WorkingMan13
New member
Hey y'all,
So I've just completely rebuilt the front end on my rig. I had a lot of play in my steering and my suspension was shot so I decided to tear apart the front end of my rig and see what needed replacing. After some research on the internet thru forums, websites, videos, and advice from a reputable mechanic, I decided that at the very least I needed to replace pittman and idler arms, and all 4 ball joints. After inspection I discovered A LOT of rust and ruptured grease boots so I decided to go ahead and replace the upper control arms/bushings, complete tie rod assembly, sway bar linkage, shocks, break pads, rotors, upper control arm bumpers, and the steering knuckle seals. Really the only parts that were not replaced were the lower control arms, sway bar, spindles, and calipers, of which all got thouroly cleaned and painted before reinstalling. Once I got it all back together, I bled the breaks, went back and torqued every nut and bolt I could find torque specs on, greased all the grease points, torqued on my wheels, topped off the break and power steering fluids, and then drove it the 2 or 3 miles to the closest shop for an alignment. Just before you get to the shop there is a straight stretch of country highway (55 mph about a mile long). Here I decided to see just how good of a job I had done with my "eye ball" alignment. So I get my rig in the center of my lane and release the steering wheel. To my surprise my rig stayed in my lane for about a 3 second count before it began to veer towards the center line at which time I corrected it and proceeded to pull into the shop, feeling good about the job I had done.
That afternoon I get a call from the mechanic doing the alignment and he tells me that he has never seen a vehicle as far out of alignment as mine. This comes as a surprise to me because of the little test I had done on the way into the shop. He proceeded to tell me that he had to pull off the entire tie rod assembly from the "left" side (i assume this meant the driver side) and readjust the ends because of how for out it was. This also came as a surprise to me because when I rebuilt the tie rods I used the old ones as models for my new ones just to be sure I was somewhat close when I reinstalled them. And from what I could tell I got them very very close. I gave the mechanic the benefit of the doubt because, after all, he is the professional. He also told me that the camber was very far out but he couldn't figure out why, and he wasn't sure he could adjust it enough to get it dead nuts like it should be. But, he reassured me that if he could get it close it would not affect my new parts or wear on my tires. This I also found odd. I figure any time ur not dead balls accurate on an alignment ur bound to wear parts and or tires irregularly. But again I gave the "professional" the benefit of the doubt.
This afternoon after work I went and picked up my rig thinking she would handle like a dream. Those dreams were crushed as soon as I walked into that shop office. The mechanic gave me my bill ($186) and proceeded to tell me that my steering felt very tight in that it was difficult to turn at times, and that there was a lot of play in the steering wheel. He told me he thought that my steering gear box definitely needed replacing because one of the gears was worn. But he assured me that the alignment was good and he had adjusted everything to within the perameters it needed to be. Of course at this point I'm a bit frustrated that I threw all that money into my truck and hadn't really fixed the problem I was wanting to fix. But I figured it sure couldn't be any worse than before. So I hop in and take her down the road. Now let me tell u, I've driven this truck for two years now and it never did drive perfect, and it always did have some play in the steering, but is was drivable and I never felt unsafe with it on the road. This time was different. The first thing I noticed when I got back on the highway on that straight stretch of road was that it was now pulling hard to the center of the road. I couldn't take my hands off the wheel for more than a second before having to correct the steering. I live in the Ozarks of southern Missouri and the roads are very windey and straight stretches are few and far between. The next thing I noticed while driving the curves to my house was just how much play was now in my steering. It had never felt so loose since I owned the truck. Not only was the steering loose but the truck was dancing all over the road. I took it slow and white knuckled it back to my house. I would have turned rite around and took it back to the shop but I picked up the truck just before 5 and the shop was now closed and won't be open until Monday morning.
