Front shock absorbers are an easy repair. If that's really what was needed, they would have done it. Instead, I suspect they sold the truck because they couldn't figure out the cause.
Shock absorbers only reduce the bouncing as you drive. They don't have much effect on steering wander or looseness. The same is true of the rack and pinion steering gear. If that has a lot of play, you'll feel and hear clunking in the steering wheel. From the way you described this, we should be able to figure this out with an inspection. If necessary, the people at any tire and alignment shop are experts at these kinds of things, but to get started, check out these articles:
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-car-steering-works
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-shock-absorber
Most people look at the tie rod ends first when diagnosing steering wander, but those don't cause as much wander as what I think you're feeling. Two-wheel-drive models use a rack and pinion steering gear that is real easy to get to and to replace. It is mounted in front of the cross member on a pair of round rubber bushings. If those bushings are badly-worn, the steering gear will slide back and forth, taking the front wheels with them, as in turning them. To identify that, crawl under the front bumper, then watch the steering gear while a helper works the steering wheel back and forth up to half a turn. If you see the gear moving, those bushings must be replaced.
The next suspect is the couplers in the steering shaft. You'll see most of that shaft under the hood. Look for small universal joints that have looseness in them when the steering wheel is rotated back and forth. That shaft is in two pieces. One half slides into the other half in case of a crash. There is a real lot of looseness between those two halves when it is out of the truck. To install it, it has to be stretched out to reach the couplers. When that is done, that looseness disappears. If excessive wear takes place, enough of that looseness comes back and you may feel it in the steering wheel as a light clunking feel. In some rare cases, rust can develop inside that connection and cause binding. That shaft needs to be able to change length slightly as the truck body flexes over big bumps in the road. If the shaft is binding, you may hear an elusive crunching sound.
Other suspects include deteriorated control arm bushings, and to a lesser extent, lower ball joints. There's something unusual you should be aware of regardless if you inspect them or if a mechanic is showing them to you. Normally ball joints are rather hard to turn by hand, and there must be no up and down and no sideways movement between the ball and the socket it sits in. These are inspected when they are "unloaded", meaning the truck must be jacked up, then supported with jack stands in such a way as to let the lower control arms hang freely. The jack stands must be under the frame, not the lower control arms. This video will clear up what I'm trying to describe:
https://youtu.be/xLFn_bMkZc0
The one notable exception when checking lower ball joints refers to Dakotas and Durangos, not to any other models I'm aware of. With these ball joints, it is okay and normal for the ball to clink up and down almost 1/8" in the socket. Brand new ones from Chrysler will do that right out of the box. A lot of specialists assume they're defective, and they'd be right if these were for any other brand or model. New aftermarket ball joints are usually tight like we expect them to be, but it is acceptable for them to develop that up and down movement over time. As with all other designs, it is still not acceptable to have any sideways movement. That kind of movement is what is preventing the spindle and wheel from being held in perfect alignment.
If you feel an excessive rocking motion side to side while driving, and especially when going around corners, we need to look at the anti-sway bar links and bushings. Those will not cause steering wander. In fact, up through the '70s, most cars and trucks didn't even have anti-sway bars. Most of the time you'll hear a jingle, similar to that of a tambourine, when a link is worn or broken, and a thumping sound if one of the rubber mounting bushings is worn.
Let me know what you find up to this point.
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Monday, April 26th, 2021 AT 6:18 PM
