Ok so we all know that our trucks have horrible steering slop and play.  Well mine was all normal and crappy then the other day my steering wheel popped when turning out of my drive away and now my steering is so bad I cant drive.  If i hit a bump it shoots my truck into the other lane and j have to turn my wheel almost 180 degrees to correct it.  I noticed that the shaft at the steering box where the steering shaft bolts to is almost like its stripped out in the steering shaft.  Does anyone know if the steering shaft collar or the spline on the gear box are aluminum?  I should probably replace both of them but money is tight right now.

10 minutes ago, ruedger455 said:

Ok so we all know that our trucks have horrible steering slop and play.

 

Never had such problems. I've got to ask what size tire and wheel are you running? This is the main cause of poor steering performance.

 

10 minutes ago, ruedger455 said:

Does anyone know if the steering shaft collar or the spline on the gear box are aluminum?

 

Steel.

 

I would have to say contact Blue Top Steering he's a vendor on the website. You can buy just a rebuild kit from him and rebuild your box. I'm going to ask if you ever changed your power steering fluid? What is the color of the fluid? I'm going to bet if you have not change the fluid the box is full of sludge and will need cleaning out. There is a sector adjustment for taking up slack in the gearing on the top of the box is a jamb nut and Allen bolt. This is what adjust the free play between the piston rack and the output shaft. The only reason this would be loose is because the power steering fluid is old and broke down and wear has started in the box so the gear teeth are worn. 

 

Edited October 15, 20186 yr by Mopar1973Man

Yea 35x12.5x18 tires,  power steering leaks like a siv so I'm constantly putting new fluid in.  But it leaks at the booster.   I'm probably gonna get a new gear box as soon as possible.  

35's you need to have the steering brace for the output shaft. The steering box can't handle anything larger than 265's in design. This is the reason I've never had this issue I ran 235/85 R16 (31-inch tires) for years now switch to 245/75 R16 (30-inch tires) and even better. Also, make sure you not running a Quick Ratio steering box if so make sure to change it out for a standard ratio box. This will reduce the stress on the steering box. Like myself, I have upgraded to "quick ratio" because I went smaller in tire size and don't have the steering stress. 

 

Smaller the tire the better the steering performance! Yeah, Big tires look cool but come at a huge cost!

Edited October 15, 20186 yr by Mopar1973Man

I do have the steering brace. That bolts under the gearbox.  I'm gonna be going down to 33 inch tires here soon.  

Verify the bearing on the brace is still tight and not wallowed out. 33-inch tires will help but not quite fix the problem it will continue. 285/75 R16 people barely get away with that size and still have steering box failures. Like lot of the rancher here locally like that size because it gives some floatation to offroad mud conditions but still it kills the steering box rather quickly.  

 

Like myself with the 235/85 for over 340k miles when I pull my box yo have it re-sealed but I F'ed up the input cap because it was rusted badly. I sent the enitre mess to Ryan at BlueTop and he sent me a complete steering box which was upgraded for quick ratio. Now I did look inside the box and mine was absolutely fine all the gears everything was perfect barely any wear. What killed my box was Idaho road salt rusted the input shaft just enough that the input seal was leaking fluid. 

 

Blue top's page here and contact info.

https://mopar1973man.com/forum/195-blue-top-steering-gear/

 

1 hour ago, ruedger455 said:

Ok so we all know that our trucks have horrible steering slop and play.  Well mine was all normal and crappy then the other day my steering wheel popped when turning out of my drive away and now my steering is so bad I cant drive.  If i hit a bump it shoots my truck into the other lane and j have to turn my wheel almost 180 degrees to correct it.  I noticed that the shaft at the steering box where the steering shaft bolts to is almost like its stripped out in the steering shaft.  Does anyone know if the steering shaft collar or the spline on the gear box are aluminum?  I should probably replace both of them but money is tight right now.

 

Are you talking about the input shaft or output shaft slop? Have someone turn the slack in the steering wheel while you watch all the possible places there can be slack. Try to pin point where it is, inside the box or outside. Did you check the intermediate steering shaft for issues? Coupling or u-joints?

 

https://www.napaonline.com/en/search?text=steering%2Bshaft&q=N%3D0%2B5002000%2B5002200%2B200220100%2B10200100%2B2804754&isApplication=true&indices=API

Whichever shaft the steering shaft clamps on to.  When I move the steering shaft i can see the splined shaft on the gearbox not move by the steering shaft has rotational play.  

Just to confirm...when you turn the steering shaft and the splined shaft does not turn are talking about the input shaft splines or the out put shaft splines?

Input shaft...

Just now, Mopar1973Man said:

Input shaft...

Thank you I wasn't sure which one it was.  I'm not sure if I need a new gear box or just a new steering shaft.  I guess i could pull the steering shaft off and look at it.  

It must be right at the spines then. Is the clamp bolt tight?

Yea Its as tight as it will go.  I'm not sure if the clamp on the steering shaft is rounded out or if the input shaft rounded out.  I assume the steering shaft would be a softer metal.

All I can say is pull the shaft back and inspect the splines on both the steering shaft and the input shaft of the gearbox.

Well I got under the truck.......not good.  First as soon as I loosened the clamp on the steering shaft ps fluid came pouring out.  I guess the input shaft Is semi hollow and it was cracked so when I loosened it it came apart.  Also the steering shaft clamp IS aluminum and was stripped out.  So looks like a new shaft and gearbox are in order.  

Good find, before total loss of control. The input shaft is just a short stub shaft that passes threw the control valve and attaches to the worm shaft. I can't exactly remember how, maybe a pin? Maybe when you heard the loud pop the retainer broke? Anyhow, yes you need some serious repair.

1 minute ago, NIsaacs said:

Good find, before total loss of control. The input shaft is just a short stub shaft that passes threw the control valve and attaches to the worm shaft. I can't exactly remember how, maybe a pin? Maybe when you heard the loud pop the retainer broke? Anyhow, yes you need some serious repair.

Yea that could have been VERY bad.  Especially if I separated going 60mph

1 hour ago, ruedger455 said:

First as soon as I loosened the clamp on the steering shaft ps fluid came pouring out.  I guess the input shaft Is semi hollow and it was cracked so when I loosened it it came apart. 

 

Yes, the input shaft is actually two pieces. The outer part is your steering and the inner part is the torsional spring for the power valve. As you turn one way or another the center torsional spring what controls the power valve. There is a pin at the top of the outer shaft that holds the inner shaft in. Then there is a o-ring inside the shaft too. Yeah, I've had a good long chat with Ryan @Blue-Top Steering I know many secrets to these steering boxes. 

Any pictures of what happened 

1 minute ago, Dieselfuture said:

Any pictures of what happened 

Not right now,  hard to get pictures where it's at.  When I pull it I will.

21 hours ago, ruedger455 said:

O  I should probably replace both of them but money is tight right now.

 

You might find a good used one, shaft and all. They appear to fit from 94-02. The 4x2 should fit but it is the quick ratio, might get you by for a while tho, if you can't find 4x4. If you need your truck like yesterday, Napa or O'Reilly have reasonable prices on rebuilt with lifetime warranty. 

 

I also recommend you fix the hydroboost leak. If it is not leaking into the cab, a seal kit is only $20. They might sound hard to fix, but they are not. If it is leaking into the cab, then it is more difficult to work on, but a rebuilt is $200. Keep us posted.