DieselAmateur
She ain't revved 'til the rods are thrown...
Howdy gang,
As the thread implies, I've got some sloppy steering and could use some guidance.
Long story short, my Saginaw 800 box was leaking from the pitman shaft. I pulled the box, and when trying to remove the seals trashed the pitman shaft bearing. Since I could only find the bearing in a complete reseal kit, I figured what the heck, may as well replace all the seals in there while it's out and on the bench.
Ever since I owned the truck, the steering wheel never tracked straight with the wheels. Even after alignments, going straight down the road required having the wheel clocked 45 degrees to the left. Not the biggest inconvenience, and I know I can't have nice things, but having a straight steering wheel isn't too much to ask for is it?
So when I finished the reseal job, I did as instructed in Ferm's write up, thinking that this would also solve my crooked steering wheel issue
I reinstalled the steering box, and while I don't have any more leaks, the wheel clocked issue is still there. That and it seems super easy, almost too loose to turn left, and while not hard to turn right, definitely more resistance turning right than left. Going back and further tightening the allen center nut only seems to make it more challenging to turn right and doesn't seem to add any more resistance to turn left.
I'll see if I can take a video, but with the truck running I can turn the wheel from center to the left the aforementioned 45 or so degrees and I can see the steering shaft & input turn but the wheels don't. So it seems to my novice set of eyes that there is still a decent amount of play in the box, only to the left.
I also replaced the pitman and idler arms along with the idler support bracket to eliminate any of them as potential reasons for the steering play.
When rebuilding I also made sure to alternate the two different colored ball bearings that go around the worm gear. I'm fairly confident everything internally is resealed and reassembled properly, but the left to right difference gives me pause.
So, with all that said, any ideas as to why my wheel is still crooked and there still seems to be play in the steering box? Did I back out the steering box thrust assembly too much? Why so much easier turning left than right?
I have an alignment scheduled for tomorrow, so if anything changes or is discovered on the lift I'll update here.
As the thread implies, I've got some sloppy steering and could use some guidance.
Long story short, my Saginaw 800 box was leaking from the pitman shaft. I pulled the box, and when trying to remove the seals trashed the pitman shaft bearing. Since I could only find the bearing in a complete reseal kit, I figured what the heck, may as well replace all the seals in there while it's out and on the bench.
Ever since I owned the truck, the steering wheel never tracked straight with the wheels. Even after alignments, going straight down the road required having the wheel clocked 45 degrees to the left. Not the biggest inconvenience, and I know I can't have nice things, but having a straight steering wheel isn't too much to ask for is it?
So when I finished the reseal job, I did as instructed in Ferm's write up, thinking that this would also solve my crooked steering wheel issue
adjusting a steering box
These instructions are for a late model type steering box like the 88+ has in it, earlier trucks is similiar though. 1.Heres what we start off with as this job is MUCH easier to do with the box out on the bench. 2.Start off by taking a hammer and a large flat punch and loosen then remove the...
www.thetruckstop.us
I reinstalled the steering box, and while I don't have any more leaks, the wheel clocked issue is still there. That and it seems super easy, almost too loose to turn left, and while not hard to turn right, definitely more resistance turning right than left. Going back and further tightening the allen center nut only seems to make it more challenging to turn right and doesn't seem to add any more resistance to turn left.
I'll see if I can take a video, but with the truck running I can turn the wheel from center to the left the aforementioned 45 or so degrees and I can see the steering shaft & input turn but the wheels don't. So it seems to my novice set of eyes that there is still a decent amount of play in the box, only to the left.
I also replaced the pitman and idler arms along with the idler support bracket to eliminate any of them as potential reasons for the steering play.
When rebuilding I also made sure to alternate the two different colored ball bearings that go around the worm gear. I'm fairly confident everything internally is resealed and reassembled properly, but the left to right difference gives me pause.
So, with all that said, any ideas as to why my wheel is still crooked and there still seems to be play in the steering box? Did I back out the steering box thrust assembly too much? Why so much easier turning left than right?
I have an alignment scheduled for tomorrow, so if anything changes or is discovered on the lift I'll update here.