Looking for alignment solution

[Halfdane]

Hello and good day,

2016 Ram 3500 6.7 turbo diesel white flatbed 4x4 DRW 260k miles

Recently the truck started drifting to the right and I thought I had an alignment issue. When considering the situation, I had the alignment for the truck done about a year ago and the pull to the right wasn’t slow and gradual, it happened suddenly. We have bad public roads around our home area.
I pulled the passenger side tire to check for any play in the axle. When I jacked the front up and pushed the front tire back and forth on the vertical axis, there was a small amount of movement, maybe 1/8” tops. I removed the tire and moved the hub the same way, and it seemed like the movement was less pronounced, but still there. I tightened the axle nut a little and it took out some of the play, but not all.

I put the tire back on and checked the front driver side tire. No play at all in any direction. I took the truck for a drive and noticed that at slow speeds, there is little or no pull to the right, but around 30mph or higher, it starts to pull right. I asked a diesel mechanic friend for some guidance, and he said to check the ball joints for any play in them.

I checked about 5 ball joints and didn’t feel any motion in them. Then I began checking the axle bars themselves and found a passenger axle bar that had a lot of give in it. I have a picture and a video attached showing the part and the motion in the bar. Is this the cause for the alignment issue? What could be causing the hub to have movement? If the ball joints for the axle will need to be replaced, what are they called, since there are many ball joints on this vehicle?

Thanks in advance,
Jon

PS: I couldn’t load the video showing the movement of the axle bar. In the photo, the bar in question is the clean, darker bar in the center of the photo. If I use both hands, I can easily rock that bar forward then back.

 

[06 Dodge]

Check out this Thuren link on things to look over and it also has a printable PDF alignment specs : https://www.thurenfabrication.com/pages/2013-2022-ram-3500-alignment

 

[hemihustlin]

thats what we call the drag link. connects the steering wheel (pitman arm) to the tie rod.
the one you see behind it is the track bar, connects the frame to diff
the big bar in foreground is the tie rod, connects the two wheels
having a loose in the drag bar joints or in the tie rod joints will absolutely affect the alignment. in fact certain years of rams had a recall for the drag link where the dealers were welding the jam nut. i would definitely look into an upgraded drag link assembly.

installed an apex drag link kit on a customer's ram this week that thing was beefy!!!

 

[rzr6-4]

Yes the drag link. Those joints are a ball socket, being able to rotate the bar smoothly forward and backwards is fine, but if you prevent the bar from rotating and just move it linearly, you should have no play in any direction. Very easy to DIY if that's the case.