Lots of play in steering system on 1996 Ranger

[sebastian323]

My 1996 Ranger 4.0 4x4 XLT, 5spd manual has a lot of play in the steering system. You can shake the wheel to the side a bit on the highway without the steering system actually reacting. What could be worn out ? Some sort of linkage ? Lost a tooth in the steering box gear ? My freinds old Nissan hardbody does something similar but more extreme. Its a 1984.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Probably a worn steering box and/or drag link.

Possibly tie rods.

Or the U joint on the steering shaft.

Only way to know is have someone move the wheel back and fourth while you watch to see what has a delay in movement

 

[Curious Hound]

My first suspects would be tie rod ends, ball joints and the rag joint on the steering shaft. Do what Rusty said. Get someone to turn the steering wheel back and forth so you can look at all the components and see where the play is.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

My first suspects would be tie rod ends, ball joints and the rag joint on the steering shaft. Do what Rusty said. Get someone to turn the steering wheel back and forth so you can look at all the components and see where the play is.

Do the 4wds have a rag joint? I thought they had a u joint

 

[Curious Hound]

Do the 4wds have a rag joint? I thought they had a u joint

My 93 had a rag joint. I redesigned/rebuilt with good u-joints

 

[SenorNoob]

IDK what has happened to ya'lls trucks but here in TN I've never seen a bad rag joint. They last forever here.

 

[Curious Hound]

IDK what has happened to ya'lls trucks but here in TN I've never seen a bad rag joint. They last forever here.

Rock crawling kills them. You end up.putting a lot of force on the joint when trying to turn the wheels when they're against rocks, jammed in crevices, etc

 

[SenorNoob]

Thank you!

 

[sebastian323]

My first suspects would be tie rod ends, ball joints and the rag joint on the steering shaft. Do what Rusty said. Get someone to turn the steering wheel back and forth so you can look at all the components and see where the play is.

I inspected the system, and I can see the shaft going into the steering box is moving and the steering linkages to the control arms are not moving so I assume the play is in the rag joint or in the gear box itself. My steering wheel also seems to be mounted crooked (the truck does not really seem to veer to one side while driving , but when the wheels are pointing forward and the steering wheel is crooked)

 

[Jazzer]

1996 Ford Ranger wandering steering wheel?

Wandering steering wheel reaction? Feels like it reacts to the steering wheel input as if connected by rubber bands!! very uncomfortable driving?

community.cartalk.com

The steering wheel is off center because it needs a toe-in adjustment (alignment). Of course your tie rod ends and ball joints should be checked.

 

[bobbywalter]

like mentioned generally its tie rods/drag link joints and balljoints that are worn.

but pivot bushing and radius arm bushing or mounts or the arm stubs themselves can all cause excessive on center issues.



theres alot of reasons your steering wheel could be off center.

you can have a perfect alignment and the steering wheel can be 180 out. or any where in between. so that within itself is not a positive indicator for me.


how long have you owned the truck? has it noticeably deteriorated over the last month or so?


beam trucks....especially with neutral toe and caster are vague on center.... not as bad as a straight axle but close to it.

"drives like a ford"....is a thing... if your 90s gm drives like a ford....you are in danger of losing a wheel....

if you are watching from the firewall to the box and none of those connections are visibly slack, and the joints from the knuckles to the pitman arm joint on the box are tight...then its mostly in the sector shaft. there is no fixing that. you need a reman box that was hopefully properly done or a tighter box.

there is potential to take up slack..but if the teeth are worn...they are worn.


so with the front wheels off the ground ...move them left to right and top to bottom on the tire checking for slop from pitman arm to knuckles and well worn balljoint issues...and use a bar between the ground and tire to pry up and left to right from the front checking for ball mild joint deflection...

ttb and tib...... they are not car like in feel to say the least.

 

[4x4junkie]

Sounds to me like a sloppy steering gear (a bad rag joint should be pretty easy to see, though Ford did put a plastic shroud over the lower one, so you'd have to remove it to get a good look at the joint).

Here's something you can try first before you replace the steering gear:
Disconnect the steering linkage from the pitman arm, loosen the nut located on top-center of the gear, and turn the threaded screw in a half-turn at a time until you start to feel resistance (binding) in the steering wheel right as you turn the steering past center (straight ahead). Turn the screw back out just enough to eliminate the binding, retighten the nut, check again for zero bind, and then reattach the steering linkage. Many times this will eliminate (or greatly reduce) the sloppiness in the steering. If the sloppiness persists afterward, then the issue is likely in the recirculating ball part of the gear, and will require rebuild or replacement.

Rock crawling kills them. You end up.putting a lot of force on the joint when trying to turn the wheels when they're against rocks, jammed in crevices, etc

Ram-assist steering would help with that.
I looked into it for my Ranger many years ago right before I got my BII as a primary wheeling rig, but never got to it because (for whatever reason) my BII doesn't seem to have near as much issue turning the wheels in rocks as my Ranger did (maybe because it's somewhat lighter). I recall some flow mods were needed to the PS pump to accommodate the additional volume of the assist cylinder, though it's been awhile since I looked into it (I think it was drilling out an orifice larger).

 

[Curious Hound]

Ram-assist steering would help with that.
I looked into it for my Ranger many years ago right before I got my BII as a primary wheeling rig, but never got to it because (for whatever reason) my BII doesn't seem to have near as much issue turning the wheels in rocks as my Ranger did (maybe because it's somewhat lighter). I recall some flow mods were needed to the PS pump to accommodate the additional volume of the assist cylinder, though it's been awhile since I looked into it (I think it was drilling out an orifice larger).

That has been in the back of my mind for years. Just wonder if other stuff will start breaking if I do that. It's always about that next step. If I strengthen this, where is the next weakest link? It's a never-ending cycle.

 

[Josh B]

My 73 Econoline 1 ton van had twin I-beam. The steering got so loose the wheel would turn near a quarter either way, and I got good at driving it like that.
It used king pins and I eventually got around to pulling it apart and having new sleeves pressed in to hold them straight

 

[sgtsandman]

The steering wheel being off center could just be a sloppy job by the last guy who did the alignment. Someone with pride in their work will adjust the tie rod ends so the steering wheel is centered before they say the job is done.