BOHICA762

changed the pump and pulley, turns really awesome and effortless now i notice I have some play in the steering. my question is will a alignment fix this or where or what am i looking at to fix next. its not that bad but i like it to be a little bit tighter

chip9399

what did u change to, im looking for that effortless streering also

BOHICA762

advance auto's $83 replacement steering pump and a $16 dollar new pulley.no thrills parts that work great, who would figure

rivercrazy

Before doing anything I would jack up your front end and see if you can see where your play is coming from. Check your tie rod ends and ball joints. It might just be one bad part or could be a bunch of little things.

danimal

Here's my saga. Been playing around with this one for a while.

Sounds like we're attacking the same problem from two different directions.

--------------------------------------------------------------

I had the same dead zone in my steering. Made the adjustment to the steering box itself and it made a huge improvement. Probably took it from 2" left and right of centered position down to 1" on the steering wheel itself. Here's where it gets a little odd. When the truck is driven for 15-20 minutes the play goes away completely and it steers just fine.

I figured that since the adjustment helped so much that it was probably just a bad steering gear so I bought a new one (well....refurbished). Installed it and it made no difference whatsoever. I drained/flushed/bled the system and I still have a 1" dead zone. Once again, when it's driven for a bit it goes away and steers like a new truck.

I'm running out of things to check here. I've been under the vehicle and had someone work the steering back and forth several times. When it's warmed up everything seems tight and I see no slop or play in any of the linkage, and it doesn't appear to be tie rod ends, track bar movement etc.

When it's cold and the wheel is operated in the problem range you can clearly see that the steering shaft to the gear box is turning immediately as the steering wheel is rotated, but for some reason it takes that 1" of wheel movement before the pitman arm starts moving. Still seems like a steering gear problem, but I'm thinking I'm missing something here.

The only other thing I could think of is the power steering pump itself.

More stuff.

I drained and flushed all the fluid from pump, lines and of course the replacement gear itself was empty when I bought it. Filled everything with fresh fluid and followed the instructions for bleeding that came in the box with the new gear.

I suppose it could be an out of box failure on the new piece, but it's odd that both would have the same exact symptoms.

On a side note when I posted this I was sitting in the alignment shop that has done all my lifted four wheel drive rigs in the past. I told him "Check everything...........ball joints, tie rod ends, track bar, upper and lower control arms, etc. before you do any adjustments and let me know what kind of shape we're in". I had already checked all this but wanted his opinion. He obliged and gave everything a clean bill of health other than the steering stabilizer which I pretty much knew I needed anyway. He went on to make the necessary adjustments (toe only) and when he got done I went immediately to buy and install a new stabilizer.

Naturally when the tech test drove it before and after it was sufficiently warmed up where the dead zone was not doing it's thing.

Following the alignment the thing drives like a new truck. Although, I can about guarantee you when we go to start it tomorrow for a little wheeling adventure, it'll have the dreaded dead zone again til it warms up. Update: true to form when we packed up this morning to go wheeling in Sedona's red rocks, it did the dead zone thing for the first 15-20 minutes.

It wouldn't bother me much, but the truck is my stepson's. He's 15 and still on his permit. He still has to drive with someone til he gets his license next month so a brand fresh new driver. I don't think it's dangerous, but it's not perfect and it bugs me to no end.

Sorry so long, but I've been fighting this deal for a while now.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Dan

BOHICA762

I dont feel mine is dangerous at all. i may be just use to driving my 2001 gmc sierra all the time. this is my first jeep so it may be abs normal for how it is.

jeepgeek2002

do the Durango power steering swap. Do some research on it..its a tighter ratio then the jeep. Jeeps ratio is like that.. Everyone i know has that play in thier steering boxes.

Mark

chip9399

i too have the dead zone but mine does not come out of it, i did the steer box adjustment and it helped a bit, but not right yet, i would like to get a stronger pump for more assist,,,so keep them success stories rollin in here

4.3L XJ

Check your steering box. If you can wiggle the steering wheel back and forth without moving the pitman arm, then adjust the box.