I've been having a lot of knocking coming from the front end of the truck. So I got under to inspect and I was also jacking the truck up with that little 2-ton Jack I have to bleed the power steering system to try to Aleve some of the hard steering I'm having, but anyway back to the point, all of my tie rod ends on both the tie rod and the drag link are wobbly and worn out. I need a full set. What I'm more concerned about is, why is my knuckle so close to my rims? I cannot say for a fact whether these marks on the rims are from the knuckle but, here's the pictures. Is the knuckle supposed to be this close? I would think, if it was the knuckle hitting the rim the knuckle would be shiny too which it is not. Who knows what those marked on the rims are from? Not sure what to think about it yet. But I do know for a fact that all of the ends of my tie rod and drag link are wore slap out. Which is not a big problem. I am just hoping my knuckles are not bent out of shape because of that wreck.

 

I was nosing around when I discovered the missing caliper bolt.

 

Okay so this is weird. I didn't think I could turn all the way to the full lock on the left because the tie rod is hitting the differential cover and that still may be mostly true but, for some reason unknown to me I cannot turn to the right all the way. I still have almost an inch of room before my tie rod hits the lock but it will not go any further. Maybe it's the steering gear. Also while I was under the truck I managed to find that I am missing one of my steering damper bolts. Well, not the bolt but the nut goes on the other end is gone and there's not enough thread to put the nut on if I had it. The only thing I can think of that is stopping me from steering to the right is the steering gear, I don't see anything else hitting anywhere. I'm sure the tie rod being bent might have something to do with it. It's either that or the steering gear actually, I can't even take my tie rod off of the passenger side wheel because it hits the track bar mount when I try to lift it up. There's no telling what all is bent after that wreck that this front end was in before I got it. My dad brought up a good point that maybe because the tie rod ends are so wore out there's enough play that I'm not turning all the way to the right. It is possible. here is a picture of my missing nut and a video of me explaining some of the issues.

 

I’m not sure the first couple joints you were showing were bad. They can rotate like that. The real test is to have someone shake the steering wheel and see if you have slop.

 

I did that as well. I did not have somebody with me at the time to show it in a video but the wheel goes left to right about a inch total. So a half inch either way. All of the joints are doing that. I think that's my knocking noise.

Here is another video I took. And this one I also explained that I cannot take the tie rod off of the passenger side wheel. Whether that is due to the bent tie rod collar or the track bar mount being in the wrong spot I'm unsure of.

 

The backspacing of the aftermarket wheels explains your "clearance" issue to the steering arm/tie rod end.

The reason you are unable to hit the steering stop on the left but can on the right (why it turns sharper to the left) is because of your draglink angle and the possiblility of you using the shorter pitman arm. The steeper the angle, the more the steering gear can PULL to the left but the less distance it can PUSH to the right.

 

Those track bar mounts on the axle have factory welds on them. It is a tight fit getting the tie rod out of there but you'll NEVER get it out with the wheels turned.

 

Okay so, do I need a longer pitman arm or a pitman arm that has a drop on it? Or both? Or do you reckon that pitman arm could be off by a quarter turn? I don't think that but I guess it is possible. I doubt it though.

The pitman arm I have is 8.5 in Long.

 

Gotcha, and with my bent collar, it makes it even harder to get it out. Glad to check that off the list.

 

I didn't watch the videos and I tried to read everything here to avoid redundancy but...you do see that shock with the nut missing? I'm guessing that's a steering stabilizer? I'd expect that to make a little bit of noise now and then.

 

Yep. It is a steering stabilizer. I talked about it in one of the videos. That's exactly why I actually posted that picture. Even if that wasn't the case, my tie rods are wore out. And when I grab them and wiggle them they do make a knocking sound. But, I do need to find a nut for that. But actually the bolt is not long enough. So I need a new bolt as well more than likely. But I'll try to knock it down into place and see. Before I buy all new tie rods, I might replace that collar and see if that fixes the bent part of it and if so, just replace all the ends. Is the passenger side tie rod end replaceable even? A lot of the aftermarket ones I look at are one piece. It looks like it's threaded in there in that picture though.

 

 

Is that 6.5" center to center? There are two 36 spline 4x4 pitman arms; one is 6.5 c-c, the other is 7.5" c-c. There is also a 2wd variant that is shorter yet but it hits the upper track bar bracket bolt if you try to use it.

 

Sorry, I edited that just before you posted this. It's 8.5 in Long in total. The website I bought it from said it was six and a half center to center. I do not have a 36 spline pitman arm I have a 32 spline because it is an e99.

 

Is that 6.5" center to center? There are two 36 spline 4x4 pitman arms; one is 6.5 c-c, the other is 7.5" c-c. There is also a 2wd variant that is shorter yet but it hits the upper track bar bracket bolt if you try to use it.


EDIT:

No way to make the steering work at 90 degrees in either direction from where it is. Also, a drop pitman arm will mess up your draglink/track bar angle relationship (which by the video looks pretty close now). Different angles cause a situation called "bumpsteer".