98 Ranger 4 wheel drive steering wheel play

[frankj]

Over the last several years I replaced the ball joints, outer tie rod ends and the steering rack. Now, with 230,000 miles I have play in the steering wheel. I assumed it was the lower shaft of the steering column and replaced it with a OEM part. It didn't help at all. You can grab the steering column, under the hood and it has movement up and down and sideways. I can't feel any play in the u-joint of the upper shaft under the dashboard. Any suggestions on how to find where the play originates?? Thanks

 

[rubydist]

So the column under the hood has play, or the shaft under the hood has play? If it is the whole column, that suggests that the mounting clamps holding it in place are loose. If its the shaft, that suggests that the lower bushing of the column is bad.

 

[Josh B]

Mine had 234,000 when I bought it in 2006, now it's getting close to 400, and yet no play. Closest I've ever gotten to it was new brake lines.
I don't think yours is normal wear, unless it was a bad/poor part to start with

 

[frankj]

Thanks for the replies. Mine is 4 wheel drive and has the big factory wheels and 265x75x15" tires. That could have contributed to the wear. Everything I've read suggest that larger tires cause greater wear to steering components. I've also used it in the wilderness, which is why I bought it.
I'm not complaining, 185,000 on the upper ball joints is pretty normal, the rack and pinion began leaking 195,000, I replaced it with a remanufactured unit from a parts supplier that sells to most of the shops around here, they sold me a unit from Vision OE. It lasted less than two years. After talking with the alignment shop, I bought a new rack and pinion; they said they only used new ones as they had consistent problems with remanufactured units. After I installed the first rack and pinion, the Vision OE one, the alignment shop found the lower ball joints worn so they were replaced. I think ~200,000 miles is a decent life span for lower ball joints.
If you look under your truck Josh, you'll probably find that the ball joints have grease fittings. Those would not be factory ball joints. I find it hard to believe original ones would last that long. My truck still has the original hubs; 230,000+ miles and they've never been serviced and I've used them hard.
When I shake the steering column in the engine compartment, the movement seems to be at the firewall. When I grab the shaft inside the cab, under the dashboard, it doesn't seem to have movement above the universal joint, at the end of the intermediate column, just below the 'silver' disc (see attached photo).
Here is a link to a Ford parts diagram:

Shaft & Internal Components for 1998 Ford Ranger | Genuine Ford Parts Cheap

parts.villaford.com

It doesn't indicate what image #15 is, but #12 they call a 'lower bearing sleeve'. If I interpret the diagram correctly, #12 would be between the intermediate shaft and the upper shaft- not my source of movement/wear. When I look up there I can't even see anything like that, perhaps it is above the 'silver' disc? It is hard to see what is at the firewall. I guess I could make the effort to take all the molded rubber and padding out and see better. From the outside a molded housing (second photo). Is there a bearing inside it??
Thanks

 

[pjtoledo]

check for play on the lower shaft at the slider bushing, it's inside the bigger part.
a few thousandths here will be about 1/2" at the steering wheel.

ignore the glove, it was having a bad day.

 

[Josh B]

I'm rather lost on the column, I've never been far into one.
I know a lot had the air bag in it, and most are collapse-able. I think I've replaced at least one ignition switch but that's about far as it goes, I really thought you were still underneath it on the A-frame or something

I believe 15 is a bushing of some sort that maybe attaches to the firewall, but as for 13 and 14 it seems to show one being above(inside cab) 15 and the other below(outside cab/firewall), although their description seems to imply one is w/tilt and the other w/o

 

[pjtoledo]

15 is the big rubber boot on the firewall, it seals but does not solidly support the lower column.

what I pictured is 14 in the first pic, 13 in the 2nd.
U joint under the boot, the column collapses/expands about 5 inches.

 

[frankj]

Thanks. #15 being a 'big rubber boot' isn't what I wanted to hear; I wanted it to house a stout bearing so I could replace it and my problems would go away. I've replaced the lower shaft, that was my first move to eliminate the play. My extra simple logic said: that's where the play seems to be, it must be my problem, $165.00 later, I still have the play and I can still grab the steering column under the hood and it has lots of movement.
I'll continue to search. I can go back to the alignment shop and have them look. Their labor rate is just under $100.00/hr, but expertise is often worth the cost. I've already wasted the $165.00. A friend of mine says 'just live with it'. The truck goes down the road straight, no shakes, no shimmy, no odd tire wear. When the road has a 'crown', then I have to hold the steering wheel and with the play, the poise is off. And that bugs me and I don't want to live with that.

