Ordering replacement steering

Any reason not to stick with my OEM Y steering?

MOOG replacement parts are $217 to my door, and I don't need a new stabilizer (less than 40K on a Bilstien 5100), pitman arm, or change the bearing on my steering box brace.

T steering appears to be $340+ the pitman arm and stabilizer.

I have 125K on my OEM steering and it's never given me DW or any issues. I do plenty of towing/dirt road driving, etc... not a single complaint other than it's starting to wonder a little now.


Will MOOG last as long as OEM?

Thanks

 

I'd be hard pressed to spend twice as much on the T type if you're happy now. I've always used Moog steering parts in the past but not yet on my third gen. My 2nd gen ate Moog track bars every couple of years but they had a lifetime warranty so replacement was just a matter of my labor. Moog tie rod ends have never given me any problems on any of my vehicles. FWIW, I did the Y to T conversion on my 97 and never noticed any difference in steering or tire wear (other than eliminating the slop of the worn out Y setup).

 

I honestly hate buying stuff at NAPA.

NAPA Chassis parts are about double MOOG... are they twice as good?

 

Moog is a good replacement part and I've found that most OEM parts that are not greasable the moog will have zerts to grease the part

 

John, I rebuilt my 2008 truck with MOOG parts when my drag link failed in April of 2015 at 81,000 miles. I also was having wear issues with the ball joints which I had replaced with MOOG ball joints at that time. I can grease these now which I do every 5,000 Miles. I have had no issues with the steering geometry Y style that is on my truck. This is the same style that you have on your truck, my 2008 was an early built model in Sept 2007. In fact, I like this style of steering stabilizer with the bolted stud through the drag link instead of the clamp style which if not tighten correct could slip which the T style uses. I have had this Y style of steering linkage on 2 Jeep Cherokees (1974 & 1979) and my Dodge truck other than replacing stabilizers once in a while I have had no really problems.

 

One thing to consider is if you ever plan to switch to the "big" steering box. It no longer comes with the pitman arm rod end that works with the Y type steering. I believe the only difference between the rod ends is the threads, but I do not know that for sure.

You can get the FCA 52122362AL T linkage from Rock auto for $275.
Moog offers a T linkage kit DS800981A for $230.
Moog also offers a kit for the Y type "MOOG-Packagedeal105" but Rock auto does not have a price for it and everywhere that does sell it, its too expensive.

I only got 25K miles out of the Mopar POS T type linkage. I bought it in 2009 so it was an early version. The truck did not feel any different to me with it on. FCA is on their six thousandth iteration (ok only the 12th version) of the linkage so maybe it is decent now. I'm staying with the Y type as long as I can. YMMV

 

Not sure if the MOOG is cheap or the NAPA overpriced. MOOG appears to have a similar warranty.

I didn't find too many real recent comparisons but the ones I did find tended to prefer MOOG, but the most common thing was that they are very similar and to buy the one that's cheaper. I'll likely call my local NAPA today and get a local quote but I really do hate NAPA parts. My experience with their no questions asked warranty is that they build them to be replaced often. Last time I used their steering components (10-15 years ago on a Toyota) I was replacing them about as often as my oil.

The high number of iterations is a red flag, but maybe they have it down now.

By the time you add shipping on rock auto it's about the same price as amazon or other places for the OEM setup.

I think the Y package deal also includes ball joints and I don't need those.

It sure would be nice if I could buy OEM Y steering still. I'm generally in the OEM or better category but there is a distinct lack of options, in the affordable range, for steering. At 10K miles a year it may not be an issue again for a long time thou.

 

Oops, you are correct the Y linkage deal includes ball joints. That's no deal since you'd have to throw the ball joints in the trash. Moog ball joints for our trucks are junk.

 

I thought this thread brought the deja vu.
https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/256744-Steering-Kit