Re: front axle/turning radius...


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Posted by Keith in Washington [24.41.41.111] on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 11:15:08 :

In Reply to: front axle/turning radius... posted by rick pacholski [98.26.211.168] on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 09:54:07 :

I am not sure how experienced you are with working on a steering system nor what all you have done to your front axle and steering. So if some of the information seems too basic, I am sorry but I want to help you if possible.

Couple of questions:
1) Have you lost turning ability in both directions (left and right)? Or is it not turning either full right of full left?
2) Did you disconnect the pitman arm from the steering box. If so, you might not have had both the steering box and or axle centered when you put the pitman arm back on. This would give you full turning in one direction and not the other.

Here are a couple of things to try:

A) Check axle turning:
1) Support the front axle on jacks so that the wheels/tires are not touching the ground and rotate freely.
2) Disconnect the drag link from the steering arm on the driver's side knuckle. This will disconnect the axle from the steering box.
3) Grab the drivers side tire and move it to the full left turn position. Check the left knuckle to see if the the axle turns so that the stop on the axle hits the stop on the knuckle. If not check to see what it is hitting.
4) Grab the tire again and turn it to the full right turn. Check to see if the axle stop is hitting the stop on the right knuckle. If not check to see what is stopping it.
5) If the axle is hitting both right and left stops then the problem is not in the axle. If this is not the case you need to look and see where the axle is being limited in its turning. I.E. what is hitting to lessen it's ability to turn? Check things like tie rod and etc to see if you reinstalled them correctly as well as all the other parts you removed and reinstalled. Did you put any new components in the system? Are they the same design as the ones you removed?

If the axles has full movement reconnect the drag link. If the axle has full movement, then the problem is most likely in the alignment of the steering box and axle when the pitman arm was installed onto the steering box shaft. The steering box needs to centered.

B) Aligning the steering box and axle:

Aligning the axle and steering box is done by the following:
1) Disconnect the pitman arm from the steering box.
2) Turn the steering wheel lock to lock left to right and visa verse, counting the number of turns the steering wheel makes from left to right.
3) Divide the number of turns by 2 to find the midpoint of its rotation.
4) Move the steering wheel to it's center point. If I am right it is about 4 and 1/2 turns lock to lock, so the midpoint will be at 2 and 1/4 turns from either left or right.
5) Now grab the tires and rotate them so that they are pointed straight forward.
6) Now connect the pitman arm to the steering box without moving either the steering wheel or the direction of the wheels.
7) The pitman arm may not line up perfectly with the splines on the steering box so you may have to move the front wheels just enough so it will. This small movement is not enough to affect the centering as it is at most 1/2 spline in movement of the steering arm.
8) Loosely put the nut on to hold the steering arm in place. It needs to be snug but not fully tight as you may need to remove it again.
9) Turn the steering wheel full left. Then check to see if the stop on the axle is hitting the stop on the left knuckle. If so great.
10) Turn the steering wheel full right. Check to see if the axle stop is hitting the stop on the right knuckle. If it is, great.

If both knuckles are hitting their stops your problem is solved.

11) Tighten the nut holding the pitman arm on and any other nuts that you loosened.

If either the left or right knuckle is not hitting their stop then remove the steering arm and adjust it 1 spline at a time until you have contact between both knuckles and their stops.

If neither knuckle is hitting it's stop then there is something limiting the steering box ability to turn the axle. If this is the case, then did you replace the pitman arm, drag link or steering arm? If so, are the new ones identical to the ones you took off? If not put the old one back on and see if full movement is restored.

Not much else I can suggest at this time. Good luck. If you need more help let me know.



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