both front wheels and when the suspension compresses or extends, the rising and the lowering of the truck frame is going to move the steering wheel as the drag link angles change.

n2moto

Bump steer is a bad thing.

powermad

getting the track bar will help that a lot along with the drop pitman arm

Ace

You will also probably need to take it back in for re-alignment after you get the front end centered under truck again. I don't know how much or how accurately the "drop bracket" helps with that. It is a setting that will be a little different at any given lift height and change slightly over time as the springs sag. I believe a whole new adjustable track bar is probably the better option. Just make sure you have the front axle and steering wheel centered before you take it back in for alignment and everything should be fine.

powermad

yea and balance tires all that stuff can have to do with the wondering and wobble maybe your rotors are warped as well. just somthing to check out.

Raspy

Those wide tires will have to be balanced perfectly to avoid the "light shimmy" you mentioned. Even then they will tend to steer the truck more than narrow ones. Max out the caster to whatever you can get with the excentrics on the control arms. Mine is at about 5 or 5.5 degrees. You might lower the tire pressure a bit to lessen the impact of bumps too. Next might be a set of Bilsteins.

DWK

Thanks for the replys so far. The tires are road force balanced a couple of thousand miles ago. The light shimmy occured before the new front end. Now it is smooth, just lots of road feedback.
The dealer realigned the truck after the front end. I'm betting they pulled the caster out.
I have newer high end shocks on it.
As soon as the track bar relocate is installed I will be going to Firestone for an alignment. I have the lifetime on the truck.
I realize a adjustable track bar is ideal but funds are low right now and this is a cheaper way.

powermad

did they replace balljoints? i know on my girlfriends jeep she got death wobble and somehow it warped her rotors u might want to look at the rotors. im most likely wrong but if its somthing cheap like rotors its better then puting 400 bucks into the wrong part

Mr Bee

I know there is a steering box stabilizer and those that have it rave about the results. It is a brace that goes from left frame horn to right frame horn and captures the steering box. Seems there is a lox of flex that it eliminates.
Maybe somebody that has one can chime in...Good luck

bradler

Works like a charm if the gear box is still in good shape. Just have someone turn the steering wheel while you watch for side to side movement in pitman shaft to see if that is the problem. A brace will keep the pitman shaft from wagging side to side and prolong life of steering gear. Also just makes the front end feel a little tighter by tying the frame rails together. Considering its half the price of a new gear box, wise investment IMO. I have the DSS but this one from Defiant looks sweet also....

DWK

I am just wondering if all of the beating it took to get the pitman arm off I may have hurt the steering box???
I took it to the store tonight and when I hit any kind of bump at all the wheel will jerk the direction of the wheel that hit the bump. I am talking about hitting a 2" difference in pavement and the wqheel jerks 3" inside.
I am also noticing when I hit the breaks it seems the frot end is shifting some.
FOr now I am waiting on the track bar relocate and will take it to Firestone and see where everyhting is.
I am guessing when I adjusted the drag link to straighten the wheel out after the pitman arm install, nothing in the center section chaged, right??? I mean the tie rods are right where they were.
I guess worse case I will put all of the Dodge parts back on and go from there since it drove OK after the frontend rebuild.
In any case i do not feel the truck is safe the way it is right now.

Ace

I just finished re-building my front end and went through the same stuff you are talking about. It will not be right until you get the axle centered by addressing the track bar situation. After I replaced the ball joints and steering, the steering suddenly became "tight" again, and then it showed a bump steer like you described that would almost jerk the wheel out of your hand, depending on how big a bump in the road we are talking about. But the drop pitman pretty much cured that. The Thuren adjustable track bar and drop sway bar mounts were the next to go on, and finally cured my DW and steering problems completely. Needed a slight alignment adj. after the track bar install, not much. Truck drives like new now. I put a Defiant steering brace on for good measure, just to keep it from self destructing if the DW ever shows up again for any reason.

I don't understand why you have bump steer. Is your draglink parallel or nearly parallel to the track bar?

DWK@

Yes it is way more parallel now than it was. Before the drop pitman arm it looked like a triangle under there. The sad thing is the steering became way more eratic after the drop pitman arm. Opposite of what I thought it should do. I may go back to stock. The pitman are is for a 3"to 5" lifted truck. I am at 2 1/2" of spring spacer lift. I was told on here the 3-5 was the only opition and it would be fine.

Ace

That just doesn't sound right. That is the opposite of what I experienced under apparently the same conditions. There must be something else going on here...

So who am I writing to, DWK, or DWK@?