It started off centered and has slowly worked it's way to about 180 degrees off. The steering doesn't have much play in it but the truck tends to sway a bit, especially under load. Would this change in the steering wheel orientation be a gear slipping in the steering box or something? It doesn't leak or squeak or anything.


What should my course of action be? I plan on adjusting the steering box (I know you have to do it in very small increments at a time). I have no idea what to look for to test suspension or steering components.


Thanks in advance for the help.

 

I think generally a swaying indicates wear in the steering system somewhere. These trucks are pretty simple, so it should be pretty easy to find the issue. I think these are some general tests:

Jack the truck up, do this separately for each side. Just get the front left wheel off the ground.
1. Grab the tire, one hand at top, one on bottom. Try and rock it top to bottom. Movement here would indicate wear in your kingpins or balljoints.

2. Grab the tire, one hand on left side, one on right. Try and rock it left to right. Movement here would indicate wear in your tie rod ends.

3. Grab the tire, one hand at 1:30, one at 7:30 (diagonal basically). Try to rock it diagonally. Movement here would indicate wear in a bearing.

The other option is that there is an issue with the steering box or rag joint, but I think that you would have noticed something from the steering box before now.

 

I appreciate that. I will do all of the above. Any ideas on why the wheel would be off-center? Can bad alignment cause that?

 

Yes, it could cause that, although it would typically be accompanied by a fair amount of play in the steering wheel. Because the wheel is directly connected to the steering components, whenever they get wear, or replaced (say you replace the ti rod end), if the steering geometry isn't identical to before, it will be reflected in the steering wheel, making it so that when you're driving straight, the wheel's not.

One thing - a bit of a wild thought, but it could explain it. I wonder if your tie rods are all still tight? there should be one really long one and then a shorter (still pretty long) one. If the adjuster clamps holding the two tie rods from threading in or unthreading came loose, the tie rod could *potentially* be changing length as you drive. It would explain the swaying over the road (because the alignment is out) and the changing steering wheel position. If you want pictures of what I'm talking about, I could take some tonight or tomorrow. Just let me know.

 

Heck yeah man. Pictures would be awesome whenever you get a chance. I won't be able to work on it until this weekend anyway.
Thanks!

 

Sorry that it took so long to get the pics, but here they are. Have you figured anything else out with the steering issues?

The first picture, middle right side, is the collar I'm talking about. It is essentially what you use to adjust the tie rod length, and you tighten the bolts to clamp it and hold it in place. The rest of the pictures are just to give some context as to what you're looking at.

 

The pictures are much appreciated. I rebuilt all the brakes, brake cylinders, wheel cylinders, etc. this weekend and took a good look at everything while I was under there. There was no play in anything and I think all the bushings look good as far as I can tell except for the bushing on the radius arm on the drivers side where it connects to the cab. I guess that's what it is called. Its the bar right there in the dead center of your bottom picture.
I think I will start by taking it in for an alignment and then go from there.

 

Another simple stupid thing - check the rag joint? All your lower suspension stuff can be tight but if it is bad, you will not get precise steering.

worst case if everything (alignment, tie rods etc) all come out OK - just remove and recenter the wheel.

 

Thanks man. I appreciate the input. I am going to recenter the wheel for sure. I'd just like to figure out why I am drifting.

 

If all else fails, maybe pay the money and get a good suspension shop to check it out. Sometimes it can be a tolerance stack-up where individual parts all look fine, but cumulatively make up an out-of-whack system. My boss got the notorious "death wobble" in his Wrangler, and every component was in spec - but about $2000 later of replacing tie rod ends, ball joints, and who knows what else with new parts, it was cured. Wasn't any individual part, but the combination of all of them in his case.