I have some slight slop in my steering when going over 40+miles per hour. Nothing major but seems noticeble when there is a change in the road.

Today I had my wife turn the steering back and forth while I was under the truck to see if I could find any play. The Idler arm and passenger side Tie Rod seemed perfectly fine. However the Pitman arm and driver side Tie Rod had maybe 1/16" total play. There was probably 1/32" play on the Pitman Arm and 1/32" play on the Tie Rod.

Here is a picture with arrows showing the bushings that had visible play:



I am not too mechanically inclined so I have a few questions:
-Is there something I can tighten or are the bushings shot?
-Are there any special tools I will need to fix this?
-Where can I get part numbers for anything I need to replace?

Thanks for the help.

Joshua

 

I think if the bushings move alot, it means you need new parts. I only say this because thats how my lower ball joints were, they moved so much i could see the difference just by looking at the wheels.

Someone feel free to correct me if im wrong.

 

Thanks Shawn.

So if my bushings are bad - what is involved in replacing them? Do I need to remove my Pitman Arm & Tie Rod? Or can I just disconnect the bushings and swap in the new ones? Will I need any special tools? Pickle-fork?

Believe it or not - I did search and didn't come up with much.

 

If the play is in the stud / shaft area of the joint where it goes through the knuckle (for the tie rod end) or steering linkage (for the pitman) then you may be able to tighten the castle nut to take up the slack. If the play is in the ball/socket then they need replaced. The tie-rod end can be pressed out of the knuckle with a balljoint removal tool then unscrewed from the tie-rod (count the turns so you can get the new one back in the same). The pitman will need replaced since the joint is part of it. You can use a pickle-fork, but sometimes they don't work well if the parts are rusted / seized together.

 

looks like the pitman arm bushing is bone dry

get a new pitman arm, idler arm, and tie rod ends with greaseable bushings

 

If you do replace em, get a pickle fork and a big hammer. Thats about it. I used a slightly smaller fork when replacing my LBJs and I completely distroyed the rubber and there was old nasty grease everywhere ha. It worked out well though.

for the pitman arm (thats the one off the steering box and is only about 5 inches long right?) get a 2 jaw gear puller, throw it on there and when its tight, smack the very end of the puller with a hammer, its on there good, it takes some time, lol.

Make sure you get new parts that are REgreaseable, and put the zerks in and grease em before they are on the truck.

Good luck.

Oh yea, for the tie rod ends, if you can mark your old one and match it up with the new one, you wont need an alignment. Tie rods effect tow right?

 

yep- they affect toe.

 

Awe man... you guys delivered some bad news. From everything I have read removing the Pitman Arm & Tie Rod ends is a huge PIA. Some people have had to soak the Pitman Arm for 2 weeks and used lots of heat and couldn't get it out. This may be out of my league. I was really hoping that I could just replace some bushings and be done.

 

Anyone else have any advise?

Shawn:
Want to help me out with this one?

 

Probably it depends on what im doin at the time you are wanting to replace em.

Do you have tools? More then just a starter set? because thats what i have lol, you need a bit more for this.

So i take it you are you going to get new parts that are regreaseable?

I would NOT use heat on that pitman arm though, its right by the steering box, and i cant remember if i got new bushings with my pitman or not. Might want to go to napa and talk to them about that.

 

http://www.napaonline.com/masterpage...spx?PageId=421

enter your stuff and look for parts, i go with middle of the line. Everytime i go to napa i realize how much better and cheaper they are vs autozone.

 

+2 ()
Napa tends to be quite true with the 'you get what you pay for' mantra. If it costs a lot at Napa, it's most likely the best, if not the next step down you can get, but if it's cheap at Napa, it's most likely the worse.

 

Couldnt agree more, I got some ceramic brakes from them for like $50 autozone wanted like $65.

 

I don't have a lot of tools - just the basics. I don't have enough money right now to buy all idler arm, pitman arm, & tie rods.

I am a bit confused by the advise... from what I read... you rarely need to buy a new idler arm, pitman arm, & tie rods. I was thinking that I would only need rebuild the assembly with new bushings. Everything else seems to work perfectly... its just those two spots in my picture that appear to be a little loose. The movement is literally happening at those two joints in my picture.

Would anyone care to educate me on why I would need all new parts. Pardon my lack of experience.

 

you don't need all new parts... just those two parts- the pitman arm and tie-rod end.

 

x2 and make sure they are greaseable units

 

Well... thanks for the input guys.

 

Yea sorry if i confused you.

I think the only tools you really need is for the pitman arm, a pretty big socket is needed to get that nut off, and a 2 jaw gear puller, oh yea, and a pickle fork.

Big socket for the pitman arm nut
2 Jaw gear puller
Pickle fork
Pb blaster (maybe throw some of that on the pitman arm before you get at it)
Grease.

 

Would that be called the inner or outer. Outer right?

 

indeed outer tie-rod end