[Miller-time]

Need suggestions to upgrade my steering, within reason* I’m going nuts and cross eyed over this.
2003 ram 2500 4x4 3” front springs 35s 3 miles from paved road, all stock steering, linkage has at least 1 bad tie rod end.

-Rant-
This is the ridiculousness I’ve found so far:
was told Moog is now chinese and their quality has went to poop but they are around $400 plus pitman arm
Jegs has a kit for $230 plus pitman arm- bet it would last a week lol
Synergy and a pitman arm $1,150 and dampener. And apparently their ball joints aren’t that great because people want to upgrade to EMF (?) ball joints...
The Mopar upgrade kit apparently is still sold with the re-called tie rod end, so that’s absurd but at least it’s under $600 with the new pitman arm, but I guess it needs a new tie rod end out of the box and dampener.
- if any of this is wrong please let me know-

Truck has stock undersized steering box and power steering pump, and it’s due for tires, seriously tempted to swap out the bad tie rod end and ride on with the Y link. Seems like quality is either non existent or costs $1200 and still has less then desirable tie rod ends. Honestly besides some steering box play and anemic power steering pump the truck drives fine as is,
Thanks I’ve been trying to order parts for over a week, have a good day!

 

[panteragstk]

Honestly, I think it's really up to you on what to do. I plan to go the expensive synergy route, but I'm leaning on doing a sort of hybrid setup by getting their 2nd get tie rod and using a Thuren drag link potentially with EMF ends. I'll probably go with EMF ends on the synergy tie rod just because everyone says they're no better than OEM. That's what I plan to do, but I also want everything to be as bullet proof as possible.

Another member that's VERY knowledgeable (vendor, I think) went with stock Mopar T style and added a PSC hydro assist ram with their steering box. I plan to do the same with the setup I outlined above instead of the Mopar upgrade.

For you, I'd probably get the Mopar and see who makes better ends if you're worried about them failing. An upgraded steering box would be a good idea since you've got larger tires. The 6 bolt Mopar gets good reviews, and guys are also upgrading the pump to the newer style as well.

Redhead boxes are good for some, fail a lot for others. I know I'm not going that route when the time comes just because they don't seem to be consistent.

There's a ton of threads on this site for all this stuff that's helped me try to make the same decisions you are.

 

[krs]

Both my trucks have emf ball joints.

6 bolt steering box upgrade from mopar with the 2013+ power steering pump

Synergy tierods with emf rod ends and Fox IFP w/ 170psi N2.

1 truck has a thuren trackbar with 16mm hardware and an EMF end on the axle end.

The other truck has a Synergy track bar with EMF heim joints at both ends 16mm hardware.


My next and last upgrade for both trucks is a long arm kit from Carli.

 

[krs]

FYI if you buy synergy make sure you buy the 2nd gen tierod and the 3rd gen draglink. There is a design flaw with their current 3rd gen tierod with contacting the pitman arm. Call them directly and they will sell it as a modified kit.

 

[Mitchcook]

I am going to recommend:
Mopar or PSC 6-bolt box.
EMF ball joints.
Thuren, Synergy, or Carli trackbar, with my preference on the first option.
Full Mopar steering linkage. You could have 3 full sets for the price of 1 synergy setup.
Steering stabilizer or no stabilizer. I've ran both ways.

 

[krs]

I am going to recommend:
Mopar or PSC 6-bolt box.
EMF ball joints.
Thuren, Synergy, or Carli trackbar, with my preference on the first option.
Full Mopar steering linkage. You could have 3 full sets for the price of 1 synergy setup.
Steering stabilizer or no stabilizer. I've ran both ways.

The Mopar steering usually only last me about 4 months. Before one or more of the ends is sloppy.

Repeated annoyance of truck driving poorly, chewing up tires, replacing parts and endless wheel alignments you will make the value back on the Synergy steering sooner than you think.

 

[Mitchcook]

The Mopar steering usually only last me about 4 months. Before one or more of the ends is sloppy.

Repeated annoyance of truck driving poorly, chewing up tires, replacing parts and endless wheel alignments you will make the value back on the Synergy steering sooner than you think.

I understand, and by no means am I one to take the "cheap way out" but I know wouldn't be happy with the Synergy kit.
When I did look into it, if I wanted spare ends, I would need 3 different rod ends. I was really hoping that it would have been the same rod end for each piece.
With the Mopar linkage, I personally have a bit more confidence I can repair the truck with readily available pieces.

