Help figuring out steering play.

[east302]

Just to rule out the influence of any play in the steering shaft and rag joint, I’d disconnect the steering shaft and compare by turning the input shaft on the steering gear. You might need a longer ratchet/breaker bar or something for leverage. Careful with the splines on the gearbox, don’t damage them.

 

[jedi_jackson]

Here is the amount of play I have in the steering box.

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[mr_josh]

It’s hard to show the amount of input to output play in a mounted box but basically any real play you can discern with your hands is going to be problematic.

Might be time to sit down with the credit card and plan a front end rebuild. I put a Redhead + a new rag joint on my truck about 6,500 miles ago and while it feels great, it has developed a bit of leak. Your mileage may vary.

 

[jedi_jackson]

It’s hard to show the amount of input to output play in a mounted box but basically any real play you can discern with your hands is going to be problematic.

Might be time to sit down with the credit card and plan a front end rebuild. I put a Redhead + a new rag joint on my truck about 6,500 miles ago and while it feels great, it has developed a bit of leak. Your mileage may vary.

Bummer about the redhead. That's the one I was looking to get. I actually found some adjustments you can do to the steering boxes. So I did that and got maybe a small amount out. Going to rebuild the rest of the steering and then go from there.

 

[Medic0893]

Allot of great advice here, word of caution… pick a piece or 2 and see how you do. Replacing everything at the same time could lead to unnecessary replacement. No doubt it needs quite a bit of TLC but do it in stages. Steering box is so last. Suspension parts and rag joint first. Jeep has a mid-shaft that replaces the rag joint, I highly recommend that. Good luck.

 

[Justin2500]

I had a similar situation with the c2500 I just bought. Do the cheap stuff and obvious stuff first.

I replaced all tie rod ends pitman arm, idler and idler bracket. I used all moog for those. Then I had a small leak in my gear box and just replaced the pitman shaft seal on the gear box. It’s like a new truck. Not too much $$ either. I inspected my rag joint and it looked ok. Might do the jeep mod someday anyway.
Good luck!!

 

[Skeeters65]

Allot of great advice here, word of caution… pick a piece or 2 and see how you do. Replacing everything at the same time could lead to unnecessary replacement. No doubt it needs quite a bit of TLC but do it in stages. Steering box is so last. Suspension parts and rag joint first. Jeep has a mid-shaft that replaces the rag joint, I highly recommend that. Good luck.

I did the Jeep steering shaft to get rid of the old worn rag joint and it got rid of 90% of my steering play!!