Loose steering box fix

[John]

Q

Pit Bull, is it the bolt or (and?) the female thread in the frame cross threaded?



I would think it would be the frame or both because the metric bolts have a strength rating of 10. 9 which is almost equivalent to our grade 8 (ok, ok, it's a little less)... both being harder than the steel in our frames.



Matt, I was worried about what forces the sway bar might impart on the compromised mount. That's why I think it's imparative that all four bolts be properly installed.



??????



Besides, Pit Bull doesn't even have one of the two mounting ears flush against the frame (on the side that has the semi-stripped thread).



One other thing Pit Bull, I'm wondering why both mounting ears are not flush against the frame. Did you start all four of the bolts and progressively tighten them, finishing off by torquing each of them or, start one bolt and subsequently tighten that bolt, moving onto the next one? The former is correct (IMO) the latter is a recipe for disaster (IMO).



At any rate, the OE sway bar bolts were "special" in that the ends of the shaft had a pilot to locate the threaded holes more easily and positively than the longer equivalents provided by Darin.



I know one thing though...



I RE-installed my steering brace this weekend after having the main structure powder coated (plus I painted my bearing assembly to match... PPG gloss black) and found I hadn't fully checked EVERY aspect out beforehand ( ) To properly center the large hole in the steering brace to the replacement nut/bearing shaft, I had to "open up" the four mounting slots (long side of each of the four slots nearest the box tube bar) with a die grinder and carbide burr in order to keep the ID of the large hole from rubbing on the "point" of the hex. I'm not really sure what happened, as I KNOW I checked for that. All I can figure is that I spaced, had the steering wheel turned a little bit [my front-end was in the air, on jack stands with no tires mounted] and noticed that it was relatively centered ( ) using a flat of the hex as a reference as opposed to the point of the hex.

 

[Pit Bull]

I've decided to take it into my friend the mechanic to have it fixed Friday (I think I am feeling some vibration, could be my imagination). I'm afraid that with that one bolt not torque to 40 lbs (I think it is stripped) that it then puts pressure on the steering shaft and long term can cause damage to the steering, which is one of the things I was trying to avoid by adding the DSS. My fault and I will pay for it. Just a warning to everyone else. Pay close attention when you are putting in these 4 bolts and make sure you don't cross thread. John, I think that the bearing helps center the shaft so the point of the hex does not contact the bracket. I know it was a real close fit.



Thanks for the help guys

 

[John]

Pit Bull, I installed my bearing assembly last... after locating the brace assembly, centering it by eye to the replacement nut and subsequently tightening the four sway bar/steering brace mounting bolts. I feel this is essential in properly locating the bearing assembly to the replacement nut so no additional side stress is imparted on the very thing we are trying to keep in a neutral state.



BTW, I replaced the 10 mm x 35 mm long bolts from Darin with 40 mm long counterparts as I had already realized that there was more than sufficient back clearance to allow them plus the additional length helped in starting them while trying to hold the steering brace and sway bar up there with the other hand.



As I already knew the value of having the OE bolts with the incorporated pilots, I would have machined some on my longer replacement bolts if I had been able to get some time on a small lathe.



Those dogs! They removed all the little lathes and mills in my shop so "G" jobs are now a thing of the past! ( )

 

[HoleshotHolset]

As long as Pit Bull can sleep at night - that's all that matters.



Matt

 

[Marv Windecker]

Hi guys,



John pointed out something important and I want to repeat it.



Just as John stated, make sure that the bearing flange mounting bolts are the last thing you tighten. The location of the brace with respect to the sector shaft will drift around a bit as the four mounting bolts are tightened. Tightening the bearing flange last ensures that you don't inadvertently put any stress on the sector shaft. Having the the truck resting on the ground wouldn't be a bad idea either.



It's not necessary that the hex nut is perfectly centered in the brace but it must not rub on anything either. Of course, I dont think any of us could stand not to have it centered.



We tried to take into account variances in the mounting positions from truck to truck, but some are going to end up at one extreme or the other.



Later,

Marv

 

[Pit Bull]

Thanks Marv Marv sent me an email that suggested I remove the offending bolt and put some anti seize on it. So I did that along with adding another steel washer. This worked, it snuged the bracket tight and torqued to 40# Drives great and I am not touching it again!!! Again this bomb really makes a difference in the way the old CTD drives. Well worth the investment.

 

[John]

Excellent Pit Bull! ( )



That turned out to be a good, inexpensive solution to your problem! Excellent service after the sale... what could be better than that? ( )





BTW, in all honesty, it was very hard to try to armchair quarterback your situation without actually verifying to what degree the male and female threads were in. It's one of those things you can make an easy decision after examining the situation for just a few short seconds or so... but hard to acurately advise someone without an actual visual.





... kinda like learning how to sail by reading about it!



Doh!

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by John

Excellent Pit Bull! ( )



That turned out to be a good, inexpensive solution to your problem! Excellent service after the sale... what could be better than that? ( )





BTW, in all honesty, it was very hard to try to armchair quarterback your situation without actually verifying to what degree the male and female threads were in. It's one of those things you can make an easy decision after examining the situation for just a few short seconds or so... but hard to acurately advise someone without an actual visual.





... kinda like learning how to sail by reading about it!



Doh!

I figured that I would give it a try and it worked. My back up was my friend the mechanic so I felt like why not give it a shot. I would advise everyone to use anti seize on the threads of the four bolts that hold the DSS to the frame. Why take a chance. Thanks for the help.

