Steering dampers.

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Lee Pedrick

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Still chasing bad sloppy steering in my 2022,2500 Ram. Evidently the factory damper is a piece of crap. Dealer says nothing is wrong. Everything is in spec. only 3000mi. Any warranty solutions or suggestions
?
 

aaronedmonton

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Still chasing bad sloppy steering in my 2022,2500 Ram. Evidently the factory damper is a piece of crap. Dealer says nothing is wrong. Everything is in spec. only 3000mi. Any warranty solutions or suggestions
?
Stock tires? What psi?
 

22hemi13

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Actually the oem steering damper is quite good. You’re alignment could be off. Caster could be off causing issues. I’d verify that first. Or tire too much psi also
 

aaronedmonton

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stock tires,, 60lbs, like door panel says. Brand new truck! Shouldn't have ANY issues.
To be honest, I find the steering to be numb. It’s not tight at all. There is definitely play. Have you had RAMs before this one?
 

Dinky

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How many miles?
 

Dinky

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Ram front ends are notorious for track bar, steering box being sloppy and ball joints. Oem track bar typically gets bad around 20-30k but can always fail sooner.
 
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Lee Pedrick

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To be honest, I find the steering to be numb. It’s not tight at all. There is definitely play. Have you had RAMs before this one?
Last 4 or 5 trucks were Rams. two were 2500s. Never had this problem. ( I'am 71) Theres only 1 inch of play at the wheel. (half inch each direction.)
 
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Lee Pedrick

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Actually the oem steering damper is quite good. You’re alignment could be off. Caster could be off causing issues. I’d verify that first. Or tire too much psi also
They just checked alignment this week. TOLD ME it in spec. (LIARS)
 

mtnrider

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Still chasing bad sloppy steering in my 2022,2500 Ram. Evidently the factory damper is a piece of crap. Dealer says nothing is wrong. Everything is in spec. only 3000mi. Any warranty solutions or suggestions
?

Stock damper is a great. I'm at 110K with a level kit and 35's and it's still works great. Either way changing the damper is not a problem solver.

You did not mention, but do you have adaptive steering?

.
 
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Lee Pedrick

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Stock damper is a great. I'm at 110K with a level kit and 35's and it's still works great. Either way changing the damper is not a problem solver.

You did not mention, but do you have adaptive steering?

.
Don't know what that is, but I do know the steering and brakes use the same fluid system.
 

Dinky

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Just over 3000. Its a 2022 ,2500

I don't think the steering damper is to blame. It doesn't do anything but prevent unwanted steering feed back like rocks or anything to jerk the wheel. The other thing you could have would be radial pull from the tires but that would be in one direction at medium to high speeds. I would have someone start your truck and saw on the wheel while your under it. See if you can see anything flexing. Ball joints and track bar go bad but not 3000miles. Steering box does develop a lot of slop but typically not in 3k miles. These parts could still be defective from factory as they did have recalls on all of them in the past and have not changed the design since. I did a thuren leveling kit and while I was there changed a bunch of parts. Added thuren active sway bar, thuren track bar, thuren king steering damper, and synergy steering box brace. My 2022 3500 only had 4k miles on it and it tightened up the steering even more than oem. The truck is a whole new truck and drives amazing. I'm not saying drop the money like I did but there is some upgrades available. Did you own a Ram before this truck or did you come from another manufacturer of truck?
 

Dinky

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Stock damper is a great. I'm at 110K with a level kit and 35's and it's still works great. Either way changing the damper is not a problem.

I agree Steering damper is not his issue. I think the oem steering damper is garbage. I drove my truck for 2k miles when I switched mine out. Before I pulled the bolts I was able to jiggle the damper while still bolted to the truck. There was no tension on it which it should have ever so slight tension to prevent any violent jerks effectively. When I unbolted it the part just fell out.
 
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Lee Pedrick

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I don't think the steering damper is to blame. It doesn't do anything but prevent unwanted steering feed back like rocks or anything to jerk the wheel. The other thing you could have would be radial pull from the tires but that would be in one direction at medium to high speeds. I would have someone start your truck and saw on the wheel while your under it. See if you can see anything flexing. Ball joints and track bar go bad but not 3000miles. Steering box does develop a lot of slop but typically not in 3k miles. These parts could still be defective from factory as they did have recalls on all of them in the past and have not changed the design since. I did a thuren leveling kit and while I was there changed a bunch of parts. Added thuren active sway bar, thuren track bar, thuren king steering damper, and synergy steering box brace. My 2022 3500 only had 4k miles on it and it tightened up the steering even more than oem. The truck is a whole new truck and drives amazing. I'm not saying drop the money like I did but there is some upgrades available. Did you own a Ram before this truck or did you come from another manufacturer of truck?
I've owned Rams fo over 30 years or so. Two other 2500s in the past. None were this bad. A cross wind makes me fight the steering.
 
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Lee Pedrick

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I agree Steering damper is not his issue. I think the oem steering damper is garbage. I drove my truck for 2k miles when I switched mine out. Before I pulled the bolts I was able to jiggle the damper while still bolted to the truck. There was no tension on it which it should have ever so slight tension to prevent any violent jerks effectively. When I unbolted it the part just fell out.
The damper looks exactly like one of the wheel shocks. What did you replace it with?
 

Dinky

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I've owned Rams fo over 30 years or so. Two other 2500s in the past. None were this bad. A cross wind makes me fight the steering.

Have you been to the dealer to get their opinion? they will do what they can to get it covered under warranty.
well cross winds will be side to side motion i would say track bar or sway bar. If it is all around problems i would start with the cheapest upgrade and go from there.
steering damper would probably be the cheapest then maybe upgrade the sway bar. i know you truck only has 3000 miles but there is a lot of faulty parts running around as material and labor are short.
 

Dinky

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The damper looks exactly like one of the wheel shocks. What did you replace it with?

i went high end on mine probably over kill for what i need. Fox makes a nice one and a few others out there. i would find something oem replacement so you don't have to fight with brackets.

here is what i went to.
 
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