Does Your Ram Have The Infamous Steering Wheel 'clunk / Rattle' ? Fix Found....

For those of yall that have already installed yours...how long did it take roughly? I know it says 2-3 hours but I want to hear from first hand.

Thanks!

i want to repeat my question, because it does affect my safety as well as others. will the bearing fix, compromise the shafts' ability to collapse in head on colisions? when alls said and done, to replace the spring retainer on the bearing, will it dissable the crumple zone engineered into the steering shaft? will the wheel be capable of crushing my chest in an accident?

I would love to know how to do it, even though mine isn't clunking yet!

I will take one.

2001 1500 4x4 360 with autpo trans and 180,000 miles

Any answers for our questions?

Originally Posted by spun360

i want to repeat my question, because it does affect my safety as well as others. will the bearing fix, compromise the shafts' ability to collapse in head on colisions? when alls said and done, to replace the spring retainer on the bearing, will it dissable the crumple zone engineered into the steering shaft? will the wheel be capable of crushing my chest in an accident?

360, Great & relevant question.

In a word, no, it will change nothing about that feature.

The 'crumple zone' is built into primarily, two 'steering system' related items:

1) The sliding joint, telescoping 'intermediate steering shaft'. Unchanged.

2) The column outer tube - (see column outer tube, adjacent to pedal area) the part which is 'fluted' - 'slotted' IE: cut out metal, designed to collapse due to collision forces. Unchanged.

The main effect of our kit is to stabilize the lower end of the inner column shaft, as it rotates within the column outer tube. That little spring you see, which encircles the end of the column shaft, it's only purpose is to provide spring tension upon the "forcing cone" it bears upon, attempting to keep OEM bushing / bearing assembly tight.

It does so, but only for a short while, a few years or few thousand miles, then loses tension, the assembly becomes loose, and steering precision is compromised (wander & play increase), and when more loose, clunk or rattle noise is heard, as the lower OEM assembly fails to hold the inner shaft secure.

BTW, if you have NO steering wander & also NO clunking or rattling, then your Ram column hasn't yet developed the looseness - and you have no need of our Kit.

Keep driving for more years or miles, until you see one or both of these symptoms - increased steering play, or column originated noises.

If / when your Ram Truck develops this , you won't have to wonder - they'll drive you crazy enough to notice !

But, great question, in any case.

No changes, whatsoever, to the 'crash / crumple' features built into the Ram Truck.

Best Regards,

David B.
www.RockSolidRamTruckSteering.com

Awesome. I was curious to the asnwer to that question. Anyone wanna chip in and say how long it took them to do thier fix?

Originally Posted by 360ram14

Awesome. I was curious to the asnwer to that question. Anyone wanna chip in and say how long it took them to do thier fix?

Ethan: I'd love for others to say how long. Unfortunately, if you thumb thru the posts, you'll find more questions posted than reports detailing results.

Reason being that once the kit is installed, folks tend to forget to 'give the report' - which is sad as it can benefit others.

I'm sure someone will chime in - you just don't know exactly when.

What I hear is around 2-3 hours, on truck. Any guy who's done it once, can do it again in 1/2 the time - others have told me so.

It will take more if you pull the column, but that is almost never necessary - unless you have some other factor to check on & want it out.

The hardest part is cutting the retainer or spring coils (you're not going to re-use them in any case) - gaining access can be a bit challenging depending upon if you have ABS & what exact engine.

For example, Gas V-8 Rams are easier (V-6's are a piece of cake) mostly, as the engine is smaller than the fairly monsterous Cummins, but both are do-able.

If you're like me, a kinda large frame guy, and you have a buddy, brother etc who is a veritable monkey / pretzel contortable rubber guy - give him a six pack of his favorite beverage, or a pizza to help you out - he may find the space less confining than you do.

Let me dig thu my files & find a recent email report I was sent........

Best Regards,

David B.
www.RockSolidRamTruckSteering.com

Ethan:

Here is a letter (email) I was sent recently from a fellow, Dennis W., on his experience:

Hey David...

Well, I finally got the new bushing installed two weeks ago and is it nice!!! I'm really happy with how good the truck steers and no more noise. What is really nice is under hard braking the truck doesn't go all over the place! I did the installation on the truck and taking my time it went really well and quicker than I thought. It took a few days for the bushing to break in but it feels great. So, I was wondering, I plan to keep this truck for another 100K (bought New in '98 and has 130k right now) how long can I expect this bushing to last? do you have any good estimates as to what I can expect? Thanks for the solution...

Dennis W.

That should give you a pretty good expectation. BTW, I told him the bushing should last as long as the truck - it's a wear resistant Delrin that is very tough !

Best Regards,

David B.
www.RockSolidRamTruckSteering.com

thank you for being a honest and stand up guy! i ordered one!

Thanks!

I tried to log on to your website and the response is the web page cannot be found. any other way of contacting you?

Hello
Installed a new Borgeson Steering Box - all clunks and bad issues "GONE".
JL

Originally Posted by Mnmax

I tried to log on to your website and the response is the web page cannot be found. any other way of contacting you?

Mnmax:

Sorry about that.

Billing snafu with the webhosting company - so the site was inoperable for a few days - back up as normal now !

Best Regards,

David B.
www.RockSolidRamTruckSteering.com

oops ....duplicate post....tired.

Hello
260, 000+ miles on my 1996 Ram 4x4. Had the clunks when turning and keeping track on the freeway. Drive the back roads 60% of the time and I was just getting tired of feeling and hearing problems with my steering.
Had replaced the OEM steering shaft with a Borgeson unit 5 years ago.
The Borgeson Box installation started @ 8:am and was completed @ 12:30 pm. Biggest challenge was removing the hyd-lines. They were rusted in and I did not want to strip them out, so I soaked them in pen-oil for a hour of so. No real problems with indexing the steering wheel, had my wife hold the wheel-straight while I slipped the collar on the steering box.
100% satisfied and a 100% improvement over the OEM box.
PS- having a friend help would cut down on install-time - the Borgeson Box is heavy.
Good luck
JL

Just ordered mine. Hope to get it soon as this bearing has been driving me nuts for far to long.

steering clunk started around 100000 miles. Got 110000 now still clunky after replacing many cosly items under the front. Gonna try to twist the spring and see if it subsides for a while. Let me know on the price on the part!

I placed my order 10 days ago and have received absolutely no response to my placed order. I sent an email 3 days ago to inquire as to the status also no response. I'm no looking for info to cancel my order as the truck will be gone before I get the part at this rate.

KRS7272:

Just a quick note to tell you your order has shipped. We do say on the order page....."please allow 2-3 weeks for your order to arrive...." and judging by the date on your order (8-15), we're just about on target, but do regret we didn't go as fast as you had expected.

We do endeavor to beat the 2-3 week estimate, and frequently do so, but are exceptionally busy just now.

Some do miss the 'allow 2-3 weeks' part when ordering, so I thank you for your patience, and sorry to have disappointed you in this case.

Look for a tracking email later today to your email address, confirming shipment.

Thanks, David B.