79 loose steering

[dwsiedell]

hey guys, i've noticed when driving my bronco that the steering is loose. when i am going strait i can move the wheel about 3 inches to the left and right with no response from the wheels. what could this be?

 

[Yardape]

Could be worn out front end and or steering parts. Check tie rod ends, ball joints, wheel bearings. Also your steering box itself could be the culprit.

 

[Leadsled]

hey guys, i've noticed when driving my bronco that the steering is loose. when i am going strait i can move the wheel about 3 inches to the left and right with no response from the wheels. what could this be?

Check on the side of the box itself. There should be a ***** with a jamb nut that you can tighten a little. Hopefully that is all it is for ya.

 

[Yardape]

Check on the side of the box itself. There should be a ***** with a jamb nut that you can tighten a little. Hopefully that is all it is for ya.

"shakes head"

 

[BLADE262US]

I agree with yardape that ***** is not there to randomly tighten up the play in the box it would be kinda like cranking down your pinion nut to try getting rid of the backlash it affects other things . The play is more than likely a stack up of slop in the tierod ends / ball joints and such figure if each one moves back and forth 1/8 thats 1/4 just in the drag link then another 1/8 in the one that goes to the pitman arm thats 3/8 see how this is going ? Best off to jack it up and start with a tierod end and see how much play there is if bad replace and move on from there all these parts move and if not greased regularly they do wear out . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Leadsled]

I agree with yardape that ***** is not there to randomly tighten up the play in the box it would be kinda like cranking down your pinion nut to try getting rid of the backlash it affects other things . The play is more than likely a stack up of slop in the tierod ends / ball joints and such figure if each one moves back and forth 1/8 thats 1/4 just in the drag link then another 1/8 in the one that goes to the pitman arm thats 3/8 see how this is going ? Best off to jack it up and start with a tierod end and see how much play there is if bad replace and move on from there all these parts move and if not greased regularly they do wear out . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I wasnt saying to just go under there and crank on it. I had a truck with sloppy steering and just by slightly tightening that ***** it took all of the slop out of it. Before I did anything, I made sure that all of the tie-rod ends and everything else was in good shape. So take that! lol

 

[fordtruckman]

I wasnt saying to just go under there and crank on it. I had a truck with sloppy steering and just by slightly tightening that ***** it took all of the slop out of it. Before I did anything, I made sure that all of the tie-rod ends and everything else was in good shape. So take that! lol

check your rag joint in between the column and the steering box. those have been known to also wear out. and can create a give to the steering making it sloppy. dont get one from the help ilse either those are junk. i ripped one of those tring to put it in as few years ago. get one from a usa manufacturer like dennis carpentar or someone who sells quality parts. maybe even jeffs place. if he has them.

 

[fordsohc46]

actually that ***** is called an adjustment *****. you back the jam nut off a half a turn turn the center ***** with an allen head about 1/8-1/4 turn and test drive it until most of the slack is out that is of course as long as you dont have any worn out steering components. even in the ford shop manuals it has instructions on adjusting this ***** to tighten up the gear box. you dont want to tighten it too much at one time though.

 

[Leadsled]

actually that ***** is called an adjustment *****. you back the jam nut off a half a turn turn the center ***** with an allen head about 1/8-1/4 turn and test drive it until most of the slack is out that is of course as long as you dont have any worn out steering components. even in the ford shop manuals it has instructions on adjusting this ***** to tighten up the gear box. you dont want to tighten it too much at one time though.

My thoughts exactly!! Thank you fordsohc46!

 

[Justshootme84]

I just replaced the rag joint on my 78 Bronco and it made all the difference!!! The old rag joint was toast, had to cut it out to get the steering shaft loose. JSM84