Here are the part numbers:

52122362AB---Updated Steering assy (Rev B)
52122362AE---Updated Steering assy (Rev E)

68039930AA---Updated Pitman Arm
52106909AE---Steering Damper
6502473---Bolt (1), to attach steering damper
6505623AA---Nuts (3), to attach new linkage
6502835---Nuts (2), to attach steering damper

 

great this should be posted in the first post by the op

 

Bob mentioned in another thread that the AE revision includes a stabilizer.

 

Ok more news. Wednesday evening I went to pick up my truck from the dealership waited for 1.5 hours for them to wash it before I took it home. When it was finally washed and "ready" to go, I drove it about 50 feet and still felt the knock in the steering wheel. I had the service advisor drive the truck around the lot and he did feel it and hear it. Took it back to the mechanic that worked on it and he feels it and hears it. ***? They claim it was coming from the steering column and it is not the steering gear. How can you tell the difference by just driving it? They finally paid for a rental for one day, would not pay for the rental insurance though. Called me thursday evening and said they installed another steering shaft in the column and the problem is fixed. Picked up my truck this morning and steering knock is gone, truck rides nice and steers like new. 10 miles later on a main road, not even on the freeway, more DW. Seriously, now my neighbors are laughing at me because I am too nice. OH, also when I picked up my truck today, I started the truck to let it warm up and about 15 seconds after starting it, it missed on a cylinder or backfired or something. Has never done that. Also found a pill and part of a broken CD on my floor board. Im getting more ****** as I write this.

 

Sounds to me like you need to shop for another dealership. Try and get ahold of some of the other guys on here from the Phoenix area and find out which dealership has a COMPETANT service tech that is familiar with SFA suspensions. It sounds like your dealership has the service philosophy of "replace things until the problem is sufficiently hidden so the customer doesnt know we never even tried to diagnose it but rather just wanted him out of our bay." I've known a couple of dealerships like that in the past and nothing good has ever come from my dealings with them.

 

I got my truck repaired today with the 52122362AE - Steering Kit & 52122370AB - Steering Damper and it rides like a brand new 3 year old truck.

 

Hey BroncoHound, you have any experiences with the Dodge dealer in Corpus Christi? I have, and none of it good between 4 different Dodges, 2 Ram 3500 4X4's, a Durango, and an SRT8 Charger. Not one of those vehicals bought from there, but when I did have a warranty issue, all I had was problems from that dealership. My Charger is still to new to have problems, but for my truck, I have Carli upper ball joints and Moog lowers on the way, along with the Carli 2.5 system for my Megacab. Anyway, sorry for going off topic guys, I'm getting a lot of extra stuff from CARLI SUSPENSION done as soon as it can be dropped off at the shop, and I can't wait. When all is said and done, I'll be posting pics.

 

PM Sent, Chris. Don't want to thread jack.

 

I think I am going to go to the local Offroad shop that builds custom rigs to see if they can see a problem. I did talk to a tech from there yesterday and he said he could not tell me over the phone how to fix it. I dont know if he had an F-250 he was going to try to sell me or maybe he couldnt explain it over the phone???After more research, I think that one of the problems on these trucks is having 2 radius arms and they are also very short, so if the coil spring length is changed...the caster will change quicker when hitting a bump in the road. If there is a kit out ther that takes the top radius arm and connects it to the bottom radius arm (with an adjustment inline for caster), and also make the bottom arm longer..I bet these trucks would glide. This is the same concept that the Ford Broncos have always used and rarely do you see DW in a Bronco. I have seen lift kits for Jeeps that do this and I hear they are DW free.

 

What you are referring to is called a radius system. The style of suspension we have has been used for years by Jeep, before Dodge incorporated it in it's full-sized pickups. In fact, American Motors was using it prior Chrysler purchasing Jeep. Suspension geometry is critical with this design, but slightly more forgiving due to increased dimensions associated with our larger pickup platforms. I've been studying this setup for years, literally. But caster doesn't really have much to do with what most refer to as Death Wobble, assuming toe, camber and caster are reasonably close to design specifications.

