Okay so I need a little help with my steering....

So we took the truck off roading and... well long story short driving too fast and these big trucks don't stop fast enough. So I ended up taking out a wooden fence post or three (woops!!!) No damage to the truck other than a broken mirror and a few scratches on the bumper. It hit on the passenger side right at about the head light. Enough description of my stupidity.

Now onto the problem. The steering wheel is now turned almost 90 degrees to the left. I can let go of the wheel at 70 mph and the truck drives straight down the road. There is no problems with turning or driving at all. But how do I correct the steering wheel? And how could it have turned? Or where did it turn I should say??? Could it be possible that it slipped inside the gearbox due to the impact at the passenger tire? Cause I think that it is highly unlikely that it turned at the pitman arm, there are just way to many splines that hold it on the shaft.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have checked that the axle shaft from steering gearbox to pitman arm ain't twisted? I have seen these twist over 90 degrees without braking

 

Not quite sure what you are refering to??? Are you talking about the steering shaft that the pitman arm is connected too???

 

The shaft where the splines are that holds the pitman arm

 

sounds like u may have bitten more than u could chew. lol. sorry. bad taste.

check underneath for any bushing wear, and since u had this collision, for any bent rods. any bent rods will require replacement.

most probably, u'll have to reset ur steering wheel via inner drag link. if u look underneath, u will see a diagonal bar from the top of ur tie rod end on the passenger side and it will extend to the pitman arm. that is the rod which u will have to adjust.

big issue. double check to ensure that the inner drag link is not bent or damaged. if so, replace it before attempting this. also, u might have to do an alignment anyway, so u might want to let the alignment fellas fix it for u.

since u mentioned tat ur steering wheel is completely to the left, loosen those bolts, and turn the sleeve with a pipe wrench from bottom towards u direction. tat means when ur in front of ur vehicle and ur looking at the tie rods, the sleeve will have to move from back to front. if it is exactly 90 degrees to the left, try turning it about 2 full turns. it should shift the steering wheel to the right and straighten it without messing up ur alignment. tighten the sleeve bolts to 41 ft lbs.

also, since u mentioned the passenger tire, check the area inside ur tire. it will have the tie rod end and on top of it will be the outer drag link. there might also be a possibility that the outer drag link which connects to the tie rod end could have snapped. now tat will need replacement.

just a bunch of possibilities. if u need more info, feel free to pm me. good luck!

 

Scroll down on this page you see an axle shaft with splines that is only a few degreese twisted

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/336799-next-list-rebuild-ps-gear-box-new-sector-shaft-pitman-arm-2.html

 

Check underneath, you probably bent the drag link or the tie rod. The way the steering works on a solid axle truck is the steering box itself must be centered in it's travel, then the drag link goes from the pitman arm on the steering box over to the passenger side knuckle, then the tie rod goes from the passenger side over to the driver's side knuckle. The tie rod is right in front of the axle and is quite vulnerable.

Brian

 

My Old Lady got you beat She knocked the tire almost Off the Car

I finshed cuting tire off with a Sawzall LOL


when you fix the right Part the steering should end up back Centerline it may need a Part it may ne alignment

 

I can assure that the drag link is not bent as it was just replaced yesterday. (completely unrelated to accident) See picture below.

The highlighted portion is what I just replaced. Except the Sleeve, which I re-used.



See prior to the accident, I had ALOT of slop in the steering (the steering wheel would move, withOUT turning the tires). Probably 6"+ it seemed like every time I hit a bump in the road my steering wheel was going side to side just to go straight. The ball joints were replaced, and that tightened up some. Then had the accident, before draglink could be done. I know doesn't help matters any. I replaced draglink do to both ends were bad. I could easily twist the whole assembly. That stopped slop every time I hit a bump. I adjusted the gearbox friction, and went in 1 1/2 full turns (adjusted and tested in 1/4 incriments) now the steering wheel only moves maybe 1" very manangable while driving. And it is alot stiffer while turning, where as before it was just very loose. I am affraid to adjust the friction any further in cause the last thing I want is to have my steering lock up. I do suspect with that heavy of an adjustment though that my steering box is on its way out the door anyways though.

As far as under the truck however there is no damage at all from the accident, that is why I am so baffled. When I replaced the drag link the pitman arm, was perfectly straight forward. What has me baffled is that the wheel is 90 to the left. So it might be possible that I did twist the shaft as Linne suggested above.

See why I am so baffled is becuase of the fact that there is no issue at all with the steeering (other than as stated). It works and steers as it did before the accident, just with the wheel turned 90. I can let go of the wheel at 70 mph and there is NOTeven a slight amount of drift. The truck tracks straight forward. If anyone needs any more info on this to help me out just ask. I think its going to come down to a new steering box though, both prior to accident, and after. Anyone disagree? It is possible that I bent the connecting rod, but with out just replacing it, how would I know??

 

Without a doubt its something with the steering box, if you had as much as 6" of play that you were able to take up with the steering box adjustment that's where I would put my money. Tie rod ends, tie rods and drag links are pretty straight forward, to bend something there enough to turn the wheel 90 degrees there would be no way it would track straight anymore. Now whether it happened on the input shaft side, output shaft side or gears inside the steering box skipping a tooth or two is hard to say. I would replace the steering box myself, or if you want to straighten the wheel up just get the tires pointed straight and loosen the steering wheel shaft where it attaches to the input shaft on the steering box, rotate the wheel to where you want it, run your seatbelt through the steering wheel and buckle it ( to hold it in place while you tighten the steering shaft back up so it doesn't move on you ) or have someone hold the wheel straight while you tighten it back up. If you decide to change the steering box ( which I think you should ) red hat steering boxes are a popular choice.

 

I apologize it was red head, heres the link Re-Manufacturing - Red Head Steering Gears

 

I have actually read alot about Red Head on here. Has anyone ever used them? Do I have to send them my gearbox, or can I order one and send them the core? As this is my only vehicle, I can't exactly afford to pull my gearbox, and wait for them to rebuild it.

 

Im sure you just order it then send your core in when you are done.

 

If... and I'm not leaning towards a band-aid... but if it drives straight and he's fine with the play could he just pull the wheel and set it straight on its shaft? Or is there a set tooth design that only allows one position. I did this on my 04 chevy cause I had an accident and it was never repaired right so I just moved the steering wheel right.

 

You could measure the toe and see if it has been knocked out.

Brian