Steering wander

[PLaFrombois]

I've noticed the last couple of weeks that the steering feels a little loose when driving down the road. I've checked everything that I thought would be associated with the steering and all looked o. k. I even checked the stabilizer shock for leaks-NONE.

Today, coming home from work on I-90, I had a hard time keeping the truck between the lines with just a little cross wind. Do these trucks have sloppy steering that get worse with age? I only have 27,000 miles on the truck. Is there a solution? I'm open to suggestions.

Paul

Let the Bombings begin

 

[Dennis Garrett]

The most likely cause, and the easiest for you to fix yourself is to adjust the bearing preload in the steering box. Takes about 30 minutes. Take the nut & bolt out of the lower end of your steering shaft, at the spline shaft coming out of the box. The shaft will telescope toward the firewall, so just swing it out of the way. Get on your back with a screwdriver & hammer, and tap the locking ring until it's loose, & thread it off the steering box, Under that you will see a disc with two holes in it for a spanner wrench, If that disc is only finger tight, that's part, if not all of your problem. rotate in untill snug, back off just enough for oil clearance, & put it back together. I've had to adjust mine twice, but at 145,000 still steers like a new one.

 

[johnrv4]

I agree with what Dennis said on this one. My '98 was steering poorly and I did the above mentioned adjustment. It was very loose from the factory and I immediately noticed an improvement over the way it was. Check some old threads out, there are some detailed instructions on how to do it.

 

[PLaFrombois]

Thanks for the info. I'll tackle the job in the A. M. Do I need to raise the front end off the ground while I adjust the disc, or doesn't it matter?

Thanks

Paul

 

[johnrv4]

I can't remember if I jacked mine up or not. Check out this thread:https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28480. Dave Fritz has a link there explaining the whole procedure. You should have come to Hooters last Saturday Paul, we had a good time .

 

[PLaFrombois]

johnrv4

Thanks for the post. I wanted to come to Hooters on Saturday, but couldn't change my work schedule. I'll try to make the next one.

Paul