rodmillen
Registered Member
My 1990 K5 has really loose steering. Is there a was to tighten that up or do I need to rebuild the steering box/components?
CK5
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Super loose steering
- Thread starter rodmillen
- Start date
you need to check for worn parts first of all.. put the truck on stands and have someone move the wheel back and forth, and look for play in the TRE's and DRE's....
Tie rod ends
draglink rod ends
tie rod goes from side to side
draglink is attached to pitman arm
find the play, then fix
And welcome to CK5
rodmillen
Registered Member
Ok that sounds good. Yeah the steering wheel has tons of play. I didn't know if you could take some of it out with the steering box or not
there are many areas that can create play, gotta look first and replace the obviously warn parts. Once it tighten up some, then you can be more critical. The box may have nothing to do with it. If the steering is that bad, it will be seen easily.
Also check the steering shaft (between box and column) and bolts that hold the box to the frame. Frames also crack near the box
Also check the steering shaft (between box and column) and bolts that hold the box to the frame. Frames also crack near the box
rodmillen
Registered Member
Thanks for the info man. I'll check it out
Lots of people never check the wheel bearings too--and some get assembled incorrectly when they take off the hubs & rotors to do brakes,etc,and they end up having way to much slop when improperly adjusted..
One GM 4x4 truck I bought wandered badly on the test ride and on my way home,to the point I almost crashed it a few times...figured it would need all 4 ball joints and maybe tie rod or drag link ends--I checked all those when I got home,they were still tight...but when I jacked up the front end and wiggled the tires at 12 and 6 ,and they flopped around about 1/2"..
--the wheel bearing lock nuts were backed off a lot,on the drivers side,the outer lock nut was off the spindle completely!.....
I adjusted the bearings properly and put everything back together with new grease,and the truck drove like I'd put all new front end parts in it..straight as an arrow,no more pulling to one side and wandering from one side of the road to the other...the brake pedal also came up a lot and they worked better too!.
One GM 4x4 truck I bought wandered badly on the test ride and on my way home,to the point I almost crashed it a few times...figured it would need all 4 ball joints and maybe tie rod or drag link ends--I checked all those when I got home,they were still tight...but when I jacked up the front end and wiggled the tires at 12 and 6 ,and they flopped around about 1/2"..
--the wheel bearing lock nuts were backed off a lot,on the drivers side,the outer lock nut was off the spindle completely!.....I adjusted the bearings properly and put everything back together with new grease,and the truck drove like I'd put all new front end parts in it..straight as an arrow,no more pulling to one side and wandering from one side of the road to the other...the brake pedal also came up a lot and they worked better too!.
rodmillen
Registered Member
Hmm. I'm jacking it up this weekend to check it out so I we I'll add that to the list. Thanks man
rodmillen
Registered Member
I found the problem. The steering shaft is wiggling where it comes out of the firewall. I can jiggle it excessively. Now I now these trucks aren't sports cars and super tight steering but that is definitely a red flag smoking gun
start reading up on the XJ shaft mod
Either find one at the junkyard or Amazon has them new
with new hardware and an XJ shaft, there is no reason you can't have super tight steering. I do and I'm not alone
Either find one at the junkyard or Amazon has them new
with new hardware and an XJ shaft, there is no reason you can't have super tight steering. I do and I'm not alone
It may need the lower bearing in the steering colum replaced too..
rodmillen
Registered Member
Yeah the one that jiggle is the part that comes out of the firewall.
search the garage section . there was a thread on a jeep part #'s kit that fits out gm to fix the play at the bottom of the steering were the shaft comes out .
rodmillen
Registered Member
jeep part to fix lower steering column bearing
Found it. Thanks
Found it. Thanks
As per ever Chevy I ever had, the lower column bearing falls out. Not if but when kinda thing. The retainer cracks and column wobbles around until bearing flops out. Sucks
The retainer has been discontinued from GM for years.
Seems LMC has the retainer, and just the retainer, but's $10 before shipping.
So I pull out my books and start digging. Then I find what I'm after.
Saginaw built GM columns but they also built Jeep columns.
Best part: Jeep uses same lower bearing and retainer and thanks to demand from the Jeep crowd, the retainer is available and only $2.99.
Be careful as some places want over $25 just for the retainer. Got mine here:
http://www.jeeptopdepot.com/productdetails.aspx?jeep-sid=453&plID=0&partID=6712
You can also buy the entire kit which includes the retainer, bearing, cup and the wire clip for about $25 if you shop around.
Listed as fitting CJ, YJ and full size Wagoneer.
Retainer part # OAI18019.02 or factory Jeep # J4487696
Full kit #OAI18019.03
Takes about 30 minutes to change out and if your doing the rag joint or XJ steering shaft, it would be a good time to do it.
These will fit 2WD or 4WD columns. In fact it'll fit any GM column as back as '69 and as new as '91 square body Blazer.
That's as far as I ever used them on. Anything beyond those years is up to you to figure out.
Seems Jeeps are good for something after all!