What I am asking from you all is some advice. I have a hard time accepting that my truck drives waaaay worse than it originally did when I first started this project. I realize that I need to definitely change out the steering gear box and that will likely solve the issue of all the play in the steering wheel, but what about the fact that my truck constantly pulls to the left (driver) side and that it was roaming all over the road as I drove. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
So I've just completely rebuilt the front end on my rig. I had a lot of play in my steering and my suspension was shot so I decided to tear apart the front end of my rig and see what needed replacing. After some research on the internet thru forums, websites, videos, and advice from a reputable mechanic, I decided that at the very least I needed to replace pittman and idler arms, and all 4 ball joints. After inspection I discovered A LOT of rust and ruptured grease boots so I decided to go ahead and replace the upper control arms/bushings, complete tie rod assembly, sway bar linkage, shocks, break pads, rotors, upper control arm bumpers, and the steering knuckle seals. Really the only parts that were not replaced were the lower control arms, sway bar, spindles, and calipers, of which all got thouroly cleaned and painted before reinstalling. Once I got it all back together, I bled the breaks, went back and torqued every nut and bolt I could find torque specs on, greased all the grease points, torqued on my wheels, topped off the break and power steering fluids, and then drove it the 2 or 3 miles to the closest shop for an alignment. Just before you get to the shop there is a straight stretch of country highway (55 mph about a mile long). Here I decided to see just how good of a job I had done with my "eye ball" alignment. So I get my rig in the center of my lane and release the steering wheel. To my surprise my rig stayed in my lane for about a 3 second count before it began to veer towards the center line at which time I corrected it and proceeded to pull into the shop, feeling good about the job I had done.
That afternoon I get a call from the mechanic doing the alignment and he tells me that he has never seen a vehicle as far out of alignment as mine. This comes as a surprise to me because of the little test I had done on the way into the shop. He proceeded to tell me that he had to pull off the entire tie rod assembly from the "left" side (i assume this meant the driver side) and readjust the ends because of how for out it was. This also came as a surprise to me because when I rebuilt the tie rods I used the old ones as models for my new ones just to be sure I was somewhat close when I reinstalled them. And from what I could tell I got them very very close. I gave the mechanic the benefit of the doubt because, after all, he is the professional. He also told me that the camber was very far out but he couldn't figure out why, and he wasn't sure he could adjust it enough to get it dead nuts like it should be. But, he reassured me that if he could get it close it would not affect my new parts or wear on my tires. This I also found odd. I figure any time ur not dead balls accurate on an alignment ur bound to wear parts and or tires irregularly. But again I gave the "professional" the benefit of the doubt.
This afternoon after work I went and picked up my rig thinking she would handle like a dream. Those dreams were crushed as soon as I walked into that shop office. The mechanic gave me my bill ($186) and proceeded to tell me that my steering felt very tight in that it was difficult to turn at times, and that there was a lot of play in the steering wheel. He told me he thought that my steering gear box definitely needed replacing because one of the gears was worn. But he assured me that the alignment was good and he had adjusted everything to within the perameters it needed to be. Of course at this point I'm a bit frustrated that I threw all that money into my truck and hadn't really fixed the problem I was wanting to fix. But I figured it sure couldn't be any worse than before. So I hop in and take her down the road. Now let me tell u, I've driven this truck for two years now and it never did drive perfect, and it always did have some play in the steering, but is was drivable and I never felt unsafe with it on the road. This time was different. The first thing I noticed when I got back on the highway on that straight stretch of road was that it was now pulling hard to the center of the road. I couldn't take my hands off the wheel for more than a second before having to correct the steering. I live in the Ozarks of southern Missouri and the roads are very windey and straight stretches are few and far between. The next thing I noticed while driving the curves to my house was just how much play was now in my steering. It had never felt so loose since I owned the truck. Not only was the steering loose but the truck was dancing all over the road. I took it slow and white knuckled it back to my house. I would have turned rite around and took it back to the shop but I picked up the truck just before 5 and the shop was now closed and won't be open until Monday morning.
What I am asking from you all is some advice. I have a hard time accepting that my truck drives waaaay worse than it originally did when I first started this project. I realize that I need to definitely change out the steering gear box and that will likely solve the issue of all the play in the steering wheel, but what about the fact that my truck constantly pulls to the left (driver) side and that it was roaming all over the road as I drove. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!