Looking for definative answer on steering box adjustment

[slalomdude]

Hello, new to the forum so hello to all. I have just recently bought an 06 Unlimited. It came with 35" and a whole load of free-play on the steering. I performed the dry test and movement on the input shaft of the box results in no movement of the output shaft. I have searched most of the forums and you tube and see many posts about adjusting the threaded screw (counter clockwise on the ZF). There are many users posting that it definitely helped the freeplay at the steering wheel. However there are several posts about never doing the adjustment that way as it only adjusts the pre-load on the bearing and will cause steering box failure.
I watched the video on You Tube that shows a guy disassembling a box and shows how adjusting the screw, moves the sector shaft in/out, so increasing the gear mesh.
What is the deal, is it only a short term band aid that will eventually cause premature failure of the box? Mopar no longer sells replacements and that only leaves the cheapo refurbs or the expensive aftermarket ones. It appears the cheap refurbs only change out the seals and ignore the teeth on the piston and sector shaft.
Thanks in advance.

 

[williambmac]

I went through 2 of the ZF boxes on my LJ. First one was loose and leaking,
The second one, which I purchased new from Jeep lasted a couple years. The pitman arm shaft snapped on it.

I now have a PSC box on mine. It was expensive and required new p/s lines and steering shafts from earlier (97-02) tj's

You can try these guys....
https://redheadsteeringgears.com/product/2003-2006-jeep-wrangler/
Most of the remans out there are garbage.

Depending on your fabricating skills, you can install a Durango style box. This requires drilling and installing a sleeve in the frame for a fourth mounting hole. Then everything listed above for the PSC box install.

 

[Not_Invented_Here_]

I've been reading up on this a lot. My entire front end is pretty much new, I aligned it, a local 4x4 aligned it, can't find anything loose. It drives straight, it doesn't really wander. I've got a couple degrees extra of positive camber after an axle swap and I'm wondering if that is related or the sole cause. If not, I'm stumped

There are some good explanations on here as to why it's just not an ideal solution and can potentially cause way more significant problems. If you do it, I'd use nail polish or some other sort of marking to identify the current position of the locking nut and screw before you adjust anything. The FB groups are littered with people who say this helped and worked for them but the more reliable people on here generally seem to say hard pass on doing this.

 

[mrblaine]

The FB groups are littered with people who say this helped and worked for them but the more reliable people on here generally seem to say hard pass on doing this.

It will and does work short term and as long as you understand you really aren't fixing anything, then do the adjustment. It isn't like it is going to ruin a perfectly good box. It's already fucked up, fucking it up a bit more and driving it with less slop until you can find a replacement isn't a bad thing.

 

[mrblaine]

I watched the video on You Tube that shows a guy disassembling a box and shows how adjusting the screw, moves the sector shaft in/out, so increasing the gear mesh.

You should have also noticed that when the mesh changed, so did the bind on the piston as it moved into the cylinder bore both directions. That bind is why changing the mesh is a short term deal generally. The bore wears on center since that is where the gear spends most of its time. Also why cores generally suck since they can't be fixed and that wear removed.

Tighten it up until you lose return to center, back it off slightly and run it until you find a replacement.

 

[Not_Invented_Here_]

It will and does work short term and as long as you understand you really aren't fixing anything, then do the adjustment. It isn't like it is going to ruin a perfectly good box. It's already fucked up, fucking it up a bit more and driving it with less slop until you can find a replacement isn't a bad thing.

Sure but if I've learned anything from reading your posts on this forum, it's that it's generally dumb to do something without understanding what is actually happening when you do it, or without fully understanding the problem first. I'm still not convinced it's 100% the box although is it one of the few remaining possibilities.

 

[Rubicon John]

It will and does work short term and as long as you understand you really aren't fixing anything, then do the adjustment. It isn't like it is going to ruin a perfectly good box. It's already fucked up, fucking it up a bit more and driving it with less slop until you can find a replacement isn't a bad thing.

So if you were to make the adjustment and find that it eliminated the slop, would the slop eventually return? I have a small amount of play in my box but it doesn’t bother me enough to think I need to make this adjustment if it’s not really fixing the problem.

 

[mrblaine]

So if you were to make the adjustment and find that it eliminated the slop, would the slop eventually return? I have a small amount of play in my box but it doesn’t bother me enough to think I need to make this adjustment if it’s not really fixing the problem.

Yes, the slop will return. It is like the back lash in an axle gear set. If you dial in the back lash and it changes later on, resetting the back lash won't stop it from return if you don't fix the root cause of what is allowing it to change. In a steering gear, the piston bore is wearing usually.

 

[mrblaine]

Sure but if I've learned anything from reading your posts on this forum, it's that it's generally dumb to do something without understanding what is actually happening when you do it, or without fully understanding the problem first. I'm still not convinced it's 100% the box although is it one of the few remaining possibilities.

It the input turns and the output doesn't, there is slop.

 

[Rubicon John]

Yes, the slop will return. It is like the back lash in an axle gear set. If you dial in the back lash and it changes later on, resetting the back lash won't stop it from return if you don't fix the root cause of what is allowing it to change. In a steering gear, the piston bore is wearing usually.

That makes sense, thank you.

 

[Not_Invented_Here_]

It the input turns and the output doesn't, there is slop.

Any thoughts on a couple extra degrees of caster causing that looseness, especially at low speeds?

 

[williambmac]

Any thoughts on a couple extra degrees of caster causing that looseness, especially at low speeds?

What is your caster setting and how much lift

 

[Not_Invented_Here_]

What is your caster setting and how much lift

No lift, stock everything. The caster was at like 7-8 degrees. Before some recent repairs, I originally had a LP Dana 30 with cambolt horseshoes and no cam bolts/washers. I had to swap out for another Dana 30 that did not have the horseshoes. I reused my original hardware but I'm still kinda wondering if that is related.

 

[williambmac]

+7.0 is spec. I woud like to see the print out from the alignment.

 

[Xposure]

Yes, the slop will return. It is like the back lash in an axle gear set. If you dial in the back lash and it changes later on, resetting the back lash won't stop it from return if you don't fix the root cause of what is allowing it to change. In a steering gear, the piston bore is wearing usually.

Sorry to be reviving a year old thread. But would like a bit more info on this. What is typically the cause or causes of the piston bore wearing?

 

[mrblaine]

Sorry to be reviving a year old thread. But would like a bit more info on this. What is typically the cause or causes of the piston bore wearing?

The steering gear spends the vast majority of its time with the box on center and the tires straight ahead. That centers the piston in the travel so if it is going to wear, that will be where it does. Short answer, just normal driving.