I just bought a 98 D with 113k... The beast was kept in excellent condition. I have noticed a few things. 1. the faster i go on the freeway seems i have more play from the steering wheel bout inch or so...Riding next to trucks can push this baby all over the lane. Any tips on how to tighten the steering?? and how do you tell if these upper ball joints are bad..what are some visual signs? i have no knocking or grinding or bumping sounds when i turn the wheel at any speed.. 2. I didnt see to much stuff about the oil sludge until after i bought... but dont want to blow up my new baby...i did look at the repair book and it says its not as easy as just dropping the pan. I have yet to see this answered on here and was wondering if this is true or if someone has the answer...3. i know its been asked plenty of times but hoping someone has figured it out since 2004...but on a 98 is there ANY way to program the keyless remote to chirp the horn and how to program the locks to lock themselves when you go over 10-15 mph.... dealer one is charging me 50 buck service fee with an appt 9 days in advance for these two simple task and dealer two is charging me 75 diognostic check. :screwy: I do have the original manual and it does not state the procedure and did find out how to program the 99 but it does not work....But any help or other suggested maintence ideas would be great... This truck fits me and i want to keep him running a long long time

I just bought a 98 D with 113k... The beast was kept in excellent condition. I have noticed a few things. 1. the faster i go on the freeway seems i have more play from the steering wheel bout inch or so...Riding next to trucks can push this baby all over the lane. Any tips on how to tighten the steering?? and how do you tell if these upper ball joints are bad..what are some visual signs? i have no knocking or grinding or bumping sounds when i turn the wheel at any speed.. 2. I didnt see to much stuff about the oil sludge until after i bought... but dont want to blow up my new baby...i did look at the repair book and it says its not as easy as just dropping the pan. I have yet to see this answered on here and was wondering if this is true or if someone has the answer...3. i know its been asked plenty of times but hoping someone has figured it out since 2004...but on a 98 is there ANY way to program the keyless remote to chirp the horn and how to program the locks to lock themselves when you go over 10-15 mph.... dealer one is charging me 50 buck service fee with an appt 9 days in advance for these two simple task and dealer two is charging me 75 diognostic check. :screwy: I do have the original manual and it does not state the procedure and did find out how to program the 99 but it does not work....But any help or other suggested maintence ideas would be great... This truck fits me and i want to keep him running a long long time

I'm assuming the 98 D is essentially the same animal as the 99. My wife has over 145K on her 99 with the 318 and the sludge issue has never been a problem. I don't know if you were lucky enough to get any previous maintenance history with this truck but as long as you use a good quality oil and filter and change the oil religiously every 3,000 miles I wouldn't anticipate any problems with sludge.
After having went through the ball joint "thing" I can assure you that you would hear them poping and grinding long before you ever noticed any excessive play in the steering wheel. The first thing that I would recommend is that you check the front tires out for any uneven or abnormal wear, (this truck tends to be pretty hard on tires, particularly if you're not running good quality treads). Also, if you don't know when the last alignment was done, I would definitely have this done too but make sure you trust the shop that you take it to in case they find any surprises underneath.
Sorry, I can't help you with the horn / lock problem. Generally speaking, at 113K miles, you can probably figure on doing a lot of the water pump, rotors, starter, belts, hoses, really normal maintenance kinda things, unless the previous owner has already covered most of that.

Good Luck with your "new" truck. It's really a hard working vehicle that with the proper care, will serve you for many more miles.

t-bank

Hey Thanks T-Bank!

That actually does make me feel better bout the oil pump. But i have already bought belts hoses brake pads oil oil filter air filter plugs plug wires and whiper blades..didnt want to take chances. I have noticed that all tires look in good shape almost brand new except the left front tire that is only half as thick as the other tread. Is it weird that even though the left front has half as much tread as the others that it doesnt pull to the left? But thanks again for the reply.

MeNBabyD