 

[pjtoledo]

the column moving around a bit at the firewall won't affect steering play. rotation, or rather the lack of rotation causes play.
I would separate the lower shaft assembly at the upper end. that's the left end in my picture.
that will effectively isolate what's under the dash from what's under the hood.
grab each end with something solid, lock on with visegrips or whatever.
rotate one end then the other, one of them should reveal the play.
then just move the tool down/up the works one piece at a time.

place some sort of pointer next to the tire/wheel to detect small amounts of movement.
check both sides

jack up one wheel at a time, push/pull at 3 & 9 o'clock. as the opposite tire flexes a small amount of steering wheel movement may be seen.
this checks all the tie rods.
have the steering wheel unlocked while checking stuff out.

 

[pjtoledo]

just looked at my 2000 w/128,000 miles and the 2005 w/370,000 miles. all factory column parts.
less than 1/4" play at the firewall boot, had to pull hard to get that.

CAUTION !!! if you get to cranking on bolts under the dash the 4 13mm nuts that hold the column assembly up
attach to studs that are designed to shear off under stress. they have a section that necks down to only 1/8"
the torque specs are very low on those 4 nuts.

there is also a flex/isolation joint under the dash. it's not a true U joint.

joints and stuff vary a bit between over the years.

 

[frankj]

Thanks. I hadn't thought to separate the joints, and that's a fairly easy check. The play I see exists between the where the steering column connects to the rack and pinion and the steering wheel. Just using a thumb and forefinger, with the wheels on the ground, you can rotate the steering shaft at its mid-point under the hood enough that the movement at the top of the steering wheel is 1.75". Maybe that's normal and I'm urinating into the wind??
I don't think I want to allow the steering wheel to turn very much when it isn't connected to the rack and pinion, I guess I can mark the joint where it separates. It's 7:AM and already 84 outside, I better get busy.

 

[frankj]

I think I found the problem. And I think it was my error. I separated the shafts just now and going through the firewall there was no movement/play, going down to the rack and pinion was where the play was. I had replaced the rack back in February when I discovered it leaking. After I took it for an alignment and the mechanic said everything was fine, but there was play in the steering wheel. I didn't think to pick his brain further at the time, I was just happy no other components were necessary. I eventually tired of the play and decided to address it. I poked around, shook this and that and found the play in the shaft and basically just jumped at the conclusion that the lower shaft was the problem. When I took the original lower shaft out, I tugged and twisted it and off the truck it didn't seem to have excessive play. that should have been a clue. When I disconnected the shafts today and saw all the movement was at the lower shaft, I right away thought a problem with the rack. When I had put it all together (after installing the rack) I didn't go killer tight on that bottom pinch bolt, I just went till there was good/strong resistance. With the new lower shaft I did the same. After separating them this morning I thought about it and decided to see if I could pull that pinch bolt tighter. It was 'tight', but using a 1/2 drive ratchet and six point socket I got a full turn on it and 90% of the play in the shaft was removed.
Sometimes I think my wrenches should be taken away from me. I love mechanical stuff, I like tinkering and thinking I can fix things, I'm just not very good at it.
Thanks for all your help and ideas.

 

[gw33gp]

Have you check the inner tie rod joints that connect to the rack? One of mine started going bad so I replaced both of them. That was at around 260K miles. I had no play in my steering wheel, but I was getting a knocking sound when in 4WD and going around slow, fairly sharp corners when off-road. New inner tie rods fixed that.

 

[Josh B]

Crawling around corners in 4WD with a limited slip can be risky at best. Going faster can be worse :/

 

[gw33gp]

When in 4WD off-road, the loose surface allows the tires to slip and not bind the drivetrain. Of the 283K miles on my Ranger, probably 10,000 miles have been off-road have been off-road in 4WD. I have never had any damage to the drivetrain from that.