A few days ago I noticed a small drip of fluid under my 98 Durango and quickly discovered that I needed a new steering gear box. No problem. I picked up a rebuilt gear and took it, and my Durango, to a mechanic I've used many times. When he returned my rig all was in order except the steering wheel is now a full quarter turn off center. Parts of the wheel that are suppose to be horizontal are now completely vertical. I asked if he might have reconnected the the shaft a few splines off center, but he insists that it is keyed so there is only one way to connect it. He suggested the gear was probably rebuilt wrong. Needless to say I am skeptical.

What do you guys think?

 

Haven't worked on the durango steering yet but I believe that the steering wheel should have been centered before reconnecting the pitman arm?

 

something is definitely wrong there, should not be an issue to connect the wheel in the correct orientation

 

Take it back and have him redo. If he doesn't want to, take it to another mechanic and have them do it. Document the procedure and show him the correct way, then demand your money back. If he refuses, contact the BBB.

 

There is an adjustment and I think a TSB for that. Look at the service manual. Anyway there is a master key spline on the pitman that must be lined up. I will try and find them later as I don't have time right now.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...rm-issues.html

 

An alignment could just be needed. It could have been aligned previously with the already wearing gear box and was correctly adjusted for it but not your new one. ANY time steering components are taken apart, its ALWAYS recommended to have an alignment done. Partly for this very reason, and mostly for correct tire wear. Not saying he didnt do something wrong, but this is a possibility. If he says he aligned the front end, then I would definately throw a fit, and be worried about driving it.

It really doesnt take much at any adjustment point in all the steering linkage to throw the wheel position way off. One thread turn of a tie rod can put your wheel off to the side like that. Hope you can get it looked at by a professional soon for your safety and peace of mind.

 

I recently installed a new steering box in my 98 Durango. I can confirm that the shaft from the steering wheel to the gear box is keyed, also your steering wheel to the shaft is keyed as well. Didn't swap pitman arms for my install so I didn't pay attention to it but that is probably keyed too if I had to guess.

If the worm gear in your steering box slipped a tooth or was put together wrong like that, it could very well cause that problem. Turn your wheel lock to lock and see if it ends up in the same position left to right, if it doesn't then your box might be misadjusted or built wrong.

And exactly as oklahoma said, small adjustments from the pitman arm to the tie rods will cause a large rotation in your steering wheel, but it's not a good band-aid fix if your steering box is the problem.

 

That put all the pieces together for me. I know where to start looking now. Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

I have the same exact problem with my 99 durango 4x4. My steering gear box was leaking and I had some play in the steering wheel so i changed it. I've tried four different gear boxes from three different stores and my steering wheel is still way out of whack. The first one from advanced auto parts was 180 degrees out, the second one from advanced was 90 degrees out, then i got one at autozone, it was also 90 degrees out, then the last one at napa, and it is also 90 degrees out. I've talked to a bunch of mechanic shops and they all tell me that the gear box was remanufactured wrong too. They also told me that most of those gear boxes are remaned at the same place. I dont know what to do, im VERY puzzled. oh, and BTW the pitam arm does have four master splines but theres only one way it can go and still line up with the drag link, the steering U joint shaft is D shaped so it can only go one way too and the steering wheel also has a master spline.

 

I finally found out what the problem was on my steering gear situation. The new pitman arm that I got at advanced auto was obviously manufactured wrong. I took the pitman arm to napa and compared it to one they had, the master splines were over a quarter inch off on the pitman arm that I got at advanced....I cant believe it.......Shes all put back together now: the steering wheel is still a little to the left but nothing a good alignment cant fix.