Left and right truck movement

[Toeknee]

Good day all, seeking advice on what I can do to stabilize my 2014 ram 1500. Have noticed play in the past just never cared for it. When driving down highway and road gets a little uneven my truck sways left to right at an excessive amount. I am lowered not sure on kit dealer installed, only 65000 miles. Was thinking front and rear sway bars but not sure. Any advice greatly appreciated. Will get name of shocks if possible when out of work. Thanks

 

[rzr6-4]

Like the steering wheel has play and the front tires don't respond or like it just doesn't want to go straight? If the latter then I would guess alignment, whoever lowered it would be suspect.

 

[Racer9]

Or does it lean excessively, which could indicate shocks, especially at 65k.

 

[Wild one]

Good day all, seeking advice on what I can do to stabilize my 2014 ram 1500. Have noticed play in the past just never cared for it. When driving down highway and road gets a little uneven my truck sways left to right at an excessive amount. I am lowered not sure on kit dealer installed, only 65000 miles. Was thinking front and rear sway bars but not sure. Any advice greatly appreciated. Will get name of shocks if possible when out of work. Thanks

If it's lowered and it sways,you'll want to do the relocation brackets for the rear arms.When you lower these trucks,the rear geometery goes out of whack,and actually starts trying to steer the rear axle.Look at the rear locating arms in these pic's,you can see how the relocation kits move the arms down. I run the earlier Illicit brackets,but the IHC brackets basically do the same thing,they relocate the rear arms lower on the diff,bringing the rear geomtery back into spec

 

[Toeknee]

Thanks yall, no play in steering wheel. just excessive sway/ lean from left to right on uneven parts of road to the point it feels dangerous. My wife hates it. My 3yr old on the other hand; weeeeeeeeeeee.
Relocation brackets will look into that. Should I take it to a suspension shop as well to see what they say???

 

[Wild one]

Thanks yall, no play in steering wheel. just excessive sway/ lean from left to right on uneven parts of road to the point it feels dangerous. My wife hates it. My 3yr old on the other hand; weeeeeeeeeeee.
Relocation brackets will look into that. Should I take it to a suspension shop as well to see what they say???

You'll get guys telling you to use aftermarket rear arms and swaybars,those are nothing more then bandaids and don't address the root cause of the rear sway issue or wheel hop. I had a set of high dollar rear arms on my truck,but went back to the stock arms after doing the relocation kit,and sold the high dollar arms. You can drive my truck with 1 hand at 150+ mph (it's not stock,lol).The rear location brackets also help plant the rear tires into the pavement harder,by increasing body seperation on launch,helping to reduce tire spin when you hammer it off idle.

 

[Racer9]

Look at your rear tire from the side, is it centered in the wheel opening? If it is closer to the front, lay down and look at the arms. If they are uphill, you need the brackets. The lower arms need to be nearly level. The IHC arms require cutting some of the old brackets of the axle. There are a couple good youtube videos on it.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Another wear point that's easy to rule-out is a sloppy intermediate steering shaft. I know you said your steering is 'tight' but it would be a good idea to ensure there isn't a "little" free-play. It's an easy check that doesn't cost a dime to do. That way you can rule it out before spending money on other things. Plus, these intermediate steering shafts have about 5 joints and can become sloppy prematurely.

To check, clamp a vise grips at the lower end near where the steering shaft hooks up to the power steering rack. Doesn't need to be super-tight. Then tie the vise grips secure to the frame/exhaust or whatever is nearby (using string). Tie it tight ...so the vise grips is solid (no movement). Then go inside and gently wiggle your steering wheel back/fourth. Steering unlocked of course. If you do detect some freeplay then address it ...and other items.

Could also be your toe-in is off. As in maybe the dealer didn't do as good of an alignment job as they could have. Or you have sloppy parts (like lower ball joints that don't like lowering kits). Incorrect toe-in could cause side-to-side darting. That you can also verify with a tape measure across 'like' treads front-to-rear of the tires. It's not as scientific but it works too get you into the ballpark. Or you can draw a chalk line. There are videos to show you how. Figure 1/8" to 3/16" difference front to rear of the tires. Half of that would be 1/16 to 3/32nd toe-in. Ultimately you might want to rule out worn parts before going too far down the road of more corrective kits (which aren't a bad idea once you know all front steering/suspension components are solid)

Start with the most common and cheapest things first.

 

[Toeknee]

Thanx all for the responses. Does my truck warrant the relocation brackets????

 

[Racer9]

IMHO yes. Tire is closer to the front than the back and the lower trailing arm is uphill.

 

[Toeknee]

thanx, now to call shops to see what the damage would be to install them.