Hi everyone. Great to be back! First post in these forums in a long time (sold my 04.5 Ram). Picked up a 1992 4x4 Diesel with 175K miles on it for only $5000 bucks, so I'm pretty happy about that! Forgot my log in name, so created a new name.

Anyways, I have a question in regards to my 1992 Dodge 4x4 Diesel. Is it a pretty common problem for the steering gear to loosen up after so many thousand miles and need to be retightened? I got under there and noticed my steering gear is dancing around when someone turns on the steering wheel, that is how loose it actually is. What are the fixes to get it to stop happening if any? How in the heck do you get to all of the bolts? Will it eliminate most of the play I have in the steering wheel to tighten in down? Or is play in the wheel something completely seperate?

 

Are you sure it is the sterring box and not the Rag joint??

 

sounds like the bracket in between box and frame.

 

No, it is the entire steering gear box moving around. ALL 4 bolts going into it are loose from what I can tell. I'll just swing into the Dodge dealer and see if these guys know of a good fix.

 

ok, check your frame,, it is very common for the frame to crack which will cause the box to wobble..

mine cracked and the previous owner had a welder weld on a plate and fix it..

 

I was not as observant as you are. My gear box fell off! I don't know if there is a fix for it loosening up, but I'll be keeping an eye on my new one for sure!

Val

 

Red Loctite on the bolts as you install them. Overkill? very good chance. Will the bolts loosen back up? Probably not.

ALso, check your coupler box at the top of the steering box. I know why they didnt use a u-joint (bean counters- cost too much), but it is still aggravating as heck to have to replace it on EVERY 1stGen I get.

I havent had much problem with my rag joint, but I know it is good for a few degrees slack in the steering.

Daniel

 

Mine cracked the frame as well.

That's the steering box mounting plate in the background (all as seen from the radiator). They commonly have issues with tearing/breaking at the bolts.

 

I had a ton of play in my steering when I first got my truck ,I took the joint off at the top ofthe steering box (where the shaft actually goes in )and the parts inside were completly destroyed,I put new parts in packed it with grease and that took care of most of the problem.