IS it possible to tighten the play in the steering

[CharlieS]

Snowolfwarrior,

I replaced all the bearings, but after I completed the birf job and I inspected the old ones, I found that I had one trunnion bearing that had a shattered roller. That probably was not helping things in my front end.

I wouldn't suspect the alignment, but that's just me. I did my alignment as preventative maintenance as I bought the vehicle at 179K and I replaced the suspension and added caster correction bushings. I'd be surprised if you have an alignment issue.

Since you did the front end service, did the tie rod ends seem good?

Charlie

 

[ElJefe]

The adjusting screw att he top of the box moves the gear at the top of the sector shaft toward the worm gear in the box. If you over tighten the box forcing the sector shaft into the worm gear, you WILL destroy the sector shaft, worm gear, and most of your bearings and seals in short order, basically trashing the steering box.

If anyone is going to adjust your steering box, I would recommend at the very least to disconnect the drag link from the pitman arm, and preferably the lower steering shaft as well. There is NO WAY to feel whether the box is over tightened with the steering links hooked up by turning the wheels or driving the truck.

The quick and dirty way to adjust the box in the truck is to disconnect everything from the steering box. Then as you tighten the adjusting screw slowly, rotate the steering box back and forth across the straight ahead position BY HAND, either by removing the lower steering shaft and grabbing the splines(preferred), or by grabbing the lower steering shaft at the U-Joint and twisting it. I recommend removing the lower steering shaft and grabbing the splines directly because the moment you start to overtighten the box you will not be able to get enough of a grip on the splines to turn the box over center. As soon as you feel the SLIGHTEST increase in resistance going across center, back the screw off a 1/16th of a turn and tighten the nut.

If you still have slop in your steering it's time to start looking elsewhere.

 

[snowwolfwarrior]

Hi CharlieS... I have had a good look at the tie rod ends, and all are good, the trunnion bearings I took out and washed off and regreased when I done birfs, so I know they are ok.

 

[snowwolfwarrior]

Hi Eljefe...... Sounds a lot of work, but like you say, it's the only way to do it properly without loading up any gear meshes, I really don't know what to do, I will probably end up having the wandering, which is ok on the USA large wide roads, but here in the UK the country lanes that I use 80% of the time, with only enough room to just pass two cars, the wandering and braking at the same time, gets a little hairy at times....lol

 

[ElJefe]

The adjustment is really not that bad. You really only need to disconnect the drag link from the pitman arm to do it right. It will be pretty obvious when the gears start to interfere. You will feel the box get stiff going across the center and then loosen up again as soon as you go over center. I tighten a bit, then reach in through the wheel well and rotate the box over center a couple of times by twisting the lower steering shaft by hand. Keep going in small increments till you feel it tighten over center, then back off a bit.

Another possibility is that your steering is no longer centered. By design, the steering gear is only tight at the straight ahead position. The farther off center you get, the more clearance there is in the gears. At full lock, it may be 1/8 of a turn of the steering wheel of clearance in the gears. If your alignment has changed and your box is no longer cenetered, you will feel some play in the gears.

Chris

 

[PHAEDRUS]

My vote is culprits one two and three,
1. wheel bearings. just service them for hells sake.....
2. Tie rod ends, Slee has a set for $99, they also have heavy duty drag link and relay rods with the TRE's for a package price. I have all three on my truck.
3. trunion bearings, this is less likely but I will bet if you make sure that your tires are aired up properly and reset the preload on the wheel bearings (along with service) you will be golden.
Dave