Sloppy steering box

[ashman]

My steering box has some slop to it that translates to about 3" of movement at the steering wheel. The box is only a few years old. Is there any way to tighten this up?
View attachment 20250429_202329.mp4

 

[imiceman44]

My steering box has some slop to it that translates to about 3" of movement at the steering wheel. The box is only a few years old. Is there any way to tighten this up?
View attachment 503235

Usually not.
It's internal wear on the gears.
You can try adjusting the preload on the sector shaft but make sure you don't make it too tight

 

[Blue85]

The steering gear works by means of a spool valve on the input. Your input torque is sensed by the spool twisting around a torsion bar, to allow the oil to flow by varying amounts, in one direction or the other. When you have the engine off (and therefore no pressure/assist), the spool twists to the limit teeth before the worm gear moves at all. Therefore, some amount of rotation before the output moves is completely normal. Compare the result above to an engine running test, to get a better idea of what's slop in the gear and what's the valve range of motion.

You could also reduce the load by lifting the front tires off the ground, or remove the load by disconnecting the drag link. 0 load = zero twist and you would see slop-only by putting just a small load like a bungy.

See the teeth on item #7:

 

[ashman]

So, basically nothing I can do about it? In the video I didn't have the engine running, but I feel this same looseness driving down the highway. Everything else in the steering path seems tight.

 

[Wes Harden]

Before you start swapping parts check your toe adjust with big tires you should have @1/8" toe in.
toe does effect the feel of steering. Caster too but that is more work to change on solid axle truck

 

[Truckman4life]

Raise it off the ground and break the lock nut loose on top of the cover. Tighten the allen bolt up a little at a time and recheck back and forth to see if your slop goes away. Tighten the jam nut when done. Don't get it too tight or it will lock up on you when driving. Gotta find that magic spot. I've fixed a lot of wore out super duty boxes that way. It will not last forever but it will help.

 

[Truckman4life]

Is yours like this? I can't remember the big nut on the input side.

 

[ashman]

@Truckman4life Thanks for that! I'll have to give that a try. Excellent video.

 

[Blue85]

The box is tightest on-center (or at least it is when it's new ). so check the adjustment there.