My front end is driving me nuts. I think it is my track bar, was driving today and it just pulled to the right like i had jerked the steering wheel. It is a stock 96 2500 ext cab w/240,000 miles on it not sure if the track bar has been replaced or not. Also might be my tie rod ends, am going now to try to see if anything is loose. Can someone point me in the right direction. Have had a little bit of the dw at between 55-65 mph. Can smell grease coming from somewhere put do not see any on the ground or leaking from anywhere. any help would be appreciated.

 

don't worry...first have a look under there...if ur tie rod ends have torn boots and look like they collapsed then its time to replace those...ur track bar...check for movement and play by the frame area (driver's side)...track bar is the most common thing to wear out on these trucks....next spot...check for play at the joint coming down out of ut steerign gear ( i dunno the name)...that tends to have play and can leak....finnaly look for play between ur steerign shaft as it joins the steerign gear...that likes to get lax over time as well

-tie rods are cheap...i would just replace
-for the track bar i would get a luke's link (look it up)...its adjustable and costs 60$ ..i just dont see the point of replacing a whole massive track bar when its one joint that wears out at the end
- for the play by the steering box...look up steerign tabilizers...there's some good stuff out there after market that will tighten up the front end
finnaly for the steering shaft there is an adjustment procedure using a special spanner wrech

let me know what u come up with

of course double check ball joints and wheel bearings...but ur most likely just looking at atrack bar

 

Could you fill out your sig, please?

 

sorry xl8r, i have been busy the past couple of days i got my sig filled out now. I really do appreciate your help.

 

OK, a 3" lift and big tires...

do you have an adjustable trackbar or dropped trackbar mounting bracket?
longer lower control arms? dropped Pitman shaft arm? dropped swaybar mount?

What kind of lift? Are you smelling grease or engine oil?

 

I have a stock track bar, and as far as being dropped i am not sure, the truck was lifted when i got it. I really need a diagram or picture to know about the rest i don't know a lot about front end parts. And the smell sure smells like grease to me, not engile oil burning or getting hot, but i cant find any grease leaking anywhere. The rubber boot on the track bar is gone and the rubber boots on the tie rod ends are pretty rotten. As soon as i can get someone to help me i am going to lift the front tires off the ground and have them turn the steering wheel to see how much play i have. I just don't know whether to be looking at the track bar, ball joints, or the tie rod ends. The last time i drove it, it just felt like the whole front end shifted to the right. I am not sure what kind of lift it is, it just has spacers under the leaf springs on top of the back axles.Hopefully this helps a little bit

 

Well, how much is the front end lifted?

The lateral shift of the front axle sure sounds like a trackbar problem, which is easy enough to check by raising the front wheels off the ground and lowering them while watching the trackbar's ends for slop.

With that many miles on your truck, you could expect that all of the wear items in the front suspension need to be replaced if they're the original parts!
My '98 had a new front end at ~ 200K miles.

 

I am not really sure how much the front end is lifted, there is not a spacer block on top of the axle on the front end. I wil try to get some pics maybe that will help you more. I dont know if the previous owner replaced any front end parts, just the tranny. The truck came from an area here in kentucky that has a lot of horse farms, so i would say it has done a lot of towing. Would i be able to change out a trackbar without an impact wrench, as i dont have one of those and would i need any special tools for that.

 

You can change it with a half-inch drive socket with a cheater bar on the ratchet.