You are mostly correct in that the caster does change throughout the travel of the upper and lower control arms, as it was designed to. After all, the axle moving up and down changes all sorts of angles in and of itself. But, once the axle is permanently moved further away from it's original point of reference, the change in caster, and rate of change in caster from sway, vehicle roll while turning, and other typical driving circumstances, causes those changes to become amplified. There are kits with longer control arms to help append the change in caster, as well as move the axle forward to compensate for increased arm angle which pulls the axle backwards. But, now with increased arm angle comes problems with how the forces are transfered from the road to the frame. With the arms further from parallel to the horizontal of the frame, "road vibration and shock loads are transmitted up and back instead of in a fore-and-aft direction" as intended. Of course, the less extreme it is, the less you'll notice it. Usually, a harsh ride is the worst aspect. Going to a "long arm kit" is the best solution, but is costly, and I'm not sure who has one for these trucks.

What is sometimes attached to Death Wobble is an untrue geometry of the track bar and drag link combination. The design that Dodge finally amended in this kit addresses this. On flat ground, in a perfect world, the old design works fine. But, vehicle sway, uneven road and axle articulation may cause the track bar and drag link arches to become inconsistent with one another. The distance from the pitman arm to where the drag link and tie rod connect is geometrically similar to the length of the track bar. Similarly, the two are nearly parallel. What's worse is if you raise the vehicle and lengthen the drag link to compensate for the un-centered axle, you now have changed this geometry. Adding a longer (lower) pitman arm may help, but not you are effectively weakening the steering box. If the suspension compresses to a certain point, it is also possible for the two arches to reach a binding point in extreme cases. Another problem with the old design is as you add lift to the truck, the tie rod and drag link start forming a "Y" due to where they connect. This really exaggerates the toe-in dimensions when going over bumps, and thereby leads to what is commonly called Bump Steer. As the frame and pitman arm move up and down, the "Y" changes its angle, which in turn changes the distance between tie rod ends (think Pythagorean theorem here). So, you feel a change in steering. Again, the less extreme, the less you'll notice. I'm just trying to illustrate examples that still affect your steering/suspension geometry, even if only at a percentage.

The new design helps eliminate the "Y" design. In my opinion, it doesn't address the relationship between track bar length and drag link length. But, it's much better than the set-up most of us have.

Of course, I'm taking what others have designed and studied and blurted it out in a couple paragraphs of my own words.

 

It just so happens while at a getogether last year a fellow had an 04 that he installed the '98 parts on.. He had all the part numbers with him so I went and bought the parts. They cost me like $417. This was before this upgrade came out.

The person that gave me this info paid $284 for everything but he got the better price cause he knew someone.

The part numbers I got are as follows...

THESE ARE 1998 MODEL YEAR NUMBERS....

2G93148
2G91123
2G96096
2G96095
2G91201
2G93208

Here's what it looks like under the fellows truck. I haven decided what to do yet as I haven't installed these parts yet but I probably will. If you notice, the pitman arm may not be an issue with this setup as the stud faces up???

 

My dealer is going to work with me on replacement since I have 44k on my truck. Just out of warranty. They are charging me $260. Half. So this installed is $520. I have read through the post on this thread. It seems the $260 isn't bad at all, or am I reading the post wrong? I called and complained to Chrysler customer service about this issue. They worked out a deal with my dealer. I haven't checked on the prices, but would it be cheaper to buy and do it myself?

 

AJPulley...Im not sure what goal you had intended to achieve. Is what you have written the same concept as what I had mentioned prior? I do understand that it is a radius arm setup and in "my" opinion it seems to work better than the two control arms. You could have two control arms that connect at the same imaginary point on the frame and maybe some how have them the same length and also have them arch in the same degree. This would be tricky to do and the end result would be the same effect as a radius arm correct? I am guessing that the factory control arms are engineered for factory springs only. Maybe every aftermarket lift requires adjustable control arms? Who would know how to adjust these? I know you could set the caster at a static ride height but how about under a load such as going over an expansion joint on a bridge. Wow what a mess!

 

just ordered this yesterday from dodgeparts.com and paid 158 and change shipped!

 

When you get thru with the dealers, go to some Hot Stuff at Carli Suspension