98-99 HD steering upgrade

[Mopar1973Man]

9 hours ago, The_Hammer said:

Got the new steering on, man what a difference that made! I'm not running a steering dampener at the moment and honestly I don't think it needs one. It drives like a completely different truck now, all wandering is gone and there is zero bump steer. It was a complete bolt on affair, no modifications needed. I'll be working on a writeup shortly (already have part of it done) and will submit it for review as soon as it's finished. For around $315 shipped it's the best thing you can do to improve your steering. 

Did you re-adjust your gear box?

[The_Hammer]

@JAG1

My steering was pretty well wore out and needed to be replaced. The "T" steering conversion was about the same cost as the crappy "Y" so it was literally a no brainer.  

There are a lot of issues with newer vehicles these days. Take the active fuel management garbage on the GM 5.3 trucks like my wife has. Christmas before last an AFM lifter collapsed and started bouncing around off the camshaft. These lifters will compress in on themselves when in 4 cylinder mode and stay locked in V8 mode. The problem is that sometimes they hang up and have to be replaced. To get to a lifter on these trucks (this one is an 09') requires the cylinder head to be removed. After replacing the lifter all was well for 6 months when it started again. I did some research and found an device that plugged in to the diagnostic port and would disable the AFM. An AFM lifter in it's static state is a solid lifter and requires oil pressure to move a spring loaded pin for it to be able to compress. If the AFM is disabled the PCM will no longer activate the solenoids that direct oil pressure to the lifters and releasing the pins. It's been over 6 months now and all is well. I talked to a couple of shops just for grins and no one would have touched it for under $2k. So, had I not done it myself both times it would have cost $4k. Newer trucks aren't all they're cracked up to be sometimes. 

@dripley

My truck didn't drive this good when the stock steering was still nice and tight. Since your current steeering is still good I wouldn't rush out and replace it, but when the time comes I damn sure would install the T over the Y. 

@Mopar1973Man

No. Why would I need to? 

[Mopar1973Man]

You'll find the readjustment of the box will really tighten up a bunch more making nearly like a touchy steering. There is a sector adjustment and then the bearing pre-load adjustment. The bearing preload has to be done out of the vehicle. The bearing pre-load is the red collar and sets pre-load to the worm gear. Then the over the center (or sector adjustment) is no in view here but there is a jam nut and allen bolt on the other side that set the pre-load of the output shaft in the rack.

[The_Hammer]

I'll give it a shot. I know my box has some play and will need to be rebuilt, which I plan on doing around spring.

[The_Hammer]

.....................

Edited January 5, 2016 by The_Hammer

[JAG1]

Hammer, interesting story about your wife's 5.3. I cannot believe how truck design builders think more is better when in essence simpler is more dependable appreciable.

 

I went looking for my 02 when I saw the writing on the wall even though I have a nice first gen doing very well for me, I decided another truck is a wise move before builders get crazy.

Edited January 5, 2016 by JAG1

[The_Hammer]

49 minutes ago, JAG1 said:

Hammer, interesting story about your wife's 5.3. I cannot believe how truck design builders think more is better when in essence simpler is more dependable appreciable.

 

I went looking for my 02 when I saw the writing on the wall even though I have a nice first gen doing very well for me, I decided another truck is a wise move before builders get crazy.

A lot of it was due to stricter EPA regulations. AFM got GM the fuel economy numbers required to please the EPA. Besides causing reliability issues, the improved fuel economy results could only be reproduced under VERY specific conditions, none of which are applicable to the typical consumer.

[dripley]

9 hours ago, The_Hammer said:

I'll give it a shot. I know my box has some play and will need to be rebuilt, which I plan on doing around spring.

I did the sector adjustment on mine after rebuilding my front end and it helped. I only turned the nut 1/8 or 1/4 turn. It does not take a lot. 

[The_Hammer]

That sounds like plan. 

The steering article is now up: http://forum.mopar1973man.com/cummins/articles.html/12-valve-2nd-generation/axles-suspension-brakes/98-99-hd-steering-conversion-r188/

Edited January 5, 2016 by The_Hammer

[Me78569]

Great article!!!

 

How was the process of creating it in the new article section?  easy?   

 

Thanks a ton

[The_Hammer]

Thanks! 

The only issue I had was trying to create columns for the "Tools Needed" section,  as the formatting wouldn't transfer over from LibreOffice correctly. Michael suggested taking a screen shot of the "Tools Needed" part in LibreOffice, then inserting it as an image in to the article. That's what I did and it worked great. 

[Me78569]

Interesting.   

 

 

[Mopar1973Man]

What Hammer was wanting was "Tables" which is obsolete in HTML5 coding. So you would have to build it with DIV tags and CSS code. Just easier to shoot a picture and add the photo.