Ive been trying to track down a loose steering wheel issue on this truck since I bought it.

- I’ve adjusted a small amount of slack out of the steering gears (I didn’t want to over do it).
- The pitman arm nut was loose. I tightened but it’s still loose.
- The track bar seems to move a decent amount but I can’t tell if it’s bad enough to replace.

The pitman arm they installed is a “dropped” pitman arm and they seemed to install the lift kit the right way when they did but my question is, how can I tell if they installed a track bar bracket or if it is necessary?


I’ll try to upload a picture of the track bar if that helps. Everything else is nice and tight and the steering wheel and the shaft are solid and they spin in unison.

Ok, Before going any further you have to get the pitman arm tight. Take it to a shop, buy an impact, ask the wife it doesn’t matter how you do it just get it tight. Typically the torque is 180-200 ft/lbs.
‘After that’s done, have someone to turn the wheel slowly while you watch and record it in slow motion and look for play. Next, lift the truck off the ground grab each front wheel at 9 & 3 then 12 & 6…is there any play as you push and pull the wheel? It also looks like your gear box is leaking/weeping per the moisture on the pitman arm. Also looking like you have a leak elsewhere too.

You should not be able to detect any movement in the track bar and if you do the bushings are wasted. Yes that track bar bracket is a dropped, a dropped pitman arm always requires a dropped track bar because the tie rod and track bar need to be parallel.

if your pitman arm is loose even after tightening it the splines are worn out and will need replacing.

just from the looks of that tie rod end puking it’s guts out I can tell it has play in it and needs replacing, if it does then odds are so do the others.

check your ball joints while you are at it, jack the truck up so the tire is 2” off the ground and with a good 3 foot pry bar lever up on the tire, Any hint of play and your ball joints and possible a wheel bearings are shot. YouTube it if you are not familiar with the procedure, Just wiggling it by hand is not adequate

The pitman arm is probably trashed if it was moving around with the nut retightbed it’s supoosed to be at 200 ft lbs I’m almost done replacing all my front end components would have been nice to do it all at once instead of a little better every time part by part.

Man you guys are awesome. I don’t have any play in the wheels at 9 and 3 or 12 and 6. I put new wheel hubs on last week and the tie rods straight across have 0 play, no clicking or clanking either while driving or cornering/ hitting bumps.

ill be replacing the center links or drag link and track bar tomorrow after I tighten up the pitman nut. I used a 3 ft pipe on the wrench and I probably got it around 160-170 but I’m sure I didn’t get it to 200ft lbs. That’s great to know. I’ll probably double up nuts or something to keep it from coming loose again.

For the leaking fluids, the only fluid I’ve noticed go low is the oil, it seems to be leaking from the front of the motor. Any common leaks that you know of? I’m sitting at 257,000 miles.

Track arm and drag link/center link installed and it made a world of difference. No mater wandering when hitting bumps and no wobbling anymore. Thanks everyone. Still a little steering slop but I bet it’s the gear box.