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How much slop in steering normal?

W

whatnot

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Location
Waunakee Wisconsin
Today I noticed (with the engine off) I can turn the steering wheel about 3" before I feel anything. It is more like 4-5" till the tire starts to move. I think it is all in the steering box. How much is normal.
 
Are you sure you don't have a Dodge? :D

Seriously though, my truck has 90K on it and I don't feel hardly any slop. You need to have someone turn the wheel while your under the truck and find out exactly where the problem is. Could be the steering box or any part of the linkage all the way to the tie-rod ends...
 
On second thought, does it have any slop when the truck is running? Mine might act the same way you are describing when off, but when running steering is very tight.
 
Sometimes when theyre off they will slop a lot.

Even when on all of our trucks have some slop. Id say a good inch.

As for the steering box we ha to replace the one on our 02 but it exploded on the interstate in the middle of Illinois. Fortuneatly there was a farmer nearby that let us borrow his 01 Powerjoke Dually to make it back while he towed our truck to the dealer.

My guess is shes getting loose because of too many miles. :D
 
roosky01 said:
On second thought, does it have any slop when the truck is running? Mine might act the same way you are describing when off, but when running steering is very tight.
Click to expand...
Yes, it does it when it is running too. Just harder to tell where it actually start to move stuff. I put Congito idler and pitman supports on the other and the steering is a lot stiffer now except the slop in the middle.
 
well, If you have the support installed and you still have the slop, it's either the box, centerlink, or tie-rods........


It's cool that we can get a local thread going on here....:D
 
I just remembered that the wheels were turned almost all the way to the left when I was playing with it before. I just tried it again with it straight and it only moves about 1/4 as much. Is that normal?
Anyway, it seems to have way too much slop while driving.
 
The braces will only stop deflection not fix worn parts as I understand it. Grab a bar, jack it up and start wiggling stuff, if something is worn it should show itself pretty quickly.
 
TheOilGeek said:
The braces will only stop deflection not fix worn parts as I understand it. Grab a bar, jack it up and start wiggling stuff, if something is worn it should show itself pretty quickly.
Click to expand...
I have already done that. The idler and pitman arms were replaced last fall. They weren't that bad but I did it anyway. I think it is the gearbox. That is why I wanted to know how others compare.
 
whatnot said:
I have already done that. The idler and pitman arms were replaced last fall. They weren't that bad but I did it anyway. I think it is the gearbox. That is why I wanted to know how others compare.
Click to expand...

Sorry, missed that part. That's definitely more slop than I have at 31k miles.
 
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