Posted by Vaughn on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 at 11:02PM :
In Reply to: steering help? posted by AARON FRIESZ on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 at 1:49PM :
1. Center the front wheels.
2. Remove the drag link tube from the Steering Gear Arm (pitman arm if your prefer that term).
3. Turn the steering wheel all the way to the left until it stops, then count the revolutions turning it all the way to the right untill it stops, then back to the left half the turns to center the Steering Gear Arm.
4. Determine if drag link tube lengths appear correct, but do not reconnect the tube to the Steering Gear Arm.
5. Take a close look at the Steering Gear Arm to make sure the ball is in-line with the Steering Gear Shaft (the shaft the arm bolts to). Line of sight should be laying on the ground and looking at curved end of arm and ball to shaft. If you line it up and the ball angles right or left, then you have a bent Steering Gear Arm and it should be replaced.
6. Do some for Ider Arm Balls and Steering Knuckle Arm Ball to determine if other parts may be bent from an automotive accident or other hard hit causing force to bend those parts. If they are bent a good indication is uneven wear at the base of the ball where the sockets (little cups for each side of ball) dig in on one side.
7. If you didn't have any problem before taking the Steering Gear Assembly (housing or box) apart, then the problem could be in the unit itself.
8. Did you notice wear on the Steering Gear Shaft Teeth or high/low areas on the Steering Gear Worm? This is especially important if you found any bent parts following the above procedures.
9. If the Steering Gear Assembly was properly reassembled using new Steering Gear Shaft Bushings, and no bent external parts, then you may have tightened the adjusting screw incorrectly.
Normally the Steering Gear Shaft teeth and worm gear teeth wear evenly and properly adjusting the screw will not cause your problem. If the truck gets hit hard enough to bend any of the steering parts, then most likely you have an impression on the worm gear. If your driving straight and get hit from the left or right hard at a front wheel, that leaves and impression on the worm gear. Every time you try and adjust the Steering Gear Shaft it will turn easy to the left, hard to the right because your adjustment takes place in that low impressed area. My guess is a bent part, but if you do not find any, then back off the adjusting screw a 1/4 turn each time until it is easy to turn in both directions.