Archived Hit a bad hole offroad today, hellllp!!!!!!!!!!

[DMC]

And now the steering wheel is at 12 and six instead of 9 and 3. Meaning my steering wheel has rotated 90 degrees to the right. The front end seems a little out of alignment to the right.



I didn't get to look under there after I got through washing all the mud off. But I knocked something out of whack under there. Trackbar, Tie rod, stabilizer or something. Also had heavy steering when pulling in driveway, lost a lot of power steering fluid. Maybe damage to steering box.



Anyone had this happen?



Thanks



Don

 

[BigEasy]

happened on my f250 years ago... jumped teeth in the steering box... it turned really sharp to the left, and not much to the right after that. I didn't lose any PS fluid though... had to replace the box... i'm betting you will too.

 

[DMC]

Thanks for the reply Big Easy.



I see where the steering box is leaking fluid from the gear that attaches to the pitman arm.



I was wondering if the thing could jump teeth in the steering box, and still work.



If I should have to replace the steering box, is there a better route to go than DC?



Thanks



Don

 

[Matt400]

Many times a hard hit like that can twist the splined shaft that the pitman arm is attached to. Your local auto parts store will sell you a rebuilt unit.

After replacement it would be a good idea to have an alignment to make sure nothing else is bent and be sure to tell the align tech what happened.



You might even want to take it to a body shop and possibly turn it into your insurance.



Check this:

Our son hit a hole hard enough with his 03 4x4 to bend both right control arms. I thought I would put the parts on myself and get it aligned but was worried about starting a project that could snow ball so took it to the body shop and found-

• right side control arms bent
  
• front axle housing bent
  
• steering gear box broken
  
• trac bar bent
  
• stabilizer broken
  
• frame bent
  

And this is just so far and at $10,000 in damage at this point without any body work needed.

 

[DMC]

I hear what you are saying there Matt.



I think my main problem is the pittman shaft seal is leaking badly.



I was able to drive the truck home. The steering seemed a little heavy as if a pull to the right. That may have been due to the low pressure in the steering box, as I lost all of the PS fluid by the time I pulled into the driveway.



Your son must have hit the deep hole at quite high speed.



The only time I have ever don anything comparable to that is when I wrecked a Chevelle, down a shoulder and into a culvert. Bent the right front spindle.



Back to the Dodge, I am having a hard time finding anyone with the steering gear overhaul kit in stock.



Autozone has a steering gear for 130. 00 plus core that is really tempting.



I do plan to have the Alignment checked after I get the Steering Box fixed.



Thanks



Don

 

[Matt400]

Autozone has a steering gear for 130. 00 plus core that is really tempting.

I have overhauled steering gears in the past and its much faster and cleaner to change out the box. You wouldn't want to go through an overhaul only to find it still leaked cuz the shaft is bent.



On your truck with the wheel being that far off I would look closely at the pitman shaft, trac bar if its a 4x4 and then do an alignment to verify.



Yes he hit the ditch hard, swerved to miss a group of deer and wham!

The trouble is the weight of the Cummins, had it been a gasser the frame might have survived. The body shop does allot of frames on the CTD,s cuz the added inertia of the weight will tweak it.

 

[DMC]

Thanks Matt;



I read where someone mentioned that there was a jam nut on the lower universal yoke on the steering shaft. What I read indicated you could loosen the jam nut on the yoke and turn the steering shaft to recenter the steering wheel.

Have you heard this?



You are starting to worry me abot the the seal replacement. Seal kit will be here tomorrow. I'm only planning on replacing the pittman gear seal. Thus leaving the steering box on the truck. Hope to do the alignment procedure above after verifying center on the pittman gear.



Thanks for the input/feedback.



Don

 

[Dieselram]

when i had my old dodge (1500 on 39. 5 superswamper Sx's) I did something close, i ended up bending the draglink and busting a TRE. I would start there first.

