Thread: Steering Play in 89 RRC. how to get rid of it

The steering box has an adjuster screw on the top, centralise the steering and then wind the screw in until no more play. Do not go to far as it will stuff the bearings in the box. Check the spline on the drop arm, ball joint, and tie rod ends. The best way to check is to get someone to wiggle the steering wheel back and forth and see where the movement is.

Could also be that the steering box is stuffed internally, it's a pretty old truck. Mine's an 89 model and last year it required a whole new steering box. I'd tried tightening up as jskerm has said but it was too far gone - much better steering since.

is there alot required to replace the steering box? costly?

Take the three bolt cap off the top of the box (careful, you can lose PS fluid) and look at the bush in the middle of the cap.
Measure this carefully and measure the top of the sector shaft in the box. They should be exactly the same size, even 0.1mm clearance between these two results in a lot of play.

If there is clearance, replace the bush in the top cover with a new DU bush (about $5 from a good hydraulics supplier). This will make a huge difference. Then adjust the nut on top as per usual.

Other things to check.
Bolts holding the box to the chassis rail. I got 1 turn out of mine a few months back, again big improvement.
Panhard rod bushings.
Balljoint in the steering arm off the bottom of the box.
Universal joints in the steering column. Mine have never shown any play, but worth checking.

My 85 is now running play free between steering wheel and front wheels and the steering box is original and never rebuilt (shaft was replaced with SH due to impact damage), I still have some wandering issues but I'm sure that's toe related and I can only get it so close with pins and tape.

Could also be that the steering box is stuffed internally, it's a pretty old truck. Mine's an 89 model and last year it required a whole new steering box. I'd tried tightening up as jskerm has said but it was too far gone - much better steering since.

Usually the death knell of an old box is that the sector shaft starts to leak. Once it is to that stage, the shaft us usually non repairable.
Slop can usually be cured by adjustment.
Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Usually the death knell of an old box is that the sector shaft starts to leak. Once it is to that stage, the shaft us usually non repairable.
Slop can usually be cured by adjustment.
Regards Philip A

Mine was leaking 10 years ago. I simply machined the seal seat back to clean metal and with a new seal it has been good ever since.

Originally Posted by Vanderz

is there alot required to replace the steering box? costly?

Yes, it cost me thousands. The steering is one of those things I've not worked on before; it's at the bottom of the bay and I didn't want to bugger it up so it went to a shop. The box itself was $$($1500 rings a bell but I don't really remember) plus plenty of labour; I also had the input shaft changed. At least I think that's what it's called - the bit with the uni joint in it; mine was nearly broken through. Reading Dougal's reply, I'm wishing I'd done it myself now.

They showed me the old box afterwards, and it'd been repaired once before and was now past it. While it cost a bomb, they were all genuine parts, the shop has very good service and I know if *anything* goes wrong with the steering for the next few years, they've got my back. The money I forked out for that work is one of the reasons I'm keeping it and taking the roof off now I've got a great D2a, I doubt that whole car is worth that money!

I just checked the price of new genuine boxes and one Aussie online shop is showing mark down from $2100 to $880, so that's either a bargain or a good reason to get inventive and fix things as the others have said. I can't imagine bringing one in from the UK or US would be cost effective as they must weigh a lot.

cheers

I had the same problems with mine, changed all the bushes front and back checked the steering box etc but it turned out that the rubber coupling in the steering shaft was stuffed. Not obvious when you look at it but if you put some stress on it by getting someone to turn the steering wheel with the motor off it was obvious. There were big cracks in the rubber on mine that opened up this way - worth a look as it drove me nuts trying to work out why it was wandering all over the place
Cheers
Nick