loose steering
 

loose steering
 

I have a 95 Bronco with a 5.8L V8 and there is alot of play in the steering. It feels like my front end is loose. It is a little disconcerning when I am off-road and at high speed. What can I do to correct this or is it not a problem?

loose steering
 

There have been lots of posts on this subject. Do a search in the Bronco forum with keywords steering or steering wheel. Your steering gear box might need adjustment.

loose steering
 

Of all the many places Bronco's get loose steering, the steering box is about the last place it'll get it; plus, you can easily muck up a prefectly good box, real quick. As with any rig, head for the front-end/alignment shop. Mine's older (an 83'), and has the twin I-beam front end - not sure if your's does. The first thing to go out is usually the tie-rod ends. After those, inspect the "radius arm bushings" (at the back of the "A-frames" trailing the axle assembly)

OF COURSE - also check the front wheel bearings. All this is standard in a good line-up shop. Beyond these things, the guesses can get trickier. My 83 has 245,000 miles, and drives good - for a short wheel-based Bronco. The final key was replacing the U-joint in the steering colum...

HOW FAST DO YOU WANT TO DRIVE OFF-ROAD ANYWAY?:-X19

loose steering
 

Thanks for the info. Let me try to reword that. It is disconcerning at high speed and also when I am off road. I drive very slow off road.

loose steering
 

Install Energy Suspension's urethane bushings. My radius arm factory rubber busings were crushed so I swithed to urethane thinking they would last longer (I changed all the suspension bushings from rubber to urethane).

I didn't expect much change in drivability. WOW, was I wrong. It drives like a completely different truck... way tighter steering. This was probably the best mod I did for my Bronco!


1996 Ford Bronco, 5.8L:
-Done:Hypertech III,Powerstat, K&N FIPK,cooler TBody bypass,Mac equal length headers, Gibson cat-back, Urethane bushings, BF Goodrich TA's, Roadmaster active suspension, Nozzle lights, Euro taillights,MSD Blaster Coil, MSD Cap & Rotor, Taylor spiral pro wires, ASP undredrive pullys
-ToDo: Edelbrock performer intake manifold & 56 Tbody, Granetelli MAF, maybe Kenne Ball supercharger instead!

loose steering
 

I disagree and agree you should check all your front end componets but it could be your steering box I know several ford owners that have had to adjust there steering box to get the slop out. This makes the steering tighter so it handles better. Just remember to only do a 1/2 or 1/4 turn at atime dont over ajust. We just did my buddies bronco a couple of weeks ago. Also this is more common when you start running larger tires

I have had the same issue. 1996 351 - all new bushings, new tie rod ends, new u-joints and now third steering gear box.
35 AT BFG's. Not sure what else to change out or adjust.
At 75mph on highway, its all over the place. Offroad, very loose and tought to keep stright in desert enviroment. thoughts?

the steering gear can only be adjusted so far before it is not useable. the reman gear i bought last fall has slop in it so i do believe that all the front end parts have very minor wear and it all adds up.

i suggest getting a rancho steering stabilizer for the larger wheeled folks of this forum.

Did you get a Ford steering box? Might solve your problem.

Guys, I don't mean to be rude.. but I have been down this route.

Adjusting your box can make a difference, but I wouldn't recommend it.. it'll only last a few months before it starts acting up even worse. If you're anything like me, you'll make it better but still not be satisfied, then try for more and end up breaking it completely.

Steering stabilizers absolutely will NOT help your steering tightness. It's there for bumpsteer and bumpsteer only exists if you take shortcuts when lifting.

My old bushings were in better shape than I thought, but when I replaced all of them I noticed no difference in steering tightness. I did notice a difference in braking with radius arm bushings, and got less alignment change when I went in reverse when I did my pivot arm bushings, but that was it.

The Redhead box and rod-ends made the biggest difference, however, the Redhead didn't make my steering feel super tight like I was expecting. The ONLY thing not brand new/fixed right now is my camber, which is definitely off. My wheel is super loose, my Saginaw box made it feel even worse, but while driving I noticed my wheel IS turning ever so slightly when it feels like it isn't..

it's just a mixture of non-road tires with a bad camber.

what the heck, this thread is 9 years old?

Stop making me feel dumb..

New Camber bushings, I have also had a realignment, BFG AT tires are at 35psi.
ABS is all new. Just looking for advise, didnt want to dig up old thread, just need good ol fashioned advise man.

Yeah, I get it now.. I thought I was replying to the first guy, then realized you were bumping an old thread to ask yourself.. sorry about that, my fault for being dumb. I thought the guy had done a SAS then asked why his steering was loose, then a bunch of people read the thread and replied not knowing it was a 9 year old thread and all kinds of confusing stuff

How does your frame look at your steering box? You sure it isn't cracked? and some of the advice still stands, get under there and see where it is loose. It's also quite possible your alignment guys are terrible at their job. I had 4 bad alignments before I went to a shop who gave me actual degree printouts on the alignment, first time it drove straight and well.

If you have a 6'' lift, I just did a tierod flip (on top of the knuckle instead of below it), made a lot of difference.

Have you gys looked into the super runner steering set-up. I don't think it'll really take alot of slip away bit it may slow down the wear on critical items with big tires. Just wondering.