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Steering Box Adjustment

3.6K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Red90  
There should not be lots of play in the steering. It should be tight. You need to determine the cause by going through everything. Have you gone through EVERYTHING?
  • Hub bearings. Take off the drive flanges and adjust the bearing to have light preload as per the manual.
  • Swivel bearings. Disconnect the tie rods and adjust swivel bearing preload to within spec as per the manual. Make sure there are no rough spots in the total movement. If so, you need new bearings.
  • Panhard rod bushing and bolts. At ride height, loosen bolts. Settle vehicle and tighten to spec. With someone else moving the steering back and forth, hold your hand on each joint. You should feel no movement between the rod and the truck.
  • Tie rod ends. With someone else moving the steering back and forth, hold your hand on each joint. You should feel no movement between the rod and the truck.
  • Steering box freeplay and bolts. Tighten all steering box bolts to chassis to spec. Disconnect tie rod. Move steering end to end. It should feel smooth and the center position between maximum travel should be the normal straight driving position. If not, then the pitman arm and or steering wheel are installed wrong. Adjust steering freeplay per the book.
  • Castor and toe. If you are running low of negative castor, you need new components to fix. Adjust toe per the manual. There is no need for any fancy equipment.
  • Steering shaft u-joints. With the tie rod disconnected from the steering box have someone else moving the steering back and forth, hold your hand on each joint. You should feel no movement across the joints.
Thanks for the tips will do this. I am going by overall feel when up in the air with regard to things being tight. About 65,000 miles on a 1995. No big tires, no lift all OEM. I do need to check the swivel bearing preload also.