Steering box changed, wheel now 1/4 turn off

[muscatniall]

The power steering box on my '86 K5 blew a seal and I lost all my fluid at 70mph. Got to a local garage and then found a new steering box which he fitted for me.

Now the steering wheel is a 1/4 turn off, i.e. to go straight I have to hold it at 1/4 turn to the left.

I've had the wheel off and the column off the box, but it seems that it can only be joined together in one position, i.e. there is no adjustment. There is also what looks like a small weight underneath the column at the coupling to the steering box, is this some kind of self-centring?

The steering goes lighter when the wheel is in the straight ahead position and the weight doo-dah at the coupling is the bottom. Because the steering wheel alignment is off, this now happens when the truck is turning to the right, which is a real pain at highway speeds.

The only part that I have not had apart is the arm that attaches the steering rod to the power steering box, does this only mount in one position, like everything else in the steering assembly? I'm hoping that the garage have simply put this together without aligning it properly, otherwise I imagine this is going to get really complicated.

All help appreciated

 

[dyeager535]

Steering wheel placement is adjusted through the drag link, drivers side.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

^^Yep^^

 

[dremu]

The arm only goes on one way, yes. As the others pointed out,. the draglink is adjustable for this very purpose. You can do it yourself, or the shop can (and they should have!) You loosen the two bolts on the adjusting sleeve, then twist the sleeve around. Each end is threaded opposite, so by twisting the sleeve you push the ends our or pull them in, and you do so until you think it's straight, or the alignment machine at the shop says so.

The draglink is the linkage from the arm (solid metal piece) on the steering box that goes onto the knuckle (BIG cast iron piece) on the axle.

The tierod ALSO has a similar adjustment which you do NOT want to mess with; this is the one that goes side-to-side. You want to adjust the one that goes front-to-back.

HTH.

-- A