Power steering pulling back and forth

[Richie O]

Axle u joints

[IrishChamp]

Thats a pretty straight to the point response, I take it you're pretty certain.

Axle u joints

[Richie O]

Did you ever check the axle u-joints? Turn the front wheels a little and then spin them. If a u-joint is bad the wheel will spin hard.

Just like Petey boy says on page 1.

[IrishChamp]

Haha,
4 pages and back to square one!

Did you ever check the axle u-joints? Turn the front wheels a little and then spin them. If a u-joint is bad the wheel will spin hard.

Just like Petey boy says on page 1.

[PToombs]

That broken clip you're holding in the pic looks like one that holds the 2 caps together. All they do is hold the caps on the joint when it's not in a yoke. The main cap holding clips don't look like that. No biggie, just throw it away.
You need to open the diff to drain the oil, so look for shim pieces or metal chunks in the bottom.

[little doug]

Possibly an outer u-joint at the knuckle seizing.

I think the first response diagnosed the steering problem.
That looks piece in your hand looks like the clip that snaps on the u joint cap(a little deformed).The piece that holds them on before assembly looks like it is still in place.

[oldestof11]

Something no one addressed was the possibility that there is too much toe-in. You said the steering wheel got a little cocked after going through the ditch. Did you have an alignment done afterwards? Easiest way to check is to take 2 tape measures and get enough pulled out to go beyond each wheel about 6". Tape the ends on to the same tire, making sure that an inch mark is on the center of the tire. Now go to the opposite side and put the tapes up and see where the marks line up. Should have 0-1/8" difference, center to center.

[bmoeller]

I've heard the manual ones don't have enough force to push grease sometimes.

Not if you get a good gun. I can push harder with a pistol grip or lever than the electrics will, even the new ones. Normally use Lincoln grease guns, but don't get the cheaper low end one. Go the next price range up or so. The bottom end ones are junk. Cheap pot metal in the heads and they crack.

[IrishChamp]

When I gOt new tires they said the alignment was fine. They just went off of tire wear but they did not wear uneven after going through the ditch about 10k miles ago.

Something no one addressed was the possibility that there is too much toe-in. You said the steering wheel got a little cocked after going through the ditch. Did you have an alignment done afterwards? Easiest way to check is to take 2 tape measures and get enough pulled out to go beyond each wheel about 6". Tape the ends on to the same tire, making sure that an inch mark is on the center of the tire. Now go to the opposite side and put the tapes up and see where the marks line up. Should have 0-1/8" difference, center to center.

[IrishChamp]

Can anyone get me started on a parts list of what I WILL need and what I MIGHT need? What are the u joints of choice? Also, is there a way to tell 100% if u joints are my problem?
I noticed that on the passenger side when I spin the wheel when jacked up it sounds like the brake is touching slightly so I'm assuming pads might be in order while I have things apart.

[IrishChamp]

I got a price to put new spicer (sp) u joints, repack bearings, new seals, new gear oil etc. He said he would have to completely pull apart the axle and that it would address all the wear items. $700 was the tally. How dies that sound, I was shocked, I was hoping for $400 worst case scenario.

[Tacoclaw]

Don't know handy you are/what kind of workspace you're dealing with, but BC847 put up (another) excellent writeup about how to do this:

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 87074.html

Doing it yourself shouldn't run you more than a couple hundred bucks MAX, counting parts, and an afternoon of your time.

[IrishChamp]

I'm leaning towards doing it my self. $700 is ridiculous! I have a garage, jack stands, basic tools ( I can buy a lot of tools though before I'd hit $700 parts and tools) I'm not thrilled about the prospect of doing the work but not intimidated by it either. I've done new springs on a previous vehicle as well as brake pads once or twice.
Someone told me I should rebuild kingpins too while I'm at It, what do you think?

Don't know handy you are/what kind of workspace you're dealing with, but BC847 put up (another) excellent writeup about how to do this:

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 87074.html

Doing it yourself shouldn't run you more than a couple hundred bucks MAX, counting parts, and an afternoon of your time.

[Tacoclaw]

It can't hurt to try, the main thing is a place to work at. You can beg/borrow/buy any tools you'll need. A bench-vice and torch make u-joints a lot easier, but they're not nessecities. Worst case scenario, you can take him just the axles and skip out on the dissasembly/reassembly shop charges.

On the kingpins, I just bought the plastic bushings and spring that sit over the brass cone itself. It was about $30 if I remember right, and fixed my tire-wear issues. Couldn't hurt to try it the easy way first. If your truck is particularly poorly-maintained, you might end up deeper into the kingpins, but no reason to fix it if it isn't broken.

Besides, you do it on your truck, there's always the chance you could do it to someone else's, since you'll have the tools and experience. Pretty easy to undercut $700.

[IrishChamp]

Thanks.
What are some good sources for the parts.

It can't hurt to try, the main thing is a place to work at. You can beg/borrow/buy any tools you'll need. A bench-vice and torch make u-joints a lot easier, but they're not nessecities. Worst case scenario, you can take him just the axles and skip out on the dissasembly/reassembly shop charges.

On the kingpins, I just bought the plastic bushings and spring that sit over the brass cone itself. It was about $30 if I remember right, and fixed my tire-wear issues. Couldn't hurt to try it the easy way first. If your truck is particularly poorly-maintained, you might end up deeper into the kingpins, but no reason to fix it if it isn't broken.

Besides, you do it on your truck, there's always the chance you could do it to someone else's, since you'll have the tools and experience. Pretty easy to undercut $700.