Torque is to spec.

I tried this today. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Okay, I'm going absolutely crazy. About to set the stupid thing on fire. Just filled it up so it will burn a long time.

I went to Lowes and got some rubber washers and steel washers. I took each side down of the tie rods and put 2 rubber and 1 steel washers on then retightened. Guess what? It took out the play. No more rotation. Stays nice and level.

But now. . . . . .

There's a nice dead spot in the steering worse than before. It steers as bad as it did last year. No improvement. No return. No fix.

There

is


no


hope.

 

I called Redhead a couple weeks ago, told them there was play, and they shipped a new box over night no questions asked.

Got it installed last weekend and it is definitely better. No squeaking, no binding feel. Turns lighter on low speed. But still doesn't want to return. It has decent return from left, barely any from right. I also left off the DSS and put the stock nut on.

There's no play going down the road. It also bled way better. The old box would shoot fluid out of the reservoir. The new one sucked it in. Methinks they had a bad valve or something. Just wish I could get solid return and pressure.

I test drove an 05 cummins with 35s and it sprung right back to 12 oclock when you let go. Why I can't get that has me and my mechanic/engineer friends stumped. But for now, its okay. I'm taking my annual Christmas trip from Seattle to MN on Sunday (3700 miles round) so hopefully it loosens up a bit.

Still not convinced of this T steering. It has noticeable bump steer that the Y never had. Right now I have the stabilizer off and the DSS off so the box can break in by itself.

 

Be careful, we are supposed to get hit with a decent blizzard here in ND on sunday. You may not make it to Minnesota if you are coming through Sunday. They are saying 12" for us in central ND.

 

That should make for a fun road trip........

@Ramman18: Drive gently man. Have a safe trip.

 

Thanks, guys. I make this trip every year (since 2001) and there's always a storm or blizzard all over the news. So I'm not worried yet. Worst case I stay in a hotel, which is much better than stuck in an airport!

 

Well the blizzard hit hard. As far as your steering Ramman there is something wrong going way back to the first change, as if you haven't figured that out, it may be worth while to get a factory track bar and start over with all oem pieces. Sounds like someone really screwed it up when they tried to install it. Just out of curiosity does it crab down the street or is it square?

 

Made the trip fine since I waited a day. SD just had a little hard pack. The steering is much better on the road and is actually almost too tight. It makes me oversteer pretty easily. No noticeable 'break-in' now that its been on over 1000 miles.

The return still has be befuddled though. I installed the track bar back in the day and it is aligned to the eye perfectly, even after the lift. I can't go back to stock bar with 3" lift. Besides, there should be enough power steering to turn the wheels no matter the alignment, right? I mean, big meaty tires on other trucks don't affect it, why should a little mis-alignment? I have also aligned it to spec many times. There is nothing that anybody says can be done at a shop. Toe is to zero, caster is to spec, and everything visually checks out. But I did wash all the salt off and it looks brand new!

 

Toe should actually be about 1/4".

 

Check your steering stabilizer, mine didn't really want to return but it did. When I put a new one on it improved. However that one is trashed at just over a year old, it was a rancho 5000 series. I may go with a bilstein.

 

Last time I had toe in was when it pulled to the right for 3 years until I zero-ed it out. That was in 2012. No stabilizer installed currently. Just T steering and a Redhead. It's as basic as it gets.