Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
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Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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"4x4 Steering Secrets Revealed"
From the Oct. 2010 issue of 4WD&Sport Utility - a very useful and informative guide to diagnosing and treating shimmy to "Death Wobble" in 4WD
vehicles. John Currie provides a wealth of knowledge on these common problems.
[Edited on 6-23-2014 by Ken Cooke]
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TMW
Select Nomad
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Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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I could tell you a couple of horror stories about steering componets breaking on a 2000 Dodge 2500 4x4 after we had a lift kit put on from two
different companies. Darn near drove over a cliff on a mountain road but the trees saved us. Went back to stock to fix it.
[Edited on 6-23-2014 by TW]
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: | Originally posted by TW
I could tell you a couple of horror stories about steering componets breaking on a 2000 Dodge 2500 4x4 after we had a lift kit put on from two
different companies. Darn near drove over a cliff on a mountain road but the trees saved us. Went back to stock to fix it.
[Edited on 6-23-2014 by TW] |
What part gave out??? 
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TMW
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Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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The track bar bracket. The first lift was a 4 inch from Big O tires. The bracket broke the bolts off. They welded the bracket on and a couple of weeks
later it broke again. We had a 4x4 shop put on a Sky Jacker lift. Leaving the parking lot at work the steering box shaft sheared off. It appeared as
if it had been damaged from the previous problem. a couple of weeks later coming down Breckenridge mtn the bracket broke again. The truck moved to the
left where we hit the embankment lifting the left side and sending the truck right toward the clift. Had just enough steering to go for the trees or I
wouldn't be here writing this. $13,000 damage. Truck was put back to stock.
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Cliffy
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Breckenridge mtn, used to go squirrel and Bandtail pigeon shooting up there 30 yrs ago. Not a good road to lose steering on.
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J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
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Mood: Easy Does It
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modifyed suspension
in some states its aginst the law to modify steering or suspensions. when I was in Virgina in the military they would not give me a safety sticker
because the supension on my car was modifyed. so I couldnt get a post sticker to bring the car on base the work was done in ca. by a highly respected
shop.
if you have a supension failure with a modifyed suspension and injure or kill someone you bought the farm.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
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Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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I had a solid track bar bracket fabbed up for $100 and it holds my track bar nice and firm.
Was the Dodge running much larger tires than stock? What condition were the ball joints??
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TMW
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We did the lift so we could run 35 inch tires on it for the snow on Breckenridge. I don't know why it didn't work out, seems odd. Another scary
thought is that one of the girls at work went to LA to pick up some supplies for the company the day before the steering box shaft broke. I wondered
what would have happened if she was on the fwy doing 70+ mph and it broke.
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durrelllrobert
Elite Nomad
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Location: Punta Banda BC
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Mood: thriving in Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by TW
Another scary thought is that one of the girls at work went to LA to pick up some supplies for the company the day before the steering box shaft
broke. I wondered what would have happened if she was on the fwy doing 70+ mph and it broke. |
My ex-wife had that happen when the (cast iron?) rack and pinion broke on her 1985 Mustang with only 12,000 miles on it. On I-95 at 70 mph on a very
cold day going into a turn. Just went straight through guard rail into snow bank.
Bob Durrell
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Barry A.
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Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by J.P.
in some states its aginst the law to modify steering or suspensions. when I was in Virgina in the military they would not give me a safety sticker
because the supension on my car was modifyed. so I couldnt get a post sticker to bring the car on base the work was done in ca. by a highly respected
shop.
if you have a supension failure with a modifyed suspension and injure or kill someone you bought the farm. |
3 of my vehicles have "modified suspensions" in CA. That is one of the reasons I carry a million dollar blanket liability policy, in addition to
normal liability insurance. Very cheap-----$300 per year from State Farm covers almost everything including my rentals. None of my suspension
modifications are radical, tho, and State Farm inspected all of them and signed off. "Load levelers" on the front and add-a-leafs in the back of the
2007 X-terra, Bilstein and KYB shocks all around on all of them, and add-a-leafs in the back for 1 of them ('89 Trooper ), plus add-a-leafs on the
front and back of my '94 F-250. (all 4x4's)
Mexico, however, is problematic with State Farm, but it's negotiable when close (100 to 200 miles?) from the border.
I drive carefully-------always.
Barry
[Edited on 6-24-2014 by Barry A.]
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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"Check yours often..."
| Quote: | Originally posted by TW
We did the lift so we could run 35 inch tires on it for the snow on Breckenridge. I don't know why it didn't work out, seems odd. Another scary
thought is that one of the girls at work went to LA to pick up some supplies for the company the day before the steering box shaft broke. I wondered
what would have happened if she was on the fwy doing 70+ mph and it broke. |
For this reason, I check my pitman arm's connection with my sector shaft.
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