Steering slop fix

Ryjedavis

Ryjedavis

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Recently I decided to replace all seals in my 2000 4.0 steering box due to a long term leak. It was the original. I decided to do it myself mostly for the experience. It was way easier than I thought - followed
. Made it super simple.

I marked the adjusting nut and box with a punch like he describes (the one that determines the preload for the spool valve). When I put it back together I tightened it back to align the punch marks, but inadvertently tightened it one complete turn less. I’d always had a couple inches of slop in the wheel and had always assumed it was just normal for a TJ. But after I reinstalled the steering box, I now had about 30-40 degrees of slop. I figured out what I did wrong pretty quick and pulled the steering gearbox back off and tightened that adjusting nut one more turn, but rather than tighten it around to the marked punch marks I decided to tighten it the way the service manual says (all the way tight, then back off 5 mm). To my surprise the correct location was about 75 degrees past where I had marked (past where it was originally). I reinstalled it, and it now steers better than it ever has. Absolutely zero slop at the top. It is wonderful. The wheel response is great - feels like a new vehicle. I read a lot about adjusting the pitman shaft adjustment screw, but I bet a lot of people just have an incorrectly tightened spool valve preload adjusting nut. According to the service manual the spool valve preload should be adjusted prior to adjusting the pitman shaft adjusting screw. Anyway, FWIW thought I’d throw it out there because it worked awesome for me. Realistically, if I wasn’t replacing the seals it would take me about 30 min to pull the box, check the preload, and reinstall.
 
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Thanks for sharing

Im literally chasing about 2” of slop in my steering wheel now. The steering box rebuild looked like it required ALOT of patience, so I wasnt sure. However if someone whose never done it can do it with success, I may give it a go

I just DL’d my 2003 manual from the sticky, and I will see if I can find the details and understand them. Hopin theres pics for dummies 😂 What was the total rebuild time I should expect?

Did you get all the parts in the video, or just the seal kit?
 
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I had a large amount of play in the steering wheel at top dead center. Everything else in my front end has been replaced and is in good order and no leaks, I simply wanted to dial out some of the dead zone. I did this adjustment a few weeks ago and the steering feel and response vastly improved. I didn't know the service manual procedure so just tightened it an eighth of a turn at a time. I put less than half a turn in total into it.
 
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When you tightenen the slop at the center of the steering stroke where it is most worn, you create bind in the gear where it was less worn.
 
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MikekiM said:
I had a large amount of play in the steering wheel at top dead center. Everything else in my front end has been replaced and is in good order and no leaks, I simply wanted to dial out some of the dead zone. I did this adjustment a few weeks ago and the steering feel and response vastly improved. I didn't know the service manual procedure so just tightened it an eighth of a turn at a time. I put less than half a turn in total into it.
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You are going to need a new steering gear. Any improvement there will be temporary - but perhaps you bought yourself some time.
 
Anyone know if theres a video for 2003-2006??

Apparently my 2003 is totally different, and I ordered all the damn parts not realizing it til after. Im trying to cancel and find out what bearing I need now
 
jjvw said:
When you tightenen the slop at the center of the steering stroke where it is most worn, you create bind in the gear where it was less worn.
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Let’s make sure we are all talking about the same thing. I think you are thinking of tightening the pitman arm adjustment nut. Thats the one most people tighten. The best analogy is that it’s like changing pinion depth in a differential - it can help with steering slop by decreasing space between the pitman shaft and worm gear, but can cause binding in turns when the pitman teeth engage the rack teeth on the side where there is less wearing.

I’m talking about adjusting the spool valve preload adjustor nut. It’s the large adjustor nut on the end with the spanner wrench holes that attaches to the steering shaft. Not tightening it completely in error caused a ton of slop, which made me adjust it per the manual, which made my steering incredible. It shouldn’t cause binding because it’s only tightening the spool valve preload - my guess is over time the needle bearings and flat bearings get worn.

I have zero slop, fantastic response, and no binding. Only bummer is you have to pull the box to adjust.

IMG_4055.jpeg
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
You are going to need a new steering gear. Any improvement there will be temporary - but perhaps you bought yourself some time.
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Not necessarily - see my explanation above. Most people adjust the pitman arm adjusting nut, which is the over- center torque adjustment. The problem is you aren’t supposed to do that without setting the worm or spool bearing preload first, which is what I did. I didn’t need to touch the pitman arm preload adjustor (which is what you are talking about and would bandaid central teeth wear).
 
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Ryjedavis said:
Not necessarily - see my explanation above. Most people adjust the pitman arm adjusting nut, which is the over- center torque adjustment. The problem is you aren’t supposed to do that without setting the worm or spool bearing preload first, which is what I did. I didn’t need to touch the pitman arm preload adjustor (which is what you are talking about and would bandaid central teeth wear).
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You are correct in that is what I thought Mike was referring to - should have read a bit more closely. My bad.
 
