steering slop 88 ranger 4x4

[sdavidl]

Hello, just wondering if someone might be able to give me an idea on a problem. I have an 88 ranger 4x4, virtually all stock components. I bought it for $350 and it runs and drives great....handles like garbage, lol. The kid I bought it from said he got it stuck pretty good in a mud pit and had no clue what he was doing. He wasnt too talkative, so not sure how he got it out. He did mention that it didnt jump too well either (not really what you want to hear). Anyways the problem is this:

I know the toe is out by about an inch and a quarter. The steering wheel can move about 3 inches side to side before making the wheels do anything. Left turns (considering) feel ok for the most part, but when I start to turn right, if I go too much, it all of a sudden REALLY wants to go right. All the joints physically look ok, no cracked or visually bent components from what I can tell. Could this be as simple as an alignment? And could it be that I just need to tighten the steering box adjuster? Any assistance or input would be sweet. Thanks.

 

[Earl43P]

Could be the steering box sector gear is sloppy, but could also be the pivot joint where the pitman arm connects to the drag link. Slop is pretty common there. You should see that pretty clearly while someone rocks the steering wheel back and forth while you look for the slop point.

 

[Backcountry_Ranger]

It's probably not the steering box adjuster, unless the PO did a lot of messing with it. Might also be worth checking camber/caster bushing tightness by jacking it up, popping off the tie rods, and checking for binding.

 

[sdavidl]

Thanks guys for the input. Ill be checkin it out this Thursday and see what I can find.