does anyone know what the bolts that hold the steering bracket to the steering box are supposed to be torqued to? i thought i tightened the poo out of them but the bracket loosened up on me. maybe some red lock tight as well?

 

According to my shop manual the gear to bracket torque should be 130 ft lbs. and the bracket to frame torque should be 165 ft. lbs.

 

thanks a lot. turns out my steering box case is broken

 

That's a bummer...I have a PSC steering box I am going to install on my truck in a few weeks. If you do not have another box by then you can have my old box if you want to pay the shipping on it....The old box, in my truck that is, is a little sloppy, but it still works fine.

 

wow, been a while since i looked at this thread!

thanks for the offer with the box, but my steering was nice and tight before i experienced these problems, would rather just buy new. i would like to do something to make this problem go away entirely. has anyone fab'd up a better bracket that doesnt wrap up under stress?

 

The only way to solve your problem is with cross over steering, you just elimanate that whole bracket. I kept braking mine and it would back off, did the cross over and it is awesome. If you have questions just let me know.

 

absolutely interested, tell me more please.

 

If your truck is lifted ~4", nearly any offroad fab shop offers a kit for the chevy dana 60's that works fine on our trucks. Just relocate the steering box to the 2wd position against the frame, swap the pitman arm, add the steering arm to the passanger side and take a measurement for a draglink.

You can also add the power steering brace, works with 2wd and 4wd steering gear positions. Think these were an after though because their illustrated in the service manual, but ive never seen one on a production vehicle.