 

[McLaughlin]

Thanks for the reply Big Easy.



I see where the steering box is leaking fluid from the gear that attaches to the pitman arm.



I was wondering if the thing could jump teeth in the steering box, and still work.



If I should have to replace the steering box, is there a better route to go than DC?



Thanks



Don

You might want to do a thread search. I've read several reports by individuals saying there is a better option then a dodge steering box. I think it is called PSC but am not sure if that is just a power steering pump or the entire gear box.

 

[Matt400]

Thanks Matt;



I read where someone mentioned that there was a jam nut on the lower universal yoke on the steering shaft. What I read indicated you could loosen the jam nut on the yoke and turn the steering shaft to recenter the steering wheel.

Have you heard this?

Thats if you have had that joint apart. Your wheel off center trouble will be located within the box, on the output side or in the linkage. I have never seen an input fault after a hit like that.



With 305 tires your truck must be a 4x4, with wheels pointing straight ahead do you notice one front tire sticks out from the fender more than the other?

 

[Cummins Thunder]

I had something like this happen.



I was climbing a REALLY steep and deep ditch and when a made it out the other side I found my steering wheel to be sitting at about 10 and 4.

After replacing the track bar, and drag link, I wound up adjusting the linkage going from the pitman arm to the drag link to make my steering wheel sit 9 and 3.

Does your truck still drive the same as before the hole?



The PSC box is next on my list



CJ

 

[DMC]

Thats if you have had that joint apart. Your wheel off center trouble will be located within the box, on the output side or in the linkage. I have never seen an input fault after a hit like that.



With 305 tires your truck must be a 4x4, with wheels pointing straight ahead do you notice one front tire sticks out from the fender more than the other?

I don't know if that joint has been apart before, but I know the trackbar was replaced before I bought the truck. So I guess its possible that when the wheel was recentered that they may have slipped the yoke on the shaft.



I haven't noticed any difference in the way the tires look left to right.



I'm going to start working on it in the morning, the first thing I'm going to check upon removing the drag link is to see if the pittman is centered, if that is the case then I would think that there is damage to the tie rod, or track bar. It doesn't look like anything is bent or twistwd under there. As one person said, the steering box may have jumped a couple of teeth.



The guy that suggested the PSC Steering Box, they seem like a good company. I saw where they were recommended on some of the offroad forums. I may buy one of their boxes if this one has to be replaced. Thanks as well. pscpowersteer.com



I guess I'll know more tomorrow. Just had to do some research on this today. And go pick up some more tools.



Thanks for all the imput guys, I'll post what I find.





Don

 

[DMC]

Well Napa finally called with the seal kit for the steering box.



Went to work on removing the piitman arm to access the output gear on the box, someone had put a outer seal over the slip ring. Causing me much work. I removed the steering box, in order to figure out what the deal was with the output shaft seals. Finally got at them, put the seals back in in the correct order, back on the truck. Spent a lot of time trying to recenter the steering wheel. Finally got it just about right by taking up mthe drag link. I'm going to take it by Stuarts Alignment Center tomorrow and have the alignment checked. Yeah it did take me most of the day, but what the hell I learned a thing or two.



Oh by the way on the test drive the truck drove strait, my only problem is with the sterring wheel not being in the right position.



Thanks



Don

 

[DMC]

Update:



Was going to get the front end checked today, work called and needed me to come in. Cancel the alignment check.



I did notice today that the left tire and wheel seemed to be shifted to that side about 1/4 of an inch. I wonder if the trackbar could be bent? Truck still goes down the road just fine though.



Who makes the best adjustable trackbar?



Thanks



Don

 

[DMC]

Well I finally got to the alignment shop today.



The Toe was knocked out on the front end.



Tech seemed to think the steering box may be leaking.



May have to see about that PSC steering box, sooner than later.



At least there is no serious damage to the front end components.



Thanks for all of the help guys... ... ... .



Don