OutkastBoss
Junior Member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2014
- Posts
- 11
- Reaction score
- 3
- Ram Year
- 1998 and 2004
- Engine
- 5.9L and 5.7L Hemi
Ok so I am new here and have mainly worked on my Jeep Xj that I have been modifying and working on myself for years. I have upgraded, modded, swapped and adjusted everything on that vehicle over the years so I know it well. And I learned all of this from searching and posting on an Xj forum, so I know the value of a good forum.
My dad worked in a chrysler assembly plant and our family has always had dodges and other Mopars. The old man has a 1970 super bee and a 73 Trailduster. I have a 1950 plymouth special deluxe and have had a few Rams. My older brother owns a small fleet of Rams for our company as well that I have done ball joints, tie rod ends, blower fans, and d-shaft U-joints on.
Now that you know where I'm coming from, on to the vehicle in question. I was chasing down vibes on my 1998 Ram 1500 quad cab, short bed with the 5.9 and 4x4.
I found that I had some play in the trackbar, and tie rod ends. I ordered a cheap setup on Ebay that replaced the entire steering setup and track bar.
I have swapped all of this on several Xj's so I figured, what could go wrong, right?
After swapping in the new trackbar and steering setup, I notice that I could not turn nearly as far to the left as I can to the right, all of a sudden. The steering wheel was also not straight. I figured I would getr an alignment and all would be well. I paid for an alignment and the only change I noticed is the steering wheel was straightened.
When I installed the new steering I made sure that the new pieces were adjusted as close to the same measurement as the old drag link/tie rod. Since picking it up I have remeasured and they seem to be the same length as the ones that came off. I measured to ensure the trackbar was the same length and it was as well.
I do not see any marks from them being adjusted with a pipe wrench at all and I am beginning to wonder if they only adjusted the steering center and nothing else.
With the wheels straight I measured off of the lca, the axle measures as center, so the trackbar should be the correct one.
To make sure I wasn't crazy I turned the wheels all the way to one side and the other and it is obvious that it turns way farther to the passenger side.
First I measured with the wheels turned to the drivers side I measured out from the lca again. On the drivers tire I measured 14.5" from lca to the outside corner of tire tread. On the passenger side I measured 16.5" to the inside corner of the tread. It was measured this way because of which outer tread is available to get a reliable measurement on depends on what way it is turned.
For comparison We turned the wheels all the way to the passenger side and measured. On the drivers side we got 18.5" to the inside tire edge and on the pass. side we got 10.5" to the outside edge of the tire.
I have done driveway alignment on my XJ before and on that car i can only adjust the toe with the tie rod adj. and then center the steering wheel with the draglink adjustment. I have done this and taken it to get checked on an alignment rack and only been off by a small amount. We usually set them to have a small amount of toe.
I noticed visually that when the hweels are tuned as straight as I can get them the tires toe outward, that doesn't seem right. I took a handle off of a broom and laid it sideways across the tire in the center of it and you can see that not only do they toe out but the right side is toed out more than the left.
The shop blamed it on the fact that I installed the steering and trackbar. I figured at worst I would get a call saying they had to remove a TRE because it was too far out of adjustment and needed moved. They claim it was aligned but I have no before and after numbers like my usual shop gives me.
He also suggested that I had removed the steering wheel or the pitman arm and not got them back on aligned properly. I have never removed either of those on this vehicle and this is a new problem since I did the Steering/trackbar swap.
Anyone have any Ideas or suggestions? I didn't have that hard of a time getting the parts on and off but like every other time I have removed a trackbar I had to push the body to get the axle center enough to get the bolt holes lined up for the hardware on both the trackbar and the steering components.
I have searched, now I have come here for ideas. If I can't figure something out I will take it to my usual shop that I trust and hopefully they can help.
I can't help but wonder if I took it there and got it aligned if it wouldn't be fine and then armed with my before and after numbers from the other shop I could seek a refund from this shop.
My dad worked in a chrysler assembly plant and our family has always had dodges and other Mopars. The old man has a 1970 super bee and a 73 Trailduster. I have a 1950 plymouth special deluxe and have had a few Rams. My older brother owns a small fleet of Rams for our company as well that I have done ball joints, tie rod ends, blower fans, and d-shaft U-joints on.
Now that you know where I'm coming from, on to the vehicle in question. I was chasing down vibes on my 1998 Ram 1500 quad cab, short bed with the 5.9 and 4x4.
I found that I had some play in the trackbar, and tie rod ends. I ordered a cheap setup on Ebay that replaced the entire steering setup and track bar.
I have swapped all of this on several Xj's so I figured, what could go wrong, right?
After swapping in the new trackbar and steering setup, I notice that I could not turn nearly as far to the left as I can to the right, all of a sudden. The steering wheel was also not straight. I figured I would getr an alignment and all would be well. I paid for an alignment and the only change I noticed is the steering wheel was straightened.
When I installed the new steering I made sure that the new pieces were adjusted as close to the same measurement as the old drag link/tie rod. Since picking it up I have remeasured and they seem to be the same length as the ones that came off. I measured to ensure the trackbar was the same length and it was as well.
I do not see any marks from them being adjusted with a pipe wrench at all and I am beginning to wonder if they only adjusted the steering center and nothing else.
With the wheels straight I measured off of the lca, the axle measures as center, so the trackbar should be the correct one.
To make sure I wasn't crazy I turned the wheels all the way to one side and the other and it is obvious that it turns way farther to the passenger side.
First I measured with the wheels turned to the drivers side I measured out from the lca again. On the drivers tire I measured 14.5" from lca to the outside corner of tire tread. On the passenger side I measured 16.5" to the inside corner of the tread. It was measured this way because of which outer tread is available to get a reliable measurement on depends on what way it is turned.
For comparison We turned the wheels all the way to the passenger side and measured. On the drivers side we got 18.5" to the inside tire edge and on the pass. side we got 10.5" to the outside edge of the tire.
I have done driveway alignment on my XJ before and on that car i can only adjust the toe with the tie rod adj. and then center the steering wheel with the draglink adjustment. I have done this and taken it to get checked on an alignment rack and only been off by a small amount. We usually set them to have a small amount of toe.
I noticed visually that when the hweels are tuned as straight as I can get them the tires toe outward, that doesn't seem right. I took a handle off of a broom and laid it sideways across the tire in the center of it and you can see that not only do they toe out but the right side is toed out more than the left.
The shop blamed it on the fact that I installed the steering and trackbar. I figured at worst I would get a call saying they had to remove a TRE because it was too far out of adjustment and needed moved. They claim it was aligned but I have no before and after numbers like my usual shop gives me.
He also suggested that I had removed the steering wheel or the pitman arm and not got them back on aligned properly. I have never removed either of those on this vehicle and this is a new problem since I did the Steering/trackbar swap.
Anyone have any Ideas or suggestions? I didn't have that hard of a time getting the parts on and off but like every other time I have removed a trackbar I had to push the body to get the axle center enough to get the bolt holes lined up for the hardware on both the trackbar and the steering components.
I have searched, now I have come here for ideas. If I can't figure something out I will take it to my usual shop that I trust and hopefully they can help.
I can't help but wonder if I took it there and got it aligned if it wouldn't be fine and then armed with my before and after numbers from the other shop I could seek a refund from this shop.
