Can the steering box on a 98 TJ be adjusted for looseness? My friends TJ has about 4+ inches of steering wheel play, sloppy manners (wanders) traveling down the road, and when you look at the output shaft (where the pitman arm attaches) while someone turns the steering wheel, it seems to move laterally as much as it rotates.
Sooo, I said I would try to find out if the steering has any adjustments for slop/play/looseness.
TIA
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Sounds like another problem... if the output shaft moves anyway but in a circle, the gear box is toast. I have never seen one fail in that fashion, look closely again. More likely, with that much play, the problem would be tie rods and/or ball joints. Four inches is excessive on a 98... park it till you fix the problem.
Hi Bill,
I don't think that adjustment will compensate for lateral movement at the output shaft.
JimG
btw... good pdf Bill...
JimG
Thanks. It looks a bit more complicated than I thought it would be. :( He does have one bad tie rod ball joint, so he'll probably replace that first and see if the steering feels any better before having the box looked at.
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