 

[Mschevey]

Pit Bull:



Do you mean anti seize or thread locker? Anti seize would allow the bolt to be loosened easily. Thread locker (lock-tite) 'glues' the treads together to prevent the bolt from loosening.



Just trying to make sure that nobody get into a problem by using the wrong thing.



Mike Schevey

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by Mschevey

Pit Bull:



Do you mean anti seize or thread locker? Anti seize would allow the bolt to be loosened easily. Thread locker (lock-tite) 'glues' the treads together to prevent the bolt from loosening.



Just trying to make sure that nobody get into a problem by using the wrong thing.



Mike Schevey

I mean anti seize, helped keep it from cross threading and tightened up to 40 # torque without a problem. I don't know why it worked it just did? It is the same stuff you are to use on the shaft.

 

[RAndrae]

little girls

Geeeee wizzzzzzz I was scanning the talk of the steering fix fron what I saw in my brief search looks like a good product might help someone out. CONGRATS to the inventer. Who gives a @#$ where the h@#LL he is from. dont buy the stupid thing if your worried about canada of whatever, cant all you litte girls just talkabout the product instead of arguing some stupid political coffee shop BS. sorry if I did nt get all the facts straight I quit reading the site after the 22nd stupid response about jobs canada ect

 

[John]

RAndrae, that embarrassing part of the thread has been pretty much forgotten by all (I had thought). Even the person who brought that "concern" to light made a "public" apology.



I think most of us just let it rest.







I DO KNOW one thing, that is one very well designed and constructed piece of hardware!

 

[Cobra]

steering brace

Hey all of you guys,

As you can see in my signature, I have an 01 CTD. I only have 24,000 miles on it and I haven't suffered any of the steering problems that I have read on this forum. My truck goes straight down the roadway. Now if you know Pa. highways you know that is very straight for very far.



Anyway my question is, do I need one of these things? If so, I don't mind spending the bucks, and it looks like I can do the work, but if I don't need it I hate to spend the money.



Thanks for info and opinions.

 

[John]

Speaking for myself...

I elected to purchase one as it was an excellent idea that should prolong the life of my steering box.



It should also be noted that I had NO steering problems since the day I purchased my '98. 5 Ram in early June of '98 (currently @ 81. 5K mi. )

 

[Pit Bull]

Cobra, my 02 with only 7K miles on it now has a DSS installed. My steering was good before I added the DSS. I had a 2000 3500 4x4 that had OK steering and I have driven CTD's with bad steering. I can tell you that the DSS is a great product. It stiffens up the feel of the frontend and gets rid of the bump steer you sometimes get from a rough road. I would say that if you have good steering now you will think it is improved another 50% with the addition of the DSS. JMHO

 

[Ian]

Canadian $

Does anyone know the Canadian price of the unit, have read through all the posts on this item, looks like a must have. At 75,000 km, steering feels great, just want to keep it that way.

Thanks.

 

[Ian]

My story (updated)

I posted the above message around 11:30 last evening while at work. One and a half hours later after arriving home, I checked my emails and there was a PM from Marv quoting the Canadian price, also where I could purchase a stabilizer locally.

Called in to the shop this afternoon, 20 km from my home, yes they had stock so I bought one.

At 4:45 this afternoon I was at a neighbour's borrowing his torque wrench, then went to another neighbour and borrowed some sockets.

By 6:15 I was all done, borrowed tools returned, all of my own tools put away, everything cleaned up.

Test drive will be tomorrow morning, lawns needed my attention right after I was done the stabilizer installation.

I can see how Pit Bull managed to cross thread a bolt pulling the assembly together, you need to be able to hold the stabilizer bar up with your back feet while you use your front feet to get the bolts started. It's not heavy but a little awkward. I used bungee chords on both sides, and a punch to line everything up, worked fine but could be a little trap if not forewarned.

Will add to this by edit in a day or two with results.



Would be interested to know how many of these stabilizers have been made.



April 12.

Test drove today, did about 100 km. How can you improve on something that is nearly perfect? Fit a "Weyburn Stabilizer". As I was pulling out onto the street, I went from full lock one way to full lock the other, just to make sure there was no problem, after all, you are playing with a major control system.

Truck handled perfectly, looking forward to some trips in the summer with the 5th wheel in tow and excellent steering.



Ian.

 

[rrausch]

I too sent a few e-mails and have had no response. I guess they are really busy up there! I'm ordering mine Monday! Can't wait!

 

[John]

Believe it or not, it doesn't end there (after bolting on the steering brace). I had another idea ( )...



as I previously removed my extended blowby tube, nylon wire-tied to my former (OE) track bar, I still had to come up with a new plan... which would be either plan "D" or plan "E" by now ( ).



After much condideration and the help of my NAPA dealer (they cut me loose in the back of the store to look at all their pre-formed heater hoses), I was able to piece together a great plan.



I routed my new customized blowby hose just in front of the driver side, upper corner of the steering brace (using two different sections of pre-formed 3/4" dia. heater hose and brass couplers), using a third pre-formed hose with a tight U shaped bend and a straight extension to route the blowby inside the driver side end of the steering brace. The entire custom blowby hose has a modest downward slope its entire length. The open end of the blowby hose has an oil absorbant material nylon wire tied to the periphery, extending past the end of the hose about 6" or so. The blowby gases exit out the passenger side of the steering brace tube and any oil will be pretty much captured by the oil absorbant media. All in all, it looks very custom and unobtrusive. The oil absorbant material can be easily replaced as required/desired.



heh,heh,heh... ... I love it when a plan comes together! Yessss!

 

[Pit Bull]

John your dangerous :-laf It would be scary to see you with too much time on your hands