Hi all. I am finally finishing up my '84 Bronco. I just installed a 6" Rough Country lift and new 35" m/t's. I took the truck to Firestone to get a front end alignment. When I went to pick up the truck they said they could not align it because my gearbox for my steering had too much play and it and it needed replacing, also that my front drivers side bearings were bad. If anyone has had this problem with the gearbox I am hoping you could inform me on an easy way to check it myself to know if it should really be replaced or just adjusted. Any help with diagnostics and information on how to easily adjust it w/o removing the pitman arm would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
ChuckE

 

They should still be able to align it, at least get it close enough to drive fairly straight. They are just trying to hit you up for some more dough (I'm not saying that you don't actually need the repairs though).

Whenever they pull that stuff with me, I just tell them to do it anyway and get it as close as they can.


PS - Alignments are pretty cheap, right? And sometimes they can be time consuming, right again? There's a reason for this. If your vehicle is not driving straight, then there is a good chance that there is something wrong with the front end. So you go in for an alignment and they check the front end, and then they tell you about the problem and that they can't align it and then you fork out some more dough and get it fixed and aligned. Alignments are huge cash cows for shops - just like an "A/C check and tune" where folks go in with a warm blowing AC thinking that they are going to get it to work for $19.95, or the "transmission check and tune" where some poor slob takes his car with poorly shifting automatic in thinking that they are going to "tune it up" and they hit him with a $1,500 rebuild estimate... I'm not saying that any of these practices are fraudulent, but they are a way to get cars that need work into the shop.

Back to your front end though. Unless your mechanic is a crook, the front end does need the work. But they can still align it and it will probably drive straight enough. They just won't warranty the job with the worn parts.

The best advice is for you to replace the parts yourself and then bring it back to the shop for an alignment.

 

PS - If I recall the box on an early 80's - there is a screw on the steering box that you can turn to adjust the play, and it has an outer locking ring on it. You loosen the lock ring, turn the adjuster screw, and tighten the lock ring.

I THINK that is how an 84 is adjusted - if I am wrong, somebody please correct me so ChuckE isn't going crazy looking for something that is not there...

As far as the adjustment of the steering box - "easy does it" is the phrase of the day. Adjust it in 1/8 of a turn increments. Some people go 1/4 turn, but that's it - don't go any further on any one adjustment. Adjust it, tighten it down, and test. If it's still loose, go another 1/8 turn. Repeat until it gets to where it should be. If you turn it too far, you will freeze the box up and then it is a PITA to get it un-frozen.

If it is badly worn, you won't ever get it to feel right and then you'll know that it needs to be replaced.

 

Many Bronco steering boxes are crap -- I did a half turn and it's still loose, though slightly better than before. However, a bad steering box should have no effect on alignment. I think someone mentioned here using a '97 or so F250 steering box instead.

 

Exactly. That's why you tell them to align it the best that they can. Humor them a little. Then replace the parts yourself when you get the chance - given the two parts in question, the alignment should still be good.

They are correct for pointing out the bad parts, but not in saying that they can't align it because of those two parts. You can align just about anything up on an alignment rack in a shop and get it within specs - the only time that they would be right to say that they physically could not align a vehicle would be if you had bent or cracked suspension components, bushings missing, or a bent frame. Then they would need to repair or replace the parts in question before being able to align the vehicle and get it within specs. I would not include wheel bearings or a loose steering box in the list of parts that would cause a non-alignment issue. The only possible issue would be wandering because of the loose steering box, which could mimic an alignment problem on the road - but it should not affect the specs of the vehicle up on an alignment rack.

You should take care of those wheel bearings soon, or else you will toast the hub and rotor and possibly more.

 

Thanks for the replys. I didn't mention that we had just replaced all of the tie rod ends and set the alignment as close to spec as possible using a tape measure. I think it's pretty close and we have the steering wheel (clear view)really close too. I can see it needs camber adjustment, so it definitely needs a shop alignment job.

We took a look at the steering gear adjustment, before we posted the first note. It does have the screw/set nut mesh adjustment. Problem is that the factory manual calls for removeing the Pitman arm, some special tools and an involved process to set it to spec. I'm just not anxious to pull all of that apart and I don't know that the alignment shop guys were bright enough to really know if it needed replacement. We did tighten the mesh adjustment about 1/4 turn in two increments and noticed some improvement, but I'm afraid to tighten it too far.

The vehicle doesn't pull to one side or the other and it does good when turning, but when driving straight it tends to wander a bit from side to side. Kind of like trying to balance on a knife edge.

Should I tighten more or replace bearings?

All advice is much appreciated.

 

Both, but the streering box tightening is quicker, easier (?!) and requires no extra part to buy, so I'd start with that first. Tighten 1/4 turn, then try and see if it got a little better. One way to check if it's too tight: make a sharp turn, then let the steering wheel loose -- if it quickly straightens itself it is probably not too tight. Of course you do this test at a very slow speed.

 

If you are interested, this is how to rebuild your steering box....:

http://4x4.forensick.net/88bronco/images/sbr/