ok today im gonna try to fix the play in my steering its about 3" of play i tried last week and was curious if you guys had any trouble busting the lock nut loose. i read the DIY and tried the rust buster soak and nothing. just curious if i have to be gentle with it or can i use a wrench and hammer. also do i need the air dam thing on the bottom of my bumper? thanx for the help. also they cuaght the guy stealing the cats!!!!

 

I used a 5/8" box wrench and tapped it with a hammer and it finally came loose.
I tightened mine down all the way and backed it out about 3 full turns. Be sure to keep the allen wrench in there when you tighten the lock nut up, this will prevent it from turning the screw.
its still a tad snug for my taste, but it took "some" of the slop out. Guessing it took about 1-2" inches of slop out. I stillhave 1" of play, guessing the linkage in the steering column and the trac bar.. I will look more at the linkage another time. i need to also replace my trac-bar before winter comes.

 

sweet ill try that that tomarrow then. i ran out of time going apartment hunting YAY![sm=violent053.gif]

 

see if you can get a socket and long ratchet/pull bar/piece of pipe on it to break it loose. a hammer can cause the wrench to fly off and knock the crap out of you.

the lower valence/air dam thingy is optional. my ST (plain) model didn't have one

 

yeah!! i tightened up the steering today, changed my plugs, and took the air dam off. truck (i think) looks, drives, and feels much better! now it doesnt look so close to the ground. hard to beleive 2" makes that much of a difference. steering feels much better, i can actually keep it on the road now. and the plugs didnt look that bad but i think they havent been changed in awhile( previous owner) but it runs much smoother.

 

congrats. now on to bigger and better repairs.