Hi All,

This is my first post here, nice site you have built up ...

A neighbor gave my 16 year old son a 1987 D100 pickup truck and the steering wheel is VERY very loose on it. I had my local guy look at the front end and I had it aligned. That fixed some of the wandering to the right but did nothing for the big adjustments needed at the steering wheel itself. It is so loose I won't let him drive it for safety reasons ... I am not a DIY'er and was hoping someone here could tell me if this is a well known problem with these trucks and what needs replacing/rebuilding??

I "assume" it is the steering box itself but you know what they say about assuming anything ;-)

Any & all help is appreciated

Michael

 

Have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth slowly while you look at the whole system one piece at a time. You will be able to see where the response to the wheels movement is lagging. Let us know what you find.

I find it hard to believe that a reputable alignment shop would have charged you for an alignment with the knowledge that the truck has this type of problem. The shop I use does not hesitate to show me what is wrong and actually refuses to do an alignment until either they or I fix the problem. They have never even charged me to point out the problem. Find a reputable shop because those people are crooks.

 

maybe the steering coupler,the part the steering shaft goes into that attaches to the steering box??? these are noted for wearing out. parts to rebuild are about $20. or a perm. fix is a BORGESON steering shaft. good luck.

 

Hey Aje, where the heck have you been? I sent you a PM the other day.

Anyways, I was wondering if the Borgeson is adjustable for length.

 

hey sixgun, yes the BORGESON shaft is adjustable for lenth,it is a slide. so that would be good if someone wanted to lift their truck.

 

yeah the couplers are pretty common for these, i replaced mine with a dealer shaft/coupler, cost me about 170$ and i lifted my truck 3 inches about 2 years after replacing that so i wonder if a borgeson one would have made a difference when doing that??? but anyways i also had bad tie rod ends on my truck too, so thats something else to look at. but even after all of that my steering is still a little loose, i guess thats what happens with 200,000+ miles of wear and tear

 

... but you all were kind enough to respond and I thought I should bring this thread up to date

First, it is a vehicle that gets very little use and has taken awhile to get to this point ... with money spent but no solution yet

The mechanic did what was suggested here ... lifted it and found play in shaft before the steering box ... he ordered and installed the rebuild kit but it didn't really help ... he said the small coupler box was rounded off from the inside so the new square rebuild pieces still moved around inside it

... just talked to the folks at Borgson and a new shaft and rubber disk is on the way.

Thank you to everyone who has commented so far ... hopefully these parts fix my problem (I'll be sure to tell ya ;-)

Michael

 

The coupler housing is also available from O'rielly & A-zone, most like have to order it though.

 

can you post a part number? thanks. i am ready to do mine.

 

on my truck i find all the play is in the steering gear box. the whole front end on my truck was tight. i have yet to tighten it up.