Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
petersonj
TDR MEMBER
I thought I would share an interesting and a bit frustrating experience after installing a Borgeson steering gear box and a Borgeson steering shaft at 215,000 miles on my 2002 4WD 2500 last winter. All was well and I was happy. Well, for awhile anyway.
After a few hundred miles I started hearing (or feeling) a clicking noise / clunk in the steering wheel, especially right turns. I had read that sometimes a newly installed Borgeson steering shaft will make the steering wheel feel more sensitive to unwanted noises or vibrations, especially if the lower steering column bushing is worn. Made sense to me. Although I could detect only very little movement in the steering column bushing, I went ahead and changed it anyway. I gave it a test drive and all was well... well, for awhile anyway. After a few hundred miles the symptoms returned.
I checked and double checked steering and suspension components. I checked the set screws on the new steering shaft. After a couple of thousand miles the symptoms stabilized, but I could always feel the symptoms under certain conditions. After about 15,000 miles of driving I noticed that the steering wheel did not rotate freely (under a no load condition) and I found the cause to be friction between the new lower column bushing and the steering shaft. I disassembled the bushing and enlarged the bushing shaft hole with sandpaper. I reassembled everything and gave the truck a test drive. All was well and I was happy, especially since my wife and I were leaving with the travel trailer on a 12,000 mile journey in just a few days.
We started our journey and all was well. For about a thousand miles. The symptoms returned. Not much I could do about it now, so we just kept driving.
After returning from our trip I decided to remove the Borgeson steering shaft to get access to all of the lock screws - there are several on each end of the shafts. While inspecting the shaft on the bench I noticed that it required considerable effort to operate the slip yoke assembly. I looked it over and found that I could remove a set screw and separate both shafts. I did so and when I slid the shafts apart, a piece of steel fell out. The piece of steel appears to operate as a tension spring. It is about 3 inches long, about 1/2 inches wide, and about 1/8 inches thick. It also has a significant arc to it. I re-lubed the working parts and reassembled the shaft. The slip yoke was still hard to move. I disassembled the slip yoke and put the tension spring in a press and reduced the arc by half. I reassembled everything and rechecked slip yoke movement. Still hard to move.
At this point I just stopped with the project. I am thinking that it is very important that this slip yoke moves freely - not just in case of a vehicle collision (because it would still move), but just in normal operation there would always be minor changes in distance between the frame-mounted steering box and the insulated cab mounted steering wheel. So I reassembled everything again, but without the tension spring. The slip yoke moved easily and smoothly. There was no appreciable play when opposing torque was applied to each shaft end.
I put everything back together and went for another test drive. This time things were different. The steering wheel never operated so smoothly. Not only did the symptoms disappear, but other subtle vibrations that had always been around that I thought were normal, were now gone. I have driven the truck for over 2,000 miles and nothing has changed. The steering has never performed this well.
As I look back on the events as they unfolded, I think that the initial steering shaft installation and the two repairs involving the lower steering column bushing fooled me into thinking I had resolved the issue. To install the steering shaft and to install the bushing one has to collapse and extend the Borgeson shaft slip yoke. I think that this slip yoke operation masked the true problem by the slip yoke operating normally for a few hundred miles, then slowly becoming sticky again.
The photo below shows the tension spring removed. Each time I disassembled the slip yoke, I noticed that a small area on the top surface of the spring was completely wiped dry of lubricant even though I lubricated it during each assembly.
I am curious to know if anyone else has had these symptoms.
As always, I am learning new things everyday.
- John
After a few hundred miles I started hearing (or feeling) a clicking noise / clunk in the steering wheel, especially right turns. I had read that sometimes a newly installed Borgeson steering shaft will make the steering wheel feel more sensitive to unwanted noises or vibrations, especially if the lower steering column bushing is worn. Made sense to me. Although I could detect only very little movement in the steering column bushing, I went ahead and changed it anyway. I gave it a test drive and all was well... well, for awhile anyway. After a few hundred miles the symptoms returned.
I checked and double checked steering and suspension components. I checked the set screws on the new steering shaft. After a couple of thousand miles the symptoms stabilized, but I could always feel the symptoms under certain conditions. After about 15,000 miles of driving I noticed that the steering wheel did not rotate freely (under a no load condition) and I found the cause to be friction between the new lower column bushing and the steering shaft. I disassembled the bushing and enlarged the bushing shaft hole with sandpaper. I reassembled everything and gave the truck a test drive. All was well and I was happy, especially since my wife and I were leaving with the travel trailer on a 12,000 mile journey in just a few days.
We started our journey and all was well. For about a thousand miles. The symptoms returned. Not much I could do about it now, so we just kept driving.
After returning from our trip I decided to remove the Borgeson steering shaft to get access to all of the lock screws - there are several on each end of the shafts. While inspecting the shaft on the bench I noticed that it required considerable effort to operate the slip yoke assembly. I looked it over and found that I could remove a set screw and separate both shafts. I did so and when I slid the shafts apart, a piece of steel fell out. The piece of steel appears to operate as a tension spring. It is about 3 inches long, about 1/2 inches wide, and about 1/8 inches thick. It also has a significant arc to it. I re-lubed the working parts and reassembled the shaft. The slip yoke was still hard to move. I disassembled the slip yoke and put the tension spring in a press and reduced the arc by half. I reassembled everything and rechecked slip yoke movement. Still hard to move.
At this point I just stopped with the project. I am thinking that it is very important that this slip yoke moves freely - not just in case of a vehicle collision (because it would still move), but just in normal operation there would always be minor changes in distance between the frame-mounted steering box and the insulated cab mounted steering wheel. So I reassembled everything again, but without the tension spring. The slip yoke moved easily and smoothly. There was no appreciable play when opposing torque was applied to each shaft end.
I put everything back together and went for another test drive. This time things were different. The steering wheel never operated so smoothly. Not only did the symptoms disappear, but other subtle vibrations that had always been around that I thought were normal, were now gone. I have driven the truck for over 2,000 miles and nothing has changed. The steering has never performed this well.
As I look back on the events as they unfolded, I think that the initial steering shaft installation and the two repairs involving the lower steering column bushing fooled me into thinking I had resolved the issue. To install the steering shaft and to install the bushing one has to collapse and extend the Borgeson shaft slip yoke. I think that this slip yoke operation masked the true problem by the slip yoke operating normally for a few hundred miles, then slowly becoming sticky again.
The photo below shows the tension spring removed. Each time I disassembled the slip yoke, I noticed that a small area on the top surface of the spring was completely wiped dry of lubricant even though I lubricated it during each assembly.
I am curious to know if anyone else has had these symptoms.
As always, I am learning new things everyday.
- John
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