could be a loose powersteering box or a variety of other things. I was told that replacing the tie rods would not solve loose steering unless of course it was visibly bent. The guys at Spider Customs told me that, because I called and asked about one of their units and that someone told me replacing the tie rods would fix my wandering steering.
Steering is basically manual, you turn the steering wheel; it in turn turns the steering shaft etc. etc.
My point is you need to look and see where the play is, when two parts are attached such as the tie rod end to the wheel, does one move while the other is stationary?
Have someone turn the wheel while you get under the truck and look
Start from the top and work down. At the bottom of the column/ top of the shaft, there's a bearing - cheap $15 fix. At the bottom of the shaft is a coupler - cheap fix at $40. From there it goes to the steering box - $185+ for a new one there. Then it's your TREs. Those are cheap - $20-40. If the shaft and TREs are tight, then it's your box. If there's play anywhere besides the box though replace that piece first.
Have somebody turn the wheel while you crawl around and find the slop. You should be able to find the problem area(s) pretty quickly.
had the same problem in my 79 cj5 after fig. out were all the play was i had to remove the powersteering bracket and drop the box to get to this one stupid bolt that was loose dont know if your bracket is anything like mine but it just was a couple of loose bolts
I have 4" of play!! But I need a steering box. It was a junk yard special. Should have figured. But also my steering box brackets flex when I turn the wheel. With a drop pitman, maybe a support bracket would help some.
it kinda reminds me of when you see someone driving on tv and they are moving the wheel back and forth and your like "nobody drives like that" well when you get an older jeep you definetly do!
when i go from driving my jeep to a newer car, i find myself weaving bac and forth on the road - trying to adjust for the play. some people prbly think that im drunk : )
My brothers YJ has about 4 inches of play in it. It allso seems to weave back and forth and is a little difficult to keep straight. We know it isnt the tires, but its harder to keep straight than my TJ is. Does this sound like the same problem? Just a loose steering?
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