 

[krs]

I replaced all mine with

EMF. Indestructible. Never have to replace any ever again. I just grease them every 5k kms.

 

[Dackdack]

I just got my 07 and in the first two months I have installed a new larger steering box, synergy steering and emf ball joints. I also have a Thuren track bar on order. I think if you’ve got the money and plan on keeping the truck its worth getting the front end done with high quality stuff.

 

[krs]

I just got my 07 and in the first two months I have installed a new larger steering box, synergy steering and emf ball joints. I also have a Thuren track bar on order. I think if you’ve got the money and plan on keeping the truck its worth getting the front end done with high quality stuff.

Yep

 

[panteragstk]

I just got my 07 and in the first two months I have installed a new larger steering box, synergy steering and emf ball joints. I also have a Thuren track bar on order. I think if you’ve got the money and plan on keeping the truck its worth getting the front end done with high quality stuff.

Exactly my plan. I just realized I haven't installed my Thuren track bar yet and I will have time finally. Been so focused on the A/C that I didn't finish my other project.

 

[aerojust]

I have had good luck with the upgrade to the Mopar T Style Linkage. Do not have a clue how long it will last. I also did EMF ball joints. Very impressed by the build of them. EMF also sells these little bushings that you press into the top joint of the steering shaft. This is right under the wheel in my 07.5. There is a ton of play in the factory rubber worn-out bushings. This made a big difference to me. The other game-changer was installing the Thuren track bar. My factory bar had the bushings on both ends pretty much shot with a lot of play. I did the track bar and the EMF bushings after the Linkage and Ball joints. I honestly think the Track bar and bushings made a bigger difference than the rest.

 

[Miller-time]

Thanks for the info! Ok so these EMF ball joints are just the upper and lower ball joints, right? They don’t make tie rod ends do they? I look on there site $780 for 4 ball joints wowzers, I honestly don’t drive enough to justify the modifications most people are suggesting, honestly in 30k miles and 3 years I’ve had 1 tie rod end is loose, 1 hub bearing had a little play and due to lack of tire rotation and mud tires poor designs 1 set of tires (ball joints are still tight). Super disappointed a brand new timken hub bearing is already junk in 30k miles, but their quality has gone to poop too, I had another poor experience with their bearings at work

 

[Miller-time]

I just got my 07 and in the first two months I have installed a new larger steering box, synergy steering and emf ball joints. I also have a Thuren track bar on order. I think if you’ve got the money and plan on keeping the truck its worth getting the front end done with high quality stuff.

Thanks and I do agree but this is not my top priority, I will be keeping all suggestions in mind for the future! I just did the thuren soft ride springs and they are awesome!

 

[Miller-time]

I replaced all mine with View attachment 955097
EMF. Indestructible. Never have to replace any ever again. I just grease them every 5k kms.

They only do the upper and lower ball joint? No tie rod ends on their site that I saw

 

[Miller-time]

I am going to recommend:
Mopar or PSC 6-bolt box.
EMF ball joints.
Thuren, Synergy, or Carli trackbar, with my preference on the first option.
Full Mopar steering linkage. You could have 3 full sets for the price of 1 synergy setup.
Steering stabilizer or no stabilizer. I've ran both ways.

Thanks I will keep all that in mind! I forgot I did do the super ebay special steering stabilizer, and then I I posted on here or somewhere else about it and everyone said I was dumb and it wasn’t necessary and I fell for a trend product, because I didn’t notice a difference and I “messed with how it was designed” I hate people LMAO

 

[krs]

They only do the upper and lower ball joint? No tie rod ends on their site that I saw

They make the ends that replace the Synergy tierod ends. The one on the right is the synergy tierod and the left is the emf

The top four on the right are the tierods. Far left top is track bar heim and then obviously the emf ball joints

 

[Miller-time]

They make the ends that replace the Synergy tierod ends. The one on the right is the synergy tierod and the left is the emf

View attachment 955172
View attachment 955173
The top four on the right are the tierods. Far left top is track bar heim and then obviously the emf ball joints

Thanks for the info!

 

[krs]

I can’t find tie rod ends on EMF website, only ball joints

Thanks for the info!

Yes I had to order them directly from them.

 

[Miller-time]

Yes I had to order them directly from them.

This is apparently my first day on the inter webs because I can’t reply right LOL I fixed my reply and only took 3 tries!

I meant “thanks for the info” but would you mind telling me how much the tie rod ends were? Thanks