[Guest]

my steering has always been a bit sloppy and never had any return to center characteristics. if you turned it stayed turned...

i was told my steering box needed adjusting (power steering)

well my box leaked anyway....

and i found a nice new looking box on a jeep in a yard, even had the "remanufactured" tag still on it.
so i yanked it off. and poped it on my jeep last weekend.

i have no clue as to what is wrong but my steering is SOOOOOO bad now... i fear for my life driving it.

the wheel turns like a 1/4 turn in both directions wihout any effect on the tires

that is about as bad as it was before...
but now like i adjusted the linkage so the wheel sat straight when the tires were straight. (after i put my new springs on and dropped pitman arm, the wheel always sat like half turn to one side when going straight)

well now the wheel is staight when the car is straight... AT FIRST....
but then as you drive the wheel like decides to change on you... like i will be driving straight down the road and then suddenly the car pulls to one side real bad, so i gotta steer to keep from involuntarily changing lanes, so i turn the wheel to get straight again... well now suddenly i need to keep the wheel at a 1/4 turn to stay straight.. then a few min later... another bad pull.. and then the wheel is another direction to stay straight. then another, oh now wheel is straight again... it is the craziest thing i have ever seen. all the linkage is tight, tie rods and ball joints all seem good. only thing i notice that seems a little od is that it appears that both tires point significantly away from eachother... like i would line the driver tire up to be parellel with them body of the jeep, and then the passenger tire would be like pointing several degrees away from the car... that didnt seem right. but could that alone cause all this?

also, how much power steering fluid should it take to refill a drianed ps system... my local parts guy told me "oh probably 2-3 quarts" well it took me about a half quart to get it to show on the stick... even after doing several full cycles of the wheel to get the stuf flowing thru.

i cant even drive my jeep the way it is now. and it makes me very sad.

someone please help me out.

 

[Tippy]

It would probaly take about 2 quarts if the box was compleatly empty - but since it doesn't sound like you rebuilt it, more than likely it still had all the oil in it. Just the volume in the hoses and the pump is all you had to fill.

Isn't there an adjuster bolt on the top of the saganaw boxes that you can tighten to adjust the play in the box. I'm not sure, but I thought I read that somewhere.

 

[1816]

In reply to:

...it appears that both tires point significantly away from eachother...

[/ QUOTE ]

Setting the toe and checking the box adjustment would be where I'd start. If the toe is as far off as you make it sound I'd do that first.

 

[Guest]

In reply to:

Isn't there an adjuster bolt on the top of the saganaw boxes

[/ QUOTE ] ok anyone know where this would be?
this could be my problem... but what am i looking for?

also, how much toe in should there be? like they should not be totally parellel should they?

 

[2887]

I don't know 100% for sure, but when I set my toe-in this weekend I am going to use 1/8"

any backyard alignment guys here please pipe and let us know what you use for toe-in.

 

[Jim_Lou]

Step One: You have to get the wheels working together.

An eighth to 3/16" of toe-in will be good enough. Make a chalk mark on the tread at the front of both tires - 9:00 o'clock on the driver side. In each chalk line make a small vertical cut with a sharp knife. Measure the the distance between the cuts. Roll the Jeep back until the marks are in back of the tire, at the 3:00 o'clock position. Measure the distance between the cuts. Adjust the tie rod and roll the Jeep back and forth until the measurement in front is 1/8" to 3/16" less than in back.


Step Two: You have to get the slack out of the linkage.

Have a buddy sit in the Jeep and swing the wheel back and forth so that the road wheels just barely move. Then you follow the linkage from the steering wheel to the road wheels. Somewhere you will see the input moving but the output not. It could be the U-joints in the steering column, the steering gear, drag link ends or tie rod ends. Any joint that has ANY looseness must be replaced. There is no amount of lost motion that is acceptable.

It could also be that the steering box or the entire axel is rocking back and forth. In that case you must tighten, weld and brace to eliminate the lost motion.

If there is slack in the steering box you must adjust it. Adjusting it is not "tighten the nut on top." There is a specific procedure, with two adjustments that must be performed in order, and repeated until the specifications are reached. It can not be done properly with the box in the Jeep. Done improperly it will destroy the box.

After step one and step two, if you need to adjust the steering gear, come back and do a search. The procedure has been posted many times.

 

[lindy80cj7]

If you added a lift kit with pinion shims your caster will be off also and will be difficult to drive.

 

[WILL]

In reply to:

If there is slack in the steering box you must adjust it. Adjusting it is not "tighten the nut on top." There is a specific procedure, with two adjustments that must be performed in order, and repeated until the specifications are reached. It can not be done properly with the box in the Jeep. Done improperly it will destroy the box.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just wanted to second what Jim said. It's important.