Ol-dodge 1992

Well the job is finished.

Welded up the plate yesterday evening... it was cracked about 2/3 the way across the plate, just behind the lower front frame bolt hole.

Got the pitman arm pulled off the old box ... didn't see any witness marks to properly time it on the new box so .... I installed the new steering box without the pitman arm... right or wrong?

Then figured out how to rebuild the coupling from the steering shaft to the box... when I disconnected the old one it literally disintegrated in 7 or 8 pieces!!! Had a little trouble getting the splines to line up in time with the roll pin but managed ok... don't know if I should have but I took a chisel and punched the off side of the roll pin hole so it would not work it's way out and as I drove it in the head mushroomed a bit as well.

Ran the new pressure lines and new o-rings ... didn't know how much to tighten up so I was real careful not to give it that last little "bit" that always seems to be a "bit" to much!!!

Can anyone tell me why dodge put 2 lines out of 3 as 18mm and the pump side of the pressure line as 16mm!?!?!?

Then I installed the pitman arm... slowly I turned the wheel lock to lock and then turned it back to center so I knew the pitman arm shaft was approx centered... bolted up the arm and connected the drag link.

I don't know if it makes any difference but I put never seeze on both shafts on the box before connecting the steering coupling and the pitman arm

Anyways... with both tires off the ground I filled up the power steering and turned the wheel lock to lock a dozen times while my son kept adding fluid... started her up and topped the reservoir a time or two

Decided to drive it and see the difference... WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! Steering feels very good and almost like my 2017 suburban... I'm totally amazed! I don't know if my death wobble is cured ( parts are coming to rebuild both kingpins) I'll drive it for a week or so and see if it comes back

I'm still learning about mechanicing and every time something goes wrong I start to panic.... but I'm learning. So far I've learned how to change front wheel bearings and new 4x4 hubs on both sides. I've learned how to change u-joints on the rear drive shaft. And now the steering box, coupling, pressure lines.

I know you old hands are probably rolling you eyes and saying "yeah, yeah, I do all that stuff in my sleep..." well, I'm gonna have say maybe one day I'll be able to say that also but right now I'm just happy with the satisfaction of doing a job that I didn't think I could do, saving a ton of money because a local shop didn't do it for me, and having my 16 yr old son helping along the way!!

I could not have attempted this job without this forum, the great threads on so many subjects that I seem to deal with on my old rig, and everyone that chimes in with advice. Tipping my hat to you guys and saying thanks!!

SD

KRB

Glad you got that all fixed!

Yea, the sense of accomplishment is great huh? Especially if your kid is helping.

I'd say with what you have done, then you can probably do just about anything else given the proper tools. The stickies and the advice on here is the best.

maybe368

Good job! As you found out, there are only 4 ways that the pitman arm can go on and only 1 of them makes any sense, You are heading uphill on the learning curve and the next stop is king pin city. I have probably saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in not paying mechanics in my life, as I started doing my own wrenching in HS, Way to go.By the way, what tool did you use to get the pitman arm off?...Mark

edwinsmith

I was never shy about working on stuff. I've been doing it so long though. The only time I ever panicked is when the drive shaft fell out of my 70 Camaro because I forgot to tighten the bolts on the rear U-Joint. Now I double check.

Edwin

Ol-dodge 1992

Well I "chickened out" so to speak on the pitman arm and rented a puller ... I've figured out that sometimes I don't have the right tool and the best/easiest way to go is to get the right tool

So after I saw what they were charging to rent the puller I decided to just buy one as I would only have to rent it 3or4 times to pay for it

I'm sure as my kids start driving there will be other clunkers that will need "stuff" pulled off of shafts as I'm trying to keep them on the road

SD

Ol-dodge 1992

Put about 25 or 30 miles on the old piece today ... paved road and gravel ... stop-n-go as well as a few miles at hwy speed

The steering is a lot better... still has a little oscillation in the steering wheel when braking from hwy speed ... and a bit of wobble on the roughest parts of the gravel road

Overall the death wobble is 80-90% better than what I was dealing with ... 1) I welded d up the cracked steering plate. 2) I rebuilt the coupling from the steering shaft to the top side of the steering box. 3) I installed a NAPA reman steering box and new pressure lines. 4). I installed new tie rod ends.

I'm guessing new shocks all the way round and then the kingpins and front I-joints will solve the remaining problems ... although she seems to be pulling a bit the the right when I drive.

SD

nonrev

The shocks will help with your overall ride improvement but the king pin rebuild is the ticket to stopping the death wobble, I've always put a washer on top of the spring in the upper king pin housing giving it just a little more tension. YMMV

Ol-dodge 1992

I'll be sure to add the washer... my truck only has 270,000 kilometres (167,000) approx. so I'm not thinking the kingpins themselves are bad... most likely the bushing and maybe a broken spring?

I do know that the front u-joints need attention...

SD

nonrev

thrashingcows

I remember reading a post from a member not long ago about King pins and the cones do wear irregularly on even low mile trucks. Member said he'd done dozens of king pins and every one regardless of mileage needed new cones....might not appear to be worn by just a glance, but the wear to the cone is noticeable if your look at them carefully. You're already in there you so may as well replace the whole set-up and then you know your good to go and any continuing issues can be ruled out to something else.

Ol-dodge 1992

Good point ... certainly would not want to pull in all back off because cones fail prematurely due to the kingpins being worn ... I'll definitely give it a very close look when I do the job

SD

oliverbutthead

I live down 8 miles of rough mountain road and kept having a problem with broken gearbox mounting plates. Would weld them up really good and they just wouldn't hold up. Even installed the power steering brace. I found a super heavy duty aftermarket mounting bracket that I installed. I don't think I should ever have a problem with it again. Built really well.

https://autofab.com/i-22828661-1972-...g-bracket.html

u2slow

Has anyone tried the 2wd mounting position with a different pitman and draglink? Kind of like what Chevy does? I did a partial mockup when I changed my box and welded the plate.... looked like it had potential.

nonrev

I think you would run into the same problem only it would crack the frame rather than the mounting plate. FWIW I believe RR is the way to go as the runs parallel to the frame rather than against it.

Alec

You would have really terrible "bump steer", unless you came up with an appropriate arm for the knuckle as well. The relative distance between the ends of the drag link has to stay the same regardless of suspension travel, ideally at all steering angles, but, at a minimum, near zero steering angle. So, if you are using the stock knuckle arm, the joint in the end of your pitman arm needs to be in pretty much the same spot as stock, everything else being equal.