YJim

Recently truck began to wander and feel loose going down road. Steering wheel was also off center. Finally got around to checking it out. Suspected all of the obvious things. Track bar, ball joints, wheel bearings, steering linkage, etc. I found that the 3 large bolts that hold the steering box to the frame were BACKED HALFWAY OUT. Could move them all with my fingers. Very easy fix, but if I had put it off much longer it could have been very ugly. Just a warning, if your steering gets loose, check it out immediately!

kandgo

Thanks for the warning,I am going to check mine,Thanks again, Rick

yonimax

Yikes! If you've been cheating on your wife I'd check for gease under her fingernails.

AKDSLDOG

Great heads up! I too am having a little vib/steering problem going on. I have checked all the norm, ie. balljoints, tie rod/ends, bla, bla, but never thought to check the box bolt's! On my way right now!

Thanks dog.

thecatsfan

Thanks,

I'm not having any steering issues, but I need to crawl under there this weekend for something else, so I'll be checking them for sure.

AggiePhil

How would a person go about checking this (and the other things perhaps) out? My steering feels pretty loose but I'm not familiar with this part. Thanks!

Palmetto_kid

everysince a rear tire blew out 3 weeks ago, my steering has been wandering from left to right. I have to hold the steering wheel in the opposite direction to keep it going straight. It has been driving me nuts. i hope this fixes it. I will checkit out tonight.

Palmetto_kid

I checked the three bolts that hold on the Steering box, and they where tight.

what else could be my problem? what happens when the steering stabalizer goes bad? what is its purpose?

AggiePhil

Steering in my truck is pretty loose and I think it's normal. Compared to my 1999 F-150, this Dodge is REAL loose. Gotta be real careful not to over correct.

gwhammy

Mine steer's looser than any truck I've had before. Ball joints are tight but I haven't checked the box yet. DO THAT TODAY!Thanks

rubberduck

your wander could be the stabilizer, for sure if you've checked all your joints and tierod ends, i'd definitely go to that. buddy of mine had one come loose at 70 with a loaded trailer and it wasn't pretty, couldn't keep it on our two lanes of interstate. i've owned 2 diff. dodge p/u's and nothing was ever that loose. there's something the matter with sonny i would think

LHartman

I have checked ball joints; good. I replaced my trackbar, front bearings, all bushings, had it alligned and adjusted the steering box. The thing still wanders. I'm going to do the bearing preload as soon as it warms up. This is the only problem that I haven't been able to fix to date.

Loren

pwknapp

Just buy a good staff like Moses had cause we all got to herd these trucks down the road!!!!!!!!

DRM

My Dodge is pretty "light" in the steering department... would not really consider it "loose", just "light". I prefer a heavier feeling to a truck steering - and would rather leave light steering feel to cars

I intend to replace the stock - and probably DOA - steering stabilizer with an aftermarket one to firm up the steering some so it feels like a truck should.


Although, I should not complain - the wife's Expedition has a steering box on it that is WAY too fast a ratio to be on any kind of truck type vehicle, especially one with that much weight out back and up high to throw around with quick turns of the wheel

AaronT

Mine wanders around a bit (understatement) also, especially on highways that are groved by heavy trucks.

I wonder if any of the guys that tried the DSS will chime in here on their thoughts re benefits/improvements to the old wander.