Dropped power steering box, can't realign

[Tom18]

Hey all,

Made a bit of a mistake this weekend. When I picked up my LJ it had a flat towing base plate installed into the front frame. I have no intention to ever flat tow, and it looked like a quick removal. What I didn't notice was that the drivers side bolts went from the base plate, to the frame, into the power steering box. Once I removed the three bolts on the drivers side the entire steering box dropped. I tried to realign the box back to the frame with no luck, so I started playing with the steering wheel to get the alignment correct... looking now at how to install a new steering box I realize that was a totally wrong move and now the box and steering wheel are out of alignment.

I had a thought to jack up the front end and then try to connect the box back to the frame. The idea being that I would be able to move the wheels to align instead of guessing the correct position of the steering wheel. Any idea if that would work or is that just a time waster? Do I need to loosen/remove the pitman arm or other steering components to reconnect back to the frame? Should I really call a pro at this point? A few photos below of what I'm currently looking at.

2006 LJ - 4.0 - Auto. Thanks

 

[mrblaine]

Hey all,

Made a bit of a mistake this weekend. When I picked up my LJ it had a flat towing base plate installed into the front frame. I have no intention to ever flat tow, and it looked like a quick removal. What I didn't notice was that the drivers side bolts went from the base plate, to the frame, into the power steering box. Once I removed the three bolts on the drivers side the entire steering box dropped. I tried to realign the box back to the frame with no luck, so I started playing with the steering wheel to get the alignment correct... looking now at how to install a new steering box I realize that was a totally wrong move and now the box and steering wheel are out of alignment.

I had a thought to jack up the front end and then try to connect the box back to the frame. The idea being that I would be able to move the wheels to align instead of guessing the correct position of the steering wheel. Any idea if that would work or is that just a time waster? Do I need to loosen/remove the pitman arm or other steering components to reconnect back to the frame? Should I really call a pro at this point? A few photos below of what I'm currently looking at.

2006 LJ - 4.0 - Auto. Thanks

View attachment 162124
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View attachment 162126

There is no serious issue with anything being aligned at this point. Jack the tires off the ground, unlock the steering wheel so you can push the tire back and forth to get the box flat to the frame to get the bolts started. Once it is bolted back up, that will put everything back where it was.

 

[Tom18]

There is no serious issue with anything being aligned at this point. Jack the tires off the ground, unlock the steering wheel so you can push the tire back and forth to get the box flat to the frame to get the bolts started. Once it is bolted back up, that will put everything back where it was.

Awesome... that's the answer I was hoping to hear. Thanks for the input!