hello again, i am having a problem with my steering, let me give you the rundown of my story.

two weeks ago i had my steering box replaced due to oil leaking out of it from the top. bought on from napa, and had a shop install it for me. when i got it back i noticed that there was a fair amount of play in the steering wheel, but i didnt do anything about it, truck seemed to drive good (except for the annoying play). anyways drove about 5 iles to my house and truck sat until the weekend. me and the wife went away for the weekend, and took my truck, but now that i got up to highway speeds, it seemed that i had to hold the wheel to the left because it was pulling quite hard to the right. got back from the weekend and called the guys and told them the problem, they said bring it down whenever you can. well i didnt get around to it yet, but did some searching on here and narrowed it down to that maybe i should try adjusting the steering box, well i did just that, and the truck drives straight now, but here is the problem. going down the road and the truck is going straight, and if i were to turn the wheel a little to the left just enough to make it turn a little and let go of the wheel, it continues to go left, as before i had the steering box replaced andi did that, it would automatically correct it self and keep striaght, same thing happens when i turn right, it will keep going right, if i correct it back to striaght myself the truck will continue to be striaght. now i still have a little play in the steering wheel, and on the bill the shop gave me they said that my pitman arm has a little play but nothing to worry about at this time. also as i drive down the road while its tracking straight and i hit a little bump, sometimes i can feel the play in the steering wheel, and the truck will start to go to one side, while going out of my drive way and over the curb slowly i can feel the play in the steering wheel there as well, but before the box got changed out, everything was normal. now here are my questions (thanks for being patient and taking the time to read my story)

#1- is it ok for the pitman arm to have "a little" play and where is the arm located? i am assuming that the pitman it the rod attached to the steering box bottom.

#2- would the play in the pitman arm be related to the play in my steering wheel, allthough i had none before the new box was installed.

#3- would the play in the pitman arm make the truck continue to go to one side when i turn the wheel a little and then stop turing it?

#4- there is a long rod attached to the pitman arm (tie rod i am assuming) with threads on it, i cant seem to move it back and forth, but i can grab it at turn it like you would with a throttle on a motorcycle, is this normal? should i adjust this?

#5- the shop also checked all the front end for my and they tell me everything is ok, except for the pitman arm play, so do you guys have any ideas what would cause the truck to keep turning?

#6- or is this just how the new box is and i am gonna have to live with it?

thats about it, like i said i adjusted the steering box, and the steering was getting a little stiff, i backed it off a little, i dont know how much i should be adjusting it, i dont wanna have things bind on me. thanks agian for hearing my story and helping me out, i am gonna take it to the shop agian and get them to come for a ride with me. i just wish my steering was like it was with the old box, you turn the wheel and let go, truck goes straight, now it almost goes straight, with a little play in the wheel.

 

#1 The Pitman arm is the arm that comes from the sector shaft on the bottom of the steering box to the drag link (item #4).

#2 The play in the steering wheel could very well be related to the play in the Pitman arm. If the Pitman arm is worn then it rides sloppily on the sector shaft when the wheel is turned.

#3 It could especially if the steering box mesh has been set too tight.

#4 Yes, the drag link can be rotated like the throttle on a motorcycle. As long as there is no end to end play that should be ok.

My truck did something similar when I first bought it. My problem was that the nut that holds the Pitman arm onto the sector shaft wasn't tight enough and there was some play there. I tightened the sector shaft mesh like you did and then had the problem just as you describe. If I made an adjustment to the right the truck would continue to go right. Same with left. It took a lot of corrections and paying attention to drive her down the freeway at 70 mph. It was dangerous. I finally took it in to good front end shop and they discovered the Pitman arm problem. They tightened the nut the way it should be and gave the truck back to me. They would not adjust the sector shaft though as they said they never reccomend messing with that. I took the truck home and backed the mesh down and presto, she drives like new again and has for the last year.

Hope this helps.

 

I have the same problem. I've tried to describe it here b4 but have not found the resolution. My problem will come and go. I've been trying to figure if there is something I'm doing to pinpoint exactly when it happens. Last week I heard a light thud and then the truck started with the crazy steering for about 1 mile.
Scott, if you hadn't adjusted the mesh, do you think you would have been ok with only the pitman arm nut problem?

 

If your pitman arm didn't have play before you brought truck in it shouldn't now. Your adjuster on the tie rod shouldn' t turn unless you loosen the two clamps!!!If your pit man arm has play ( for real ) I would replace it. Over tightening the adjustments on steering box will cause premature wear out !!

 

Torque on nut is about 220 ft. lbs.

 

Well, the thing that made me tighten the sector shaft was that I had sloppy steering. The truck wandered around like a lost puppy and it demanded your utmost attention to drive it. I tightened the sector shaft and what that did was tighten up the steering wheel but the wandering was still there. I would correct it and then it would require another correction to the correction. Does that make sense? I finally got frustrated (and I had a run to make to Nebraska) and I was afraid that I was going to end up killing someone so I took it in. I can drive 80 mph with one hand now, no problem. Before that would have been a white knuckler.

Like Ruger said, I don't reccomend tightening the sector shaft unless you know absolutely that your steering box is the problem. The front end shop that I went to (and they specialize in lifted 4x4's) wouldn't even touch it after I told them that I had adjusted it.

 

Thanks Scott, I didn't want to srew with the sector shaft. Just wanted to make sure the nut was the only problem. I'll check mine this weekend and see what I find.

220 ft lbs? Really?

 

No problem, Mike.

I don't have the torque spec for the Pitman arm nut but 250 ft/lbs doesn't sound too unreasonable. I will try and look it up when I get home from work.

 

wow... I thought I was the only one with this problem. Just got my truck back today, had ANOTHER alignment, toe was off by 1 degree. Truck still wanders, still will not correct to center, and STILL is a white knuckle adventure pulling a trailer on the freeway. I have ALL NEW front end parts, on gear box #3, new ball joints and tie rod ends and a few new bushings. The steering problem is driving me nuts. The excessive amount of dead play in the steering wheel is also another problem.

I changed my gear box myself, I had to use a puller and heat to get the pitman arm off the old box, and it was all I could do to get the arm on the new shaft, I used my IR air wrench to put the arm on, I would guess at atleast 200 ft lbs torque, could be completly wrong. Nothing is loose on the front, pitman arm is tight.

anybody who finds a real fix will get a case of frosty long necks from me.....