I have a 2001 Ram 1500 SLT 4WD. The entire front end has been rebuilt ( ball joints, tie rod ends, control arms, stabilizer, and much more) by a local shop. I was still not satisfied with the play in the steering and went ahead and replaced the steering gearbox myself with a reman gearbox. The play in the wheel is greatly improved and the vehicle is very drive-able BUT there is still perhaps 1" of play in the steering wheel. I am well aware of the adjustment screw on the gearbox and used this adjustment on my previous steering gearbox to tighten up the play. Figured the adjustment was simply closing up the mechanical gap between the worm gear and the hub gear. there is no play in the steering shaft or knuckle from the steering wheel. I was about to proceed with adjusting the screw on the gearbox, however when digging into the shop manual I have learned this adjustment is defined as PITMAN SHAFT OVER-CENTER PRELOAD and is recommended to be performed with the gearbox removed. ( see picture form manual below)

The questions I have for the group:
(1) was it a bad assumption to think the reman gearbox was set to factory standards? ( there were torque stripes on the adjuster nut)
(2) am I chasing an unrealistic result?
(3) Do dare adjust this new gearbox as done previously by seeking elimination of steering wheel play or should I adhere to the workshop manual procedure?
(4) Will setting the Pitman shaft over-center preload effectively result in no play at the steering wheel or is the small amount of play indicative of these 2nd Gen Ram 1500's ??

Page 19-18 from manual

 

If you have the T steering, (tie-rod, long bar, tie-rod, that the drag link hits over toward the passenger side) you are likely experiencing tie-rod roll..... which is almost impossible to get rid of. Various companies make 'washers' of various materials that go in place of the tie-rod boots, to prevent the tie-rod from rolling, and that works halfway decent at least.

If you have the inverted Y steering, then adjusting the box on the truck will work. I have never bothered to remove a steering box for that adjustment. FSM wants it removed to make the SECOND adjustment. Which is almost impossible to do accurately in the truck.

 

1) yes, bad ASSumption
2) probably, most reman boxes are junk
3) I absolutely have done it on fresh O'Reilly remans with zero improvement
4) shooting for zero play is admirable but unlikely. Next time order a reman from Cancraft outta BC, although I have no idea if recent tariffs have made this unrealistic (not stating an opinion either way)

 

The reman steering boxes have been brought up a bunch of times here. They reuse the steering gears, Worn gears = slop. Nothing you can do about it but get a new steering box. Most of the wear is in the center of the gear so you need to adjust it full left or right lock. If you adjust it in the middle it will bind when you turn it full lock. If it's a reman they probably already did those adjustments and what you have is the best they could get it.

 

Actually, tolerances are tighter over center... if you adjust it so it's reasonable at full lock, chances are good, you won't be able to turn it past center..... depending on how worn the gears are....

 

Thanks for the feedback & wisdom...I think during my upcoming engine swap, I'll remove the gearbox and check the over center torque values on the bench and compare them to the factory specs, then adjust if required.