Steering slop

[demesauce]

Is it normal to have a bit of play in the steering wheel?

[old69bronco]

Re: Steering slop

No u should just throw the bronco in the trash and call it a day cut your losses now.but I think with all older cars it will have some play in it.

[DirtDonk]

Re: Steering slop

Yep, gonna have some play. The deciding factor on throwing it in the trash though, is just how much is "a bit" of play?
Can you get a "degree-of-rotation" of the wheel for us? Or maybe even just a rating in inches?

Some play will come from the box itself of course, but there are quite a few other components that wear out that will add to that play. And add to loose and wandering feelings on the road.
Even a loose trackbar will increase steering play.

There's a very good test you can do to check what's going on under there. Let us know what kind of play you're seeing, and what kind of manners it's got, and we can go from there.

Paul

[workin it]

Re: Steering slop

Paul,

I'm having some slop issues myself. EB wonders all over while driving to the point its a two handed driving experience for fear of the unexpected lane change. If I remember correctly it did this when it was manual steering too.

DA

[welndmn]

Re: Steering slop

Paul,

I'm having some slop issues myself. EB wonders all over while driving to the point its a two handed driving experience for fear of the unexpected lane change. If I remember correctly it did this when it was manual steering too.

DA

You need more caster.

The steering has some play, at what point it becomes too much is up to the driver. Parts wear out. Have someone shake the steering wheel in that play while you look at everything to find the slop.

[crawlin68]

Re: Steering slop

I have always considered "normal" play to be 1 to 2 inches steering wheel rotation before the tires start to turn. If you adjust the steering box much tighter than that, you run the risk of premature wear on the gears in the box. If you have more play than that, then you need to look at all of the other steering components first (EI, bushings, tie rod ends, trac bar, rag joints, etc....) If all of those check out, then you can tighten the steering box up a little.

[DirtDonk]

Re: Steering slop

Hmm, wonder what ever happened to demesauce on this? Been awhile. Hope he got it dealt with.

EB wonders all over while driving to the point its a two handed driving experience for fear of the unexpected lane change.

That's too much. An EB in good shape will drive down the road with the best of them (trucks at least) but it doesn't take much to get it out of whack either.
Like was said, you have to narrow down where it's coming from, or if it's just coming from everything in the system.
But we need some more info to start with.

What year is it?
What steering setup?
What suspension setup?
What tires?
What wheels? (just as important as tires sometimes)
When exactly does it wander? All the time? Only when you hit a bump? On some roads more than others?

If you can, post up some pictures of your rig. Especially a shot straight on from the front, showing your steering linkage.

If I remember correctly it did this when it was manual steering too.

When did you buy it? When did you change the steering, and what did you use exactly?
When it was manual, was it worse, better, or the same?

Paul

[workin it]

Re: Steering slop

1971 bought last year. Suspension is old and I'm in the process of replacing springs and C bushings. I just added power sterring (Stock) used. I have a WH lower steering shaft connected to the stock column.

The rims are the stock steel wheels with some very nice tires with no name. They do say Radial RTV. I'll shake the front end tonight when I get home and see what is moving when the steerng wheel is moved and report back.

DA

[DirtDonk]

Re: Steering slop

Good, thanks.
The size of the tires and wheels is good news for starters. Just means that they have less negative side-effects to factor in at this time.

There is a test that it seems we all perform at one time or another. Or if you're like me, you end up doing it hundreds of times on different Broncos, to see what's up with them.
What Mark was saying about "shaking" the wheel is that test. You will need a helper for this, but it's very effective at finding hidden gremlins in the front end. Rear end too, but it's mainly for the front.

With the tires on the ground with the full weight of the vehicle on them (no jacks or jackstands for this one), have the helper turn the steering wheel back and forth enough to move the wheels a bit. About 1/4-1/2 turn each way seems to work well.
You can leave the engine off initially, but turn it on later to see if you note any differences in the test results.

While they're turning the wheel back and forth, you're going to be underneath the front end closely observing LITERALLY EVERY COMPONENT under there. From the steering box's mounted to the frame (a cracked frame often won't even be visible until you perform this test), to the steering linkage, trackbar, and even the wheels and bearings and ball-joints.
Under that much force, and stuck between the weight of the truck resisting movement, and the torque of the steering system trying to overcome that force, anything that's loose will move when it's not supposed to.
If you think you see a little movement but aren't sure, you can even put your fingers on joints to feel for excessive movement.
Basically, any non-linear movement of the linkage is bad. Enough of it in multiple parts really adds up to a loose and goosey ride down the road.

The most common thing on an EB that has never seen big tires, is a loose trackbar. Whether a worn bushing, worn sleeve, egged out hole, or even a cracked mount (the lower bolt/stud often loosens up inside the bracket) will lead to wandering and following grooves in the road. From mild to wild, it's all there in the trackbar.

You can feel ball joints move too. If they move side-to-side, they're bad.
If you feel more than a few thousandths of movement between a wheel and the knuckle, check your wheel bearings.
If your tie-rod ends move side-to-side, they're bad.
If the rods and ends rotate, they may be ok, or they may be getting worn out and are near needing to be replaced.
If they rotate excessively, it could be due to a geometry mismatch with the new steering system.
If the steering box rocks on the frame, there's a 90% chance you have a cracked frame that needs attention.

If things are just barely worn out, any or all of that stuff is almost impossible to test and find any other way. If something is totally shot, you might be able to see it without going through this test with a helper, but it really doesn't take much movement in a couple of those links to make a Bronco drive crappy.

Hope that helps. Let us know what you find. And post some pics if you can. We like pics!

Paul