Really Brent I have never heard you say that before.. I will let ya know how the LARES box is, I should have it installed by the weekend..

 

Not everyone has read all my posts..........or remembered them.

 

I want to say that although I don't doubt your intellect how do you know you need a steering box. I see many people right away point to the steering box and install it and still have the same problem. In the end it was a joint they missed or a pitman arm ...etc etc.

There are many ways to eliminate all other possibilities to narrow it down to the steering box. Have you done those things?

 

I agree, don't jump to conclusions and blow money on needless parts.

 

Yep, done all ball joints with moogs, all tie rods and drag links, aligned twice and checked ball joints again to make sure they were free.. And from reading all steering posts on the forum when somebody has ruled everything else out the steering box fixed it. I will let ya know this week if it fixed it..

 

Not planning on replacing anything if I dont have too. I will have the alignment checked again and have them go thru the front end one more time before we look into anything else. Maybe even try to tighten the steering box a little more.

 

I know my post was small, but make sure you check the u-joints. I had to torch the one cap out, it was rusted that bad. It feels strange to not wrestle with the steering wheel anymore.

 

I have had the whole truck looked over twice by two different mechanics. They both said Ball joints. We replaced them. The guys that performed the work also told me the front sway bar needs new bushings. That shouldnt make a difference. They checked u-joints and everything. I am confidant in these guys. When I get it in for them to check the alignment I'll have them look eberything over again. Thanks

 

@ Ithaca and Coolray

I certainly hope you don't think the axle u-joints impacted your steering.

 

You obviously have never had an axle joint freeze up, it can be quite scary...

 

Agreed, feels likes you are heading to the ditch. Big trucks to be swerving around at high speeds.

 

dont have that problem at all ujoints are good

 

no I never have as I keep my equipment in good working order...however ...having said that...
A quick question...was your front axle sitting under water for about a year and then you pulled it out and tried driving it?

A u- joint does not work like you are implying. The U-joint itself will not be working one moment and the next it is seized up from a turning perspective. If and when it reaches the point of lubrication loss inside the u-joint the needle bearings basically fail and they become non-existant. When you loose needle bearings your axle just rattles in the tube. There is plenty and I do mean plenty of slop inside a u-joint cap with no needle bearings once they take a walk that it would never prevent a vechile from steering or not.

I have fixed hundreds of u-joints and could probably do it blindfolded,,,,by your post if u-joints acted that way then it would be dangerous to even leave the house as about 3 out of every 10 trucks/suvs could use a front axle u-joint replacement.

I don't doubt you veering toward a ditch but I don't buy one second that a faulty u-joint or a u-joint alone caused that. If you had some binding that happened and you didn't care for the rest of your steering joints something was going to.....you know what...even then.....the leverage of your steering and the huge leverage of your tires when steering would explode that u-joint before it kept you from steering.

The above holds all the water in the world provided all of your equipment was in good working order but a stand alone bad u-joint will not cause steering failure.

 

Not true. They can freeze up and at some point cause the steering wheel to jerk back and forth which is quite scary like the posters above you said, also they don't automatically lose all their needles but go through a stage of dryness with the needles intact and at which point they can be rejuvenated and restored to working condition by soaking in light oil.................done it. That whole paragraph in bold is wrong. On second thought that whole post is wrong.

 

Missed the point. You are stating the the truck and steering wheel going into a shimmy. The poster is talking about driving into a ditch. I have replaced around 250 u-joints and at no point did I replace a u-joint because the vehicle became dangerous. Moreover what are you guys doing with those rigs? Never locking in the hubs? Parking the vehicles in a creek? Neglect anyone?