And i really dont want this to happen again. Last night the shaft that my pitman arm bolts to broke and I lost my steering. If it were not for the large pile of snow that stopped me I would have hit a telephone pole. What I would like to know is why this happend. Is it the lift that I put in this truck or was it all the beating I did on the stock pitman arm to get it off that caused this.

 

dang y is ur front end so wide dude

 

that my friend is a sector shaft. they take a lot of abuse from dealing with the leverage of tires, especially big tires. i think ford just dropped the ball on that part strength wise. i've seen two snap in person, and heard of a lot more. lucky for my buddy, his broke at 10mph leaving a bank drive through. he had 35's on an f250. mine broke in a ravine when a tow truck operator who didn't know how to use his winch pulled my truck in the wrong direction with the front axle being stuck in ice. it actually worked out in the long run for me, because after i looked at the broken pieces i could see rust inside where it sheered across meaning that it was broke already and just waiting for a load to finish the job.

i'd say the cause is just general wear and tear. check yours out, and see if you can notice any signs of a previous crack with some rust/oxidation in there. it was plain as day on mine. just glad it broke where it did and not while going down the highway.
EDIT: dually front axle with srw rims joe.

 

thanks dan that cant be good for the axle could it much more stress on the ball joints

 

not the balljoints so much, but it will eat wheelbearings quick with big tires.

 

holy shyte, i just caught this, my f350, your f350 and my buddies f250 were all 1994 model years. maybe there should have been a recall? might just be a coincidence, but idk.....

 

i should check mine them cause i plan to runn 44

 

i have put 3 steering boxes in my 88 so far due to cracked sector shafts. luckily, i have never had one snap clean on me yet.

the current box has rite around 100k on it, and is time to start being inspected every few months for cracks.

 

mine only had like 93,xxx but 30,000 of that was on 38's 40's and 44's :-o

 

are there after market one thate are stronger

 

not that i know of joe, but i would imagine that f-superduty trucks and the f450's and up would have a bigger stronger steering box, but it's just a guess. might have to look into it and see if any of the ford grain truck stuff is bigger and possibly swappable......

 

Thats what I would like to know. Or how about a bigger better and stronger set up from a different truck that will fit our trucks without Major modifacating or major dollars.

 

I'm pretty sure the F-superduty and f-450's would be the exact same as the f-350, f-250, and maybe even f-150. Actually read something somewhere that Rangers had the same steering boxes as f-series.

F-superduty is a f-450 before they started calling them that, and basically are cab and chassis trucks with different springs, but most of the other parts are the same.

I've never heard of a sector shaft breaking, but I'm not an off-roader. Perhaps the reason you guys have had them break is bigger wider tires, high lifts, and beating the hell out of them.

 

i kind of wanna start some stuff with this guy from the name alone, and then there is the fail he brought with him.

rangers, no. go fly a kite pal.

did my own research today on the light duty trucks and they do share the same box from f-150 to 450. kind of sad really. i'll check on the big trucks eventually.

you should go cut your nuts off and start over with a new username because i was not impressed.

 

im replacin mine since i need a new gear box but the comment tecgod or tecsatan said was uncalled for not all of us on the off road section beat the hell out of our trucks some of use use them for how they were made for and thats workin not mall cruzin (flipoff)