H e l p

Undiagnosed steering issue

Hi Folks.
Just got back from a light off road experience.
Mate was driving my car.
He was driving in mud - trying to go straight but had wheels turned to the RHD side.
I told him to straighten up when he tried turning the wheel there was a very short and sharp grinding noise.
So to confirm wheels to right and he would have turned steering to the left.
Running 37*13.5 and sometimes box has difficulty in turning tyres.
Noise was like a spline slipping. Very short 1/10th of a second.
Now steering wheel is 1/8th of a turn to the RIGHT.
Underneath is spot on.
All steering linkage is currie 1" and 5/8th tie rod and drag link.
Track bar is teraflex monster attack bar.
All bolts are marked with white pen and all are still lined up perfectly.
UD60 axles so guessing they are not bent.
Drove 100klm home and steers just fine.
Tyres show no signs of wear in the 100klm home trip.
Is it possible that the steering wheel slipped on its spline?
Is is possible the pitman arm slipped on its spline connecting to the box?
No wheel alignment yet but sit straight on road and does not pull noticeably.
Or any other suggestions.
Greatly appreciate any help.

Am told the clamp on the track bar may have skipped some threads if not tight enough.
Axle was centred so will check in the morning if still so.
Must have jump inwards as no evidence of damaged thread on the outer.
If this is the case do I need a new track bar or can I just readjust and "tighten up".
Guess it will depend on thread inspection.

Hey toshigav. Sounds like something may have bent or "yielded" just a bit. As far as splines "slipping" on the pitman arm? No way man. The arm would have to be clunking-loose and ready to fall off to slip a spline. You'd see metal threads and flakes to if it did. Same with the track bar threads. It's not just gonna skip one thread if it were loose enough to move at all, it would rip all of it's threads out. But that's only if it were floppy-loose. A loose track bar will throw the steering wheel off from straight, but you said all was tight.
I'd say just re-center your steering wheel and drive on. [emoji106]


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toshigav said:

Am told the clamp on the track bar may have skipped some threads if not tight enough.
Axle was centred so will check in the morning if still so.
Must have jump inwards as no evidence of damaged thread on the outer.
If this is the case do I need a new track bar or can I just readjust and "tighten up".
Guess it will depend on thread inspection.

Click to expand...

If your steering wheel is off you probably just need to adjust your drag link. I highly doubt you "skipped a tooth" on you pitman arm or box. It would strip the thing being that is so tight.


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that happened to me too haha and also when i let someone drive my jeep. either something is slightly bent or your ABS sensor is off causing the grind also u we're in mud make sure there's no mud or rocks stuck in the brake shield. i would say get an alignment cause that's what fixed mine


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Are you still running your stock steering box?

jeeeep said:

Are you still running your stock steering box?

Click to expand...

Hi.
Yes still running std box.
Steering wheel sits 1/8 turn to right after what ever happened.

Axle is dead centre so can't be track bar.
Is it possible I have twisted the sector shaft?

I doubt you twisted sector shaft, it would more likely just snap off.

OverlanderJK said:

If your steering wheel is off you probably just need to adjust your drag link. I highly doubt you "skipped a tooth" on you pitman arm or box. It would strip the thing being that is so tight.


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Click to expand...

I think you are right.
I checked the trackbar clamp = all good.
Axle centred - clamp super tight - it did not move in any case.
I will adjust the draglink and centre the steering wheel.
Now if I can just remember which way these nut un-tighten on the Currie drag link.

toshigav said:

I think you are right.
I checked the trackbar clamp = all good.
Axle centred - clamp super tight - it did not move in any case.
I will adjust the draglink and centre the steering wheel.
Now if I can just remember which way these nut un-tighten on the Currie drag link.

Click to expand...

If you have visible threads, look VERY closely. The direction of rotation will then be obvious.