Steering Gear Slop

[Darwood]

Steering is a pet peeve of mine. Any kind of slop in the steering angers me to the point of wanting to get a new vehicle. Having said that I'm trying to get a feel for how much steering slop a new 80 series has. Right now I'm getting about a inch of slop which is within specs, but makes wandering more pronounced since the wheels have about that inch of travel to do whatever the hell they want without my input.

Recently I drove a friends 80 and noticed that he had no slop at all in his steering. I didn't know that was possible. So I'm making this a poll to see how much slop everyone has.

I know most slop is in the tie rods, and or knuckles but there can also be slop in the steering box. In my case it's in the box (though I need to double check this since I haven't checked the linkages for slop in a while).

 

[nspctr1]

Drive a 40 and you will appreciate the little bit of slop you have.......

 

[lobo loco]

Drive a 40 and you will appreciate the little bit of slop you have.......

X2...Hard to get used to the free-play of a 40 when you have other trucks with rack and pinion!!!

 

[Darwood]

So far it looks like a lot of loose steering out there.

 

[Jason Andrews]

Replacing my TRE's, all four made my steering much tighter. IIRC $100 for 4 from Slee. I also upgraded rods. IMHO If you havent put in new ends it is a cheap and easy DIY task to fix your pet peeve.

Cheers

 

[tomatopants]

I have about an inch each direction, doesn't bother me a whole lot, but my friend has a '79 RamCharger, and that thing has about a quarter of a turn before it reacts.


One time I was pissed off and this guy in a Porshe Cayenne was driving way to slow and I was at a stop sign so I went, and the street was narrow as hell, so I figured I was going to either hit a Porshe, or hit the other cars parked along the street.



Luckily, I was able to not hit anything. God knows how.

 

[Darwood]

Bumping to see if we can get more votes.

 

[knorrena]

Yeah it ticks me off too. I suspect that it might have something to do with the rag joint, but thats just a guess.

Karl

 

[cruiserdan]

Define "slop" and tell me how you measure it and under what conditions.

 

[OGBeno]

Define "slop" and tell me how you measure it and under what conditions.

x2.

I have some PS issues right now (leaking vane pump/leaking high pressure line) and some play in one of my TRE's. That said, even with these issues, I can still wheel pretty much with one hand on the wheel....

-o-

 

[cruiserdan]

x2.

I have some PS issues right now (leaking vane pump/leaking high pressure line) and some play in one of my TRE's.

-o-

Good thing you are in the "industry" then............

 

[cool breeze]

When i bought my 80 i had about 2 or 3 inches of steering wheel play. After replacing tre's there wasnt much improvement. The mechanics said my tre's were fine but had them change them out anyway. they said it looked like some bushing in the steering area(need to look up which) that olnly cost like $20 and now Im down to almost nill.

Now i can drive 70 and not worry about slamming the wall or little s***box next to me.

 

[Darwood]

Define "slop" and tell me how you measure it and under what conditions.

I've been using a few ways to determine "slop":

I can turn the wheel about an inch before I feel resistance while not moving.

While driving I can turn the wheel about an inch before the input seems to affect the direction. There is also the same inch of turn of the wheel required before I feel resistance in the wheel. It actually makes it hard to determine if the wheel is centered or not. The center seems to move around based on the lean of the road.

 

[OGBeno]

Good thing you are in the "industry" then............

 

[OGBeno]

I've been using a few ways to determine "slop":

I can turn the wheel about an inch before I feel resistance while not moving.

While driving I can turn the wheel about an inch before the input seems to affect the direction. There is also the same inch of turn of the wheel required before I feel resistance in the wheel. It actually makes it hard to determine if the wheel is centered or not. The center seems to move around based on the lean of the road.

Ok. This makes sense a bit.

But my steering wheel gets more and more off center the more I wheel.....



I've lost track of how to find center anymore. I know I am centered when I am going straight....

I hope to change this soon.

-o-

 

[Darwood]

When i bought my 80 i had about 2 or 3 inches of steering wheel play. After replacing tre's there wasnt much improvement. The mechanics said my tre's were fine but had them change them out anyway. they said it looked like some bushing in the steering area(need to look up which) that olnly cost like $20 and now Im down to almost nill.

Now i can drive 70 and not worry about slamming the wall or little s***box next to me.

That has become my new fear of late. Driving next to the construction walls on the highway are starting to scare me at around 70 what with the unevenness of the road. I've taken to staying away from the left lane in those conditions.

 

[OGBeno]

That has become my new fear of late. Driving next to the construction walls on the highway are starting to scare me at around 70 what with the unevenness of the road. I've taken to staying away from the left lane in those conditions.

Have you thought about a replacement steering stabilizer?

How is your caster correction? As you know, this screws everything up at highway speeds....

-o-

 

[cruiserdan]

I've been using a few ways to determine "slop":

I can turn the wheel about an inch before I feel resistance while not moving.

Engine off?

 

[Darwood]

Have you thought about a replacement steering stabilizer?

How is your caster correction? As you know, this screws everything up at highway speeds....

-o-

The stabilizer is about a a year or two old. It should still be good... I would hope. It's an OME since those are cheaper than OEM.

I really do need to get my caster checked out, but I'm running the new Slee arms which should be good. Also the wheel re-centers well up to the slop point.

My current theory is that the tires catch a groove or a tilt to the road and goes that way. When this happens the wheels turn the knuckle which turns the draglink which pulls the pitman arm. The pitman arm then moves the sector shaft which rotates till it cinches up the slop in the direction that the arm moved. This could explain the center moving around since in essence it would be. I know I didn't explain this well but I'm having a hard time putting it to works.

 

[Darwood]

Engine off?

I just went outside to double check.

On or off it feels the same... the only difference is I can actually turn the wheel one it reaches the tension point with the engine on. About an inch of movement.