Over the past couple of weeks my steering has been moving counterclockwise. While driving strait my Steering Wheel is approximately 90 degrees from where it used to be. It has been a gradual move and didn't happen all at once. I have all-pro's Hi-steer and nothing is loose in the steering and all bolts and nuts are tight. When I turn the wheel there is little to no slop throughout.

I am assuming my front Skyjacker springs are settling and causing this. Does this sound probable or is there another possible cause.

<small>[ March 28, 2003, 08:16 AM: Message edited by: Kajo4x4toy ]</small>

I would start checking things. mark your steering arm and make sure that it is not moving on the shaft.
That just seems a bit to far to me.
I am getting ready to do the high steer. How do you like it?

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by missouriman:
<strong>I would start checking things. mark your steering arm and make sure that it is not moving on the shaft.
That just seems a bit to far to me.
I am getting ready to do the high steer. How do you like it?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">I love my highsteer, I drive my truck 35 miles a day and have had no problems with it except for the box ripping off the frame at the GWNF. Definetely beef up the inside of your frame.

Everything is tight and the arm has not moved on the shaft. I marked it when I put it on. My jam nuts on my tie rod and drag link are marked and have not moved. The only thing I didn't measure was actual height gained when I put it on but the front seems to be sitting at least 1 1/2" lower than before.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by Kajo4x4toy:
<strong>I am assuming my front Skyjacker springs are settling and causing this. Does this sound probable or is there another possible cause.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Sounds likely to me. Has any play developed in the steering, that wasn't there before? If so, could be the steering box. It should have adjustment to compensate for wear.
Let us know if you find anything.

Broderick

<small>[ March 26, 2003, 09:52 AM: Message edited by: fourwd1 ]</small>

I was going to go with alpro's and use there frame mount kit and back up plate as well.
Or do you mean that I will need additional bracing beyond that?

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by Kajo4x4toy:
<strong>Everything is tight and the arm has not moved on the shaft. I marked it when I put it on. My jam nuts on my tie rod and drag link are marked and have not moved. The only thing I didn't measure was actual height gained when I put it on but the front seems to be sitting at least 1 1/2" lower than before.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Is this due tot he spring settling? If so, your drag link angle has changed due to the settling. When it goes from a steep to a shallow angle, it gets "longer" so to speak and this pushes against the pitman arm, so its as if you are turning the wheel to the left (CCW) to maintain a straight ahead direction of travel. You may simply need to re-adjust the drag link length to compensate for the change in ride height.

Note: This is the same thing that causes bump steer, hit bump, compress springs, drag link lengthens and causes a slight, momentary steering change.

And ditto on the reinforced steering box

<small>[ March 26, 2003, 11:10 AM: Message edited by: 4Crawler ]</small>

missouriman- I didn't have the backing plate when the box came loose. Since I nstaled it I have had no problems. No additional bracing should be required.

Roger- That is what I am thinking. If I have time this weekend I am going to re-center my box and re-adjust the draglink.

Broderick- There is little to no play at all in the steering system.

Broblem Solved-

It had nothing to do with the steeing system!

I went to Lunch with Frank (85Trailtoy) yesterday. We were talking by my 4Runner and noticed my rear drivers side wheel was way forward. My U-bolts had loosened and the spring pin broke. Everytime I backed up the tire was moving forward and everytime I went forward the tire moved backward. There was a 3" difference in movement. I run blocks and the spring was sliding forward and backward on the blocks <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" /> . I drove home very carefully fixed this problem and the steering wheel is where it used to be.

I thought my spool wander was getting worse but that is fixed now to. I guess I will make sure I retorque these nuts every time I do preventive maintenance.

oh shoot!!
for stuff like that I don't want to come loose but know that I will be taking apart again I use silicone on the treads, I perfer it over lock tight.

That happened to me years ago, but it was really obvious as I was going down the road almostly sideways cause the rear of the truck was trying to pass me. <img border="0" alt="[Hillbilly]" title="" src="graemlins/notooth.gif" />