2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Dealer steering "adjustment"

[tmccormick]

Hey guys, just got the truck back from the dealer for several things of which one was steering wonder or excees play in the wheel.



Service guy says they tightend up the worm gear in the seering box. . I say OK I will pick it up and check it out.



Only thing I can say is you got to be kidding me. They must have really put the screws to it because the seering wheel is a lot harder to turn and when you turn left or right the steering wheel wants to stay there and not return to center.



It requires more seering input now to keep it straight then it was before they messed with it.



Could they be trying to compensate a bad track bar by tighting up the steering gear?



Also they had to recharge the AC and said they don't know where it was leaking from

 

[Extreme1]

They sound pretty incompetent. They did tighten up the set screw on the worm (i think) shaft. I did that when my truck had about 190,000 miles because it was loose.



My loose steering was caused by a bad trac bar which I healed. The next loose steering problem I had will require a DSS to fix.



It the set screw is left tight, it will wear the gear out faster. According to the service manual, the setting needs to be done with the box partially disassembled and using a torque wrench on the shaft that id being tightened as I recall.



I'd go back, show them the service manual, ask for a refund and go somewhere better.



The AC problem will come back. They are required by law to repair leaking AC systems before refilling them. A shop owner I know has been checked by a guy wanting them to do what your service place did. When the owner refused, the guy offered more cash. When he threatend to have the guy removed he showed his ID and congretulated the shop owner for standing his ground.



The way to find the leak is to charge the system with a UV die then run it and look for it with a black light.



Good luck, I'd avoid this place in the future.

 

[CORed]

My dealer did the same fix, but said it would only give it a very slight tweak. He said too tight and it puts too much wear on other parts which will eventually fail inside the steering gear box I assume.



His "tweak" helped, but the biggest thing was to replace the intermediate steering shaft. It was waay out of spec and since it was under warranty still, they did it with another stock part.



BTW, my trackbar registered IN spec to them as it had been replaced about 8000 miles prior.



I'd have them back it out. From what I heard, not only will you experience exactly what you describe, but it will wear more expensive things out faster.



Good luck.

 

[tmccormick]

Originally posted by Extreme1

They sound pretty incompetent. They did tighten up the set screw on the worm (i think) shaft. I did that when my truck had about 190,000 miles because it was loose.



My loose steering was caused by a bad trac bar which I healed. The next loose steering problem I had will require a DSS to fix.



It the set screw is left tight, it will wear the gear out faster. According to the service manual, the setting needs to be done with the box partially disassembled and using a torque wrench on the shaft that id being tightened as I recall.



I'd go back, show them the service manual, ask for a refund and go somewhere better.



The AC problem will come back. They are required by law to repair leaking AC systems before refilling them. A shop owner I know has been checked by a guy wanting them to do what your service place did. When the owner refused, the guy offered more cash. When he threatend to have the guy removed he showed his ID and congretulated the shop owner for standing his ground.



The way to find the leak is to charge the system with a UV die then run it and look for it with a black light.



Good luck, I'd avoid this place in the future.

Yea, they tightend up the worm gear screw ( at least thats what they told me). After I called them back I told the service writer about this I said check the track bar and he said he will have the service manager test drive the truck ( I hate them driving my truck!) and go from there:{



Also thet said they put the die in the recharge so if it happens again they will know where it is leaking.



I would love to avoid them but they are the only Dodge dealer close and have had some success with them in the past but..... it's all warranty work.

 

[jrobinson2]

The "over center adjustment" is what the dealer did, you can easily reset it yourself, here is a link to the TSB with the instructions.

Over center TSB

Darrin's steering stabilizer Also made a big improvement on my truck.

Solid Steel Industries

Jared

 

[CFAR]

Sounds like the dealer got it too tight, you now have lost returnability. Sounds like you need a new box, that one cannot be adjusted enough to take out the wander, pretty common.

 

[tmccormick]

Well left the truck with them last night and got it back today. After expaining what I want them to check( track bar) and do to the service guy the truck seems a lot better, not as tight and seems to track better. Said the track bar is within specs.



I wanted to get this all done before the 3/36 warranty runs out. I'm happy with it right now and I do have a extended Chrysler warranty for 7/70 so I'm covered if and when it gets worse.

 

[Dennis Garrett]

Look at the bottom of this page, the problem is usually the preload adjustment, not the set screw. Should be similar on newer trucks.

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1997/19-10-97.htm

 

[DCMille290]

I just relaced my steering box, for the 3rd time, with a Steer & Gear box. The first two were AGR boxes, didn't last very long.

The new box has been on for about a month, and I towed with the truck last week and it seems great. The steering assist doesn't seem to be working at idle or slow speeds like it used to, but at 173,000 I am sure the pump needs the screen cleaned or a pump replacement.



DC Miller