I just put on two new stabilizer links on the front. No problem installing them except for knowing how much to tighten the nut down on the bushings. They tightened easily until I ran out of threads. Is there a proper squish value on the bushings? I also tighten sector shaft adjustment on the steering box about 1/8 turn and it seems to be working better on the test drive here at home. I am leaving for Indiana shortly and will put it to the test then.

There is a recommended torque spec for them IIRC around 25ft lbs. I will try to find my manual a little later to verify that. I usually just go until the bushings squash out flush with the washers and give er a lil extra..

I am not sure I could have reached 25 pounds, they just cranked down fairly easy until I ran out of threads. The truck rode and handled much better with the new ones. My truck has always had an issue with bump steering, not bad, just bad enough to freak you out every once in a while. I put Max Links on about 3 years ago and dont remember much difference. I rebuilt the front end about 1.5 years ago and that did make a difference. You could feel it want to bump steer but the effect was reduced by 80% or 90%. With the new links I never once felt any bump steer on my 630 mile ride last night. I74 and I70 in Indiana will beat you to death. quite happy with the results. I was surprised the links make as big a difference as I thought it was steering geometry that caused bump steering and I did not know the links played that big a part. Adjusting the steering box helped with my steering. It reduced the amount of input to maintain straight line steering. I not even sure I turned the adjuster 1/8 of a turn. I used to have a Chevy S-10 that i did this to but turned way more than 1/8 turn. It worked great in the driveway, steered a whole easier(manual steering). Took it out on the road a whipped around my first turn and let go of the wheel and no steering return:stuned:. That will wake you up. No issues with that this time. Every thing else works just fine.

Upper link torque spec = 35 ft lbslower link nut torque spec 27 ft lbs Your probably fine where your at, the only negative I could see with over torquing is the bushings possibly splitting a little sooner than normal but one would have to be grossly over zealous with the wrench, IMO

Thanks. I just kept tightening them expecting more resistance. They never seemed to offer anymore resistance until I ran out of threads. They are squished pretty good. i will check them when I get home again.

Dripley what links did you go with ? Got to do mine sometime?

This is what i used http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1284232&cc=1440064 . Definitely low on the price end, but they worked. I will just have to see how long they last.

  dripley said:

This is what i used http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1284232&cc=1440064 . Definitely low on the price end, but they worked. I will just have to see how long they last.

Dripley, What made you replace these? My truck has some interesting noises and some bump steer as well. Ive checked everything out and it all seems tight. I know my pass. side u-joint is on it's way out but other than that nothings seems bad. I really would like to fix it. So if this is a known issue up front, well I'll add that to my list lol.

  MoparDave68 said:

Dripley, What made you replace these? My truck has some interesting noises and some bump steer as well. Ive checked everything out and it all seems tight. I know my pass. side u-joint is on it's way out but other than that nothings seems bad. I really would like to fix it. So if this is a known issue up front, well I'll add that to my list lol.

The bushings were getting worn out and it also appeared that the nuts on top had backed off a little and there was play in one side. When I tried to tighten them i could hardly turn them so I just got some new ones. I had a hell of time getting them off. somebody did not use anti seize when they were installed:whistle:. Curing the bump steer was a happy by product of replacement, I was not expecting that.

Well for the price I can't argue. I'm gonna order em up and get to work

  dripley said:

I just put on two new stabilizer links on the front. No problem installing them except for knowing how much to tighten the nut down on the bushings. They tightened easily until I ran out of threads. Is there a proper squish value on the bushings? I also tighten sector shaft adjustment on the steering box about 1/8 turn and it seems to be working better on the test drive here at home. I am leaving for Indiana shortly and will put it to the test then.

I generally tighten them down to where they just start to squish a little. as for sector shaft, I had to adjust mine last weekend. 7/8 turn it took, to get the 10:00-2:00 slop out. There's no binding, and the steering is much better. Although I know I need a new steer gearbox, it'll have to wait..

A little update on the links I used. While the link itself seems just fine, the bushings just fell apart. Maybe because I tightened them to much i dont know. So i put some new bushings in there, one set from Raybestos and another set from Advance Auto(drive works?). Seems my ordering clerk:whistle: only ordered one set instead of two. So now I have one blue set and one black set. We will see which one holds up better. I did not tighten these as much, just till the squished together a little.

4 months and they fell apart....:confused:Did you at least let Rock Auto know about this? I realize they are cheap, but that's not the point....JR

I have not said anything to them as of yet. Kind of figured I over tightened. When I installed them there was so little resistance on the nut that I doubt I could have gotten 10# of torque on them. I just turned them until they bottomed out with ease. Still have the old bushings and will make contact with them and see what they say. They have a five year warranty, so we will see what they say.

they're really good about warranty stuff..

  On 5/29/2013 at 5:21 PM, dripley said:

This is what i used http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1284232&cc=1440064 . Definitely low on the price end, but they worked. I will just have to see how long they last.

I installed the same links from Rock Auto. I like the grease fittings and they work fine.

I have a little steering slop as well. When you guys say you adjusted the steering box, you tightened it up I am assuming? How do you know how far to adjust it?

The first thing to do is check to make sure the slop is coming from the steering gear box. Loosen the lock nut on the over center adjustment and use an allen wrench to tighten the bolt. Only tighten it 1/4 turn at a time!!!!! If you tighten it too much your steering wheel will be tight in the center and be tough to drive. You can also cause premature wear by over tightening it.

That was going to be my next plan of action. Gonna talk my wife into helping me for a couple minutes. Have her move the wheel back and forth a little bit and see if I cant find exactly where the movement is coming from.

Good plan!

  On 5/7/2014 at 2:39 PM, MnTom said:

The first thing to do is check to make sure the slop is coming from the steering gear box. Loosen the lock nut on the over center adjustment and use an allen wrench to tighten the bolt. Only tighten it 1/4 turn at a time!!!!! If you tighten it too much your steering wheel will be tight in the center and be tough to drive. You can also cause premature wear by over tightening it.

Thanks MnTom, that's what I was going to ask. With over 203K, just had a front end alignment. it seems like I have to oversteer while I'm driving at Hyway speed to turn or keep it in my lane. The adjustment is on the front of the steering box? My truck is not a 4x4, if that matters. Someone made mention to me about putting a steering box brace on, do I need on for a RWD? Adds support to the frame?

 

Thanks again,

Dave