CreepinDeth said:
Anyone know if theres a video for 2003-2006??

Apparently my 2003 is totally different, and I ordered all the damn parts not realizing it til after. Im trying to cancel and find out what bearing I need now
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I’m not aware of one. I think 2003 and newer switched to a Mercedes box - different than the Saginaw box in a 97-02. I think I heard in the forums of someone drilling some holes and making a Saginaw fit, but need to modify shaft and hoses too.
 
CreepinDeth said:
Anyone know if theres a video for 2003-2006??

Apparently my 2003 is totally different, and I ordered all the damn parts not realizing it til after. Im trying to cancel and find out what bearing I need now
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You will need the GATES 348777 rebuilding kit or equivalent. Since the box was made by Mercedes, I had to search quite a bit to find some information on rebuilding one. I searched the Mercedes (Specifically Benzworld.org) and found a few documents for rebuilding steering gears similar to the ones in the 03-06 Wranglers.

I also found this thread on another forum helpful: https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/inside-the-2003-2006-tj-steering-gear-mercedes-built.1022796/
 

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  • input shaft sealing ring.pdf
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  • steering46-0001.pdf
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  • steering46-0232.pdf
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LittleGiant said:
Thoughts on the best brand of aftermarket gearbox?
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I can't speak to the 03-06 Mercedes gear specifically, but Lares has good reviews overall. I have seen maybe 2-3 people here post up issues after they had their Lares installed, but the issues were extraneous, like one of them had the steering shaft interfering with something else, etc. No issues noted with the actual box that I can find.

I bought a BBB for mine (earlier model) because the Lares 11353 was unavailable for a while, however I got a notification that the 11353 was back in stock, so I ordered it and will be sending the BBB back. Nothing wrong with it, but would rather have the Lares based on a reputation of a friend of mine who has installed a mix of the two brands of their pumps and gear boxes on 10 or so different vehicles (most, but not all Jeeps). I would imagine if they can do a good job on the early box, they can do the same on the later box. I sure hope so, my OEM box is shot and needs fixing bad.

I considered PSC because I know their stuff is great, however that is a tough pill to swallow buying a pump and a gear box and potentially supplying enough fluid to the HV pump for an otherwise stock application, all because the OEM gear went bad. I'd much rather find a good stock level gear if possible.
 
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machoheadgames said:
I can't speak to the 03-06 Mercedes gear specifically, but Lares has good reviews overall. I have seen maybe 2-3 people here post up issues after they had their Lares installed, but the issues were extraneous, like one of them had the steering shaft interfering with something else, etc. No issues noted with the actual box that I can find.

I bought a BBB for mine (earlier model) because the Lares 11353 was unavailable for a while, however I got a notification that the 11353 was back in stock, so I ordered it and will be sending the BBB back. Nothing wrong with it, but would rather have the Lares based on a reputation of a friend of mine who has installed a mix of the two brands of their pumps and gear boxes on 10 or so different vehicles (most, but not all Jeeps). I would imagine if they can do a good job on the early box, they can do the same on the later box. I sure hope so, my OEM box is shot and needs fixing bad.

I considered PSC because I know their stuff is great, however that is a tough pill to swallow buying a pump and a gear box and potentially supplying enough fluid to the HV pump for an otherwise stock application, all because the OEM gear went bad. I'd much rather find a good stock level gear if possible.
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Good info. I will definitely NOT be buying PSC, I have sunk enough money into this Jeep since I got it. I love it almost as much as my wife, but still.

I made the mistake of buying a Cardone reman, stupid mistake. I have more slop now that I did before. I’ve tried tightening it but it won’t work.
 
LittleGiant said:
Good info. I will definitely NOT be buying PSC, I have sunk enough money into this Jeep since I got it. I love it almost as much as my wife, but still.

I made the mistake of buying a Cardone reman, stupid mistake. I have more slop now that I did before. I’ve tried tightening it but it won’t work.
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Yeah, remans are no good. I have watched the steering gear market for a while, granted for the older gear box style, but still. From what I can remember, “new” only popped up on the market around 5-6 years ago and it started with BBB. I never heard of them or Lares. Then Lares seemed to become more popular and I’ve now seen a decent amount of them. I have no idea how they are creating these things new, I imagine they buy maybe new castings from somewhere, but I don’t know. I do know reman is typically unsuccessful unless the core was in very good shape, so new is definitely the way to go. I just don’t know how they are building new boxes.

Doesn’t really matter I guess, they seem to have good reviews and that matters most. Tomorrow when my Lares arrives I’ll be able to see if I think it’s any better than the BBB I received first, if not. Can also do some photo comparisons of both of them vs stock.
 
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