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1994.5 - 1997 7.3L Power Stroke Diesel  

SLoppy steering....

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Old May 7, 2010 | 10:02 PM
  #16  
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Talyn
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From: Ashland City, TN
Yea, see, the biggest problem with this "so called" repair, is that the gears wear in a very small area, and not the rest of the gears.
Adjusting it wont fix that part of the gear is more worn than the other.

as well as I said before, You should tear a steering box apart. You'll see that adjustment doesn't do a whole lot of anything.

I don't know why it would be "hot air" if every front end guy I've talked to says "DONT DO IT"

Just sayin.
I think its more of a placebo effect than anything.
 
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Old May 7, 2010 | 10:13 PM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by Talyn
Yea, see, the biggest problem with this "so called" repair, is that the gears wear in a very small area, and not the rest of the gears.
Adjusting it wont fix that part of the gear is more worn than the other.

as well as I said before, You should tear a steering box apart. You'll see that adjustment doesn't do a whole lot of anything.

I don't know why it would be "hot air" if every front end guy I've talked to says "DONT DO IT"

Just sayin.
I think its more of a placebo effect than anything.

Placebo effect? You better lay off the drugs man!

Like I said twice, adjusting it won't make it like new, but it should make a significant difference depending on how severe the slop is. Been there, done that. It works.

FYI, I don't need you tellin me to tear a gearbox apart and look at it. I've had and continue to get more and better mechanical experience than you will ever dream of gettin buddy. And I also don't need some socalled 'professional' tellin me it won't work when it does make a difference, just cause he wants to charge you for more work and new parts. What do think the guys gonna say? Adjust it? Then he won't have any work left for himself.
 
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Old May 9, 2010 | 01:01 PM
  #18  
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From: Elkhorn, WI
im not saying if its the right way or wrong way to do it but i have done the adjustment on the steering box on both my superduty and my obs and it seemed to help a little, not much but it made a difference. i jacked up the front end and while turning the wheels adjust the box until you feel drag and then back it off a little. my obs is so bad i replaced the steering box and the balljoints but it diddnt seem to make any difference. i have another problem going on. its so sloppy its scary. its all i can do to keep it in my lane with a trailer on the back. any ideas guys?
 
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Old May 9, 2010 | 09:28 PM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Muktown
im not saying if its the right way or wrong way to do it but i have done the adjustment on the steering box on both my superduty and my obs and it seemed to help a little, not much but it made a difference. i jacked up the front end and while turning the wheels adjust the box until you feel drag and then back it off a little. my obs is so bad i replaced the steering box and the balljoints but it diddnt seem to make any difference. i have another problem going on. its so sloppy its scary. its all i can do to keep it in my lane with a trailer on the back. any ideas guys?

it might just be my mind playing tricks on me, but when i tow..it goes away and its tight again..
 
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Old May 10, 2010 | 09:00 AM
  #20  
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73strokin
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From: Wisconsin
Originally Posted by Muktown
im not saying if its the right way or wrong way to do it but i have done the adjustment on the steering box on both my superduty and my obs and it seemed to help a little, not much but it made a difference. i jacked up the front end and while turning the wheels adjust the box until you feel drag and then back it off a little. my obs is so bad i replaced the steering box and the balljoints but it diddnt seem to make any difference. i have another problem going on. its so sloppy its scary. its all i can do to keep it in my lane with a trailer on the back. any ideas guys?
Well its sounds like you got the gearbox and balljoints taken care of, so there's a few other things to look at. Check all the tie rod ends(4 of them) on the front end for excessive play. Check the bushings in the track bar to make sure they are not worn. And the shaft between the steering wheel and gearbox has a few universal joints and bearings in that can be checked for play.

There's also some more obvious things to be looked at like irregularly worn tires or maybe the front ends needs an alignment. Or possibly it is the fault of the trailer. If you have an excessive amount on tongue weight pushin down on the rear of the truck in theory it makes the front of the truck lighter and the steering won't be very effective.
 
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Old May 10, 2010 | 08:13 PM
  #21  
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From: Elkhorn, WI
i will have to check the rod ends next and those steering shaft ujoints. which one is the track bar? i did the ball joints because one of them had a ton of play in the and my tires were wearing really weird and after i did the steering box and ball joints i had an alignment, even put in skijacker dual stabilizers and got new tires. still extremely sloppy. it is really bad even without a trailer just with one you notice it more because the trailer pushes me around.
 
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Old May 10, 2010 | 10:17 PM
  #22  
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From: Wisconsin
The track bar goes from the passenger side of the axle up to a bracket on the frame crossmember under the engine/oil pan. It holds the axle in position side to side. And if you do a lift or anything you should make sure that this track bar and the drag link of the steering linkage are paralell otherwise you will have bump steer.
 
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