Dodge Durango Forum II Archive

long I'll show you long........

I have a 99 4x4 with the same problem. This is what I have tried so far. Took to reputable front end alignment shop. They say lower ball joints shot. Take to first dealer(still under warranty)they say lower ball joints good that they are load bearing ball joints and need to be checked with a dial indicator. Bought 99 "D" service manual to verify. Called numerous alignment shops to see if they could check ball joints with a dial indicator found 1 after 8 calls. That shop said they were good also. Took "D" to another dealer to look at some other problems before the warranty expired mentioned the sloppy steering not thinking that they would find anything with 35,927 on the odometer.
They called back and said they found some play in the inner tie rod sleeves and would replace both the right and left side. I thought great maybe that was the problem got the "D" back and same thing. However the front tires were very cupped from having to making the 100's of left and right adjustments as I drive down the road. Bought new tires scorpion a/t's (love em')however, problem did not go away. Bought new shocks (bilstein)essentially to protect the known bad ball joints on the "D" since everyone agreed they were still OK. Did not help with the play but did help the suspension have not given them a good 4x4 test yet though.
I believe that the problem lies in the steering box so if you have a 4x4 start there.
I also went through numerous alignments from different places tire rotation, tire balancing. If the wife did not drive it all the time the "D" would be a fading memory by now.
Dealer called it normal I do not think they wanted to replace the very expensive steering box. Of course most problems that I took the "D" in for were normal or they could not replicate them at the dealer.
Have a new problem to go with the old everytime I put a little force on the steering wheel to turn right I hear a squeak-squeak-squeak, sounds like it is coming from behind the dashboard where the steering cloumn goes through.
Hey good luck, and if you find the problem please let me know.

Wed Oct 31