Steering SUCKS.... to be polite.

[twojeeps]

I have read every post regarding sloppy steering, but here's my dealio.

Bought the 88 Wag, ran great, but the steering was sloppy...... Hit a bump in the road--vear to the left or right--move the steering wheel to correct and end up on the other side of the lane-- then the ordeal would start to keep it straight.

So I thought after the new spring lift and tires, I would address the steering. The following is new....

New ball joints (by PO)
New spring lift (by me)
New shocks and steering stabilizer (by me)
New rag joint (by me)
New reman steering box (by me)
New DPA (by me)
New tie-rod end (by me)

Still same steering issues. Took it to a shop in town, they put it on a lift and said that everything looks new and is tight. They drove it and could feel the issues. They also thought that the joint on the steering shaft outside the firewall seemed fine.

Was thinking that my next step would be to buy the steering shaft from BJ's, but could that be it? What else could I check for?? What am I missing??

Advise please as the beast is a little scary to drive.

Thanks - Matt

[red mistress]

suppose U kept the swaybars with longer links?

There is rebuilder of steering gearboxes that does it for major parts houses...near me.

Before days of AGR & PSC... I Was going to dropp off a low mileage CJ box with slow leak...

The "rebuilders" looked to be crack addicks living there.

I was horified & lost all confidence and put the leaking box back on.

So... Long story....but just because it's rebuilt doesn't mean anything.

[telecomken]

Do you have slop in the steering wheel or is your sterring set to Tight..... There is a bolt on the front / top of the sterring box with an allen screw inside the bolt. You dont want this set too tight or else any little movements will jerk you across the lane like you explained, but if you loosen it a little you'll get what some people call slop. What I would say is first loosen the bolt, hold it with a wrench and turn the allen screw inside the bolt one full turn out, hold the allen screw and tighten the bolt and take it for a ride down the block and see if that helps. I did it to mine a few years ago, but mine was loose, I could move my sterring wheel an inch to the left or right and nothing would happen, then I tightend it and went a little to much and had the same problem that it sounds like your having. Then I backed it off 1 full turn and it drives just fine down the road.

[Frank]

SluggoI was like this even though I had almost all the front end steering/suspension parts replaced. Local shops all told me everything was nice and tight. I almost always had a click/knock from the steering box going from stop to stop. I presumed it was the steering box but never got to replacing it. It was a handful to drive on the highway for any length of time; sloppy and you had to stay on it.

SluggoII's steering is wonderful by comparison. Docile and expected.

[Cecil14]

Did you replace your shackle bushings? As mentioned did you keep the sway bar? Track bar? Do you NEED the dropped pitman arm? Is there slop in the steering shaft u-joints? How about the steering column tilt joint (assuming tilt column)?

If someone holds a crescent wrench on the steering shaft and you turn the wheel...do they turn even or is there play?

Have someone watch the front of the rig while you turn the wheel (engine running). Does the body/frame move in relation to the axle?

I did the same as you, replaced EVERYTHING. I found the spring/shackle bushings to be my biggest culprit. Everything I replaced made some noticeable difference, but it was still really bad steering until I got to those bushings.


aa

[LouM]

Did you have this problem before the lift was installed? If not, you may need to look into a dropped pitman arm depending on how much you lifted it.

Otherwise, as mentioned above, I would check to see if the steering box adjustment is too tight.

Lou