No free-play in steering

[Racechaser]

I'm tired of the touchy steering in my truck, especially on the highway. You all know what the dealer says, NORMAL!!!. It's so hard to keep between the lines, I'm constantly steering back & forth. Anyone know of any fixes?? Help, help, help!!!

 

[LSMITH]

Twitchy tight steering is going to be mostly an alignment issue. The steering box has a small part in it, but a good alignment will take the jumpiness out of it. There have been some alignment specs posted on here that nearly all have been very happy with, but they are on the other computer. If no one comes through with them I will get them for you off the other comp. Hope this helps.

 

[Racechaser]

Thanks, It's been like that since new, but maybe some alternative specs would be the key.

 

[DMalone]

I adjusted my steering box after the stealer screwed up all up. I took mine in for pulling and they tighten the box 2 turns Any way it was so bad i could barely drive it. On top front of the steering box there is is double nut for the tension. Loosen the top nut and turn the bottom nut. In your case it sounds like they might have it to tight, and there will not be any play in the wheel. Only loosen 1/4 to 1/2 and then drive it and see. Make sure to have top nut tighten good before each drive.

 

[Alan Reagan]

DMalone has a good point. My steering has seemed very tight lately with no return to center. Today, I slid the shaft back, removed the locknut, and the preload adjust took several tries to get it to back off. The adjustment is to take the preload to snug and back off 5 mm. I backed off the 5 mm from tight and then backed off on the overcenter adjust about 1/8 turn. I had gotten so used to how stiff it drove that I couldn't believe the difference on the test drive. I had done this adjustment on my 98 and don't know why I waited so long to do it on this one. On the converse, if you have too much steering play, you probably need to tighten the preload a little.