Steering system check

[afpj]

hey gurus,

My wife took our 02 yuk at 190k miles into an alignment shop to check after hitting a series of potholes on a road trip last month. I took it in a couple weeks ago to get alignment but they said that the idler & pitman, both outer tie rods, passenger inner tie rods needed replacing first (pitman & idler arms done about 14 months (11k miles) ago. They quoted me about $1000 so I took it to my trusted mechanic, who said that idler arm was slightly loose but all others good. Should be able to align. So my wife takes it in as above and now they say it needs a new steering box. They had the front wheels strapped (per her description) and they moved the steering wheel back and forth (engine on) and said look how much play there is. So when I get home I have engine on and had her turn steering wheel about an inch or two in either direction and the wheels do turn (I didn’t strap them)...there seems to be very little slack. I’m not sure about that test with the wheels strapped...is there any legitimacy to how they’re testing to conclude I need new steering box? Thanks!

 

[SnowDrifter]

Strapping the wheels is just to hold them down while you can establish how much play is in the box.

You can do the the same test yourself at home in the driveway

Have one person sit in the drivers seat, the other crawl underneath. The vehicle needn't be on for this. Shimmy the steering wheel back and forth while feeling around.

Note how much the steering shaft turns to get any movement on the pitman arm. It should be imperceptible

Now feel the intermediate shaft input and output. Any play there?

Now make your way around the ball joints on the pitman arm and idler arm. Grab the whole thing - wrap your mitts around it. You'll feel free play even to a thousandth of an inch. Far smaller than you can see.

Repeat on the inner tie rods, outer tie rods, and feel for any play in the wheel bearing between the hub and axle.

To check your upper and lower ball joints, the vehicle needs to be supported at ride height. If not checked at ride height, the angle the ball joints will be at, can take up slack and provide a false pass. Jack it up as close as you can to the ball joint, then squeeze it together with some large pliers. Repeat for the upper ball joint. Then take a long screwdriver or pry bar and apply a spreading force between the hub and the control arms. Any freeplay is grounds for replacement

 

[afpj]

Have one person sit in the drivers seat, the other crawl underneath. The vehicle needn't be on for this. Shimmy the steering wheel back and forth while feeling around.

Note how much the steering shaft turns to get any movement on the pitman arm. It should be imperceptible

Are you saying that that any movement of the steering shaft should create movement of the pitman? Didn’t understand the imperceptible part.
I grabbed the inner and outer tie rods and tried to wiggle them, without having anyone wiggle the steering wheel, but didn’t feel any movement or play. Granted, I have noodle arms so I’m probably not the best person to be able to check in that manner . Thank you for your detailed explanations as always .

 

[SnowDrifter]

Correct. Little spin of the input shaft should correspond to a little movement of the pitman arm. There really shouldn't be any slack in the thing

You will, however, need that second person to check everything out. Can't get enough force on it in the right direction as one person crawling under neath.

 

[afpj]

Well, unlike the test with engine on where you can see the wheels move with only a little movement of the steering steering wheel (like 1-2 inches either way), with engine off, the steering wheel has to move between 10 and 2 o’clock for me to see and feel movement of the pitman arm. Darn. Even with that, I thought you could still do an alignment but perhaps I’m wrong. The only joint loose is the idler arm, and only a little. Thanks again for the info.