well lucky me driving home thursday i blow the lower seal on my steering gear box...limp my poor truck home..

truck is a 2003 F150 King Ranch
anyway, stole the wifes car got some fluid, dumped it in...it poured straight out the pitman arm (i finally know what that is now...lol)

so i jump online to see what needs to be done to rectify this...find a couple threads here to help me along...

well my pitman was a serious PITA to break loose....in fact i had to take the endlink out of the centre bar dodad, undo the lines, disconect the steering column and put the darn thing in a vise and impact the poop out of it with the puller...well in doing all this i managed to wipe the marks off that i made..great now what!!!, anyway go get a new seal kit, and lucky me a new pitman arm too, since i destroyed the end of it trying to break it out of the centre bar...

press in the new seal, reinstall the pitman arm as close to were i could remember it came off....(SIDE NOTE, stupid engineers, why not design it with one key instead of four equidistant around the spline) anyway...reinstall it back into the steering column, reinstall the mounting bracket, pry the suspension to get the end back in the centre bar...tourque it all back together, jack her up refill the fluid, lock to lock several times to get the fluid bled through....start her up lock to lock...woohoo i have steering again...

WAIT A MINUTE...why the heck is the wheel kalkeyed?
great something went backin slightly twisted...so i undo the steering column again and try to re allign the wheel...no go...i would have to do a good couple turns to get it to line up (and i read somewhere not to turn the wheel while it is disengaged) so i put the column back in the gear....scratch my head for a second well maybe the pitman arm is off by 90 degrees thanks to the dumbness of the spline keys...so i pop the pitman again...this time i was able to do it with a tierod separator while still installed inthe truck...thank goodness...so pitman is off, go turn the wheel so it is straight...no go it only moved the gear about 2mm not a full 90 degrees like i was hoping...so i put it back together the way it was and that is how my truck sits..

took it for a test drive anyway...it is a work truck i really need to keep it on the road...the truck drives perfectly straight, no flop in the wheels, no drag to either side...so i think the wheel alignment is okay...however; will an alignment shop be able to straighten my wheel? i really dont want to break the clock spring and god knows what else in the steering wheel..

or is there something else you guys can suggest i try first before going to get an alignment? bad enough i lost 9 hours friday putting the thing back together, i really dont want it sitting in a shop for a good couple hours either..please please please help...

 

Welcome to the site..

Sounds like it gave you a struggle.

Usually its not a bad job.

If you have/had a 'pitman puller' (even if the pinch on the shaft was tight) usually if you screw the center portion down tight and us a brass mallet ect and give the center shaft of the puller a good 'bump' they break loose pretty easy. Sometimes you have to to re~adjust and give it a bump again. Most come off with no 'extra' help. A forked tierod seperator (? if used) may/maynot be able to handle the push. The 4 spline isnt an issue if the steering wheel was centered/locked, and the tires straight forward . You can't install it off center if the two are correct, or close to, and the box is centered. A good practice is to leave the arm loose until its ready to connect/torque. The spline and input yoke are notched, and hard to get off when inserted. A guess would be that the wheel was rotated at some point during the repair.. If the centering/alignment was changed during the disconnect at the coupler it may make the steering wheel of some, but should be easily seen by the amount of adjustment change needed to reconnect..

If your certain the steering wheel wasn't rotated, then I'd double check the input shaft, and that the box is centered during both the pitman and input connects...

 

i think that is what has me really messed up...off the get go...i had the wheels turned to the drivers side, as i wasnt aware it would be an issue...clearly it was, now the steering wheel sits as though it is cranked to the drivers side though the wheels are straight...the steering wheel might very well have moved as it wasnt locked for some reason..i thought it was, though i cant imagine it turned itself around during the process...everything is fairly easy to pull apart again, what do you figure i should do to try and correct this...

the steering wheel is off by about 90 degrees to the drivers side

gonna have to walk me through this i am fairly new to the underside of this truck...do i need to jack it up again?what should i try spinning and where? what should i try disconnecting?

sorry iam not really a car guy, just a struggling landscaper...though i have done my share of repairs..

thanks for the reply and any help...and yeah i made things super difficult for myself by taking the mounting screws out first before cracking the nut on the pitman arm...meh live and learn...i just hate learning the hard way...and yeah i bought a pitman puller, could get it on the arm without taking the gearbox halfway out, then i couldnt get my impact gun on it, so i had to take it right out..apparently when parts are covered in grease and PS fluid, magic marker and soap stone marks dont stick...next time i will hit it with a dremmel

 

Well,,

The steering wheel and column are like a tire outa balance, meaning if its not locked or secured once its disconnected from the box it will 'turn over' on its own to find the larger weight amounts now down low.. Usually the shape/design of the steering wheel will cause the column to rotate on over. Gravity

If you raise the vehicle and center the wheels, then rotate the steering 'lock to lock' (stops) the rotation 'counts' should be equals. If the steering wheel is offset, watch the 'starting' angle/position of the steering wheel when you check counts. If the rotations are the same, and the wheels end up straight again when the steering is centered (by counts not steering wheel) then the pitman and drag connector are correct, or close. If the count is off, check the pitman and connector/s. If the wheels are straight, the rotations are equal, and just the steering wheel is off center (significantly) then look at the input area. The drag connect can make for some wheel offset, but usually you can see where it 'was' before, and 90 degrees even easier.. If the input is already disconnected, then you can again rotate count the box and end up in the center. The wheels should again be 'straight ahead'.. If not check the drag connector.

 

is the drag connector the "U" joint in the steering column?

what do you mean by rotate count the box if the input is disconected...if the input is disconnected wont the steering wheel be free to travel? and i would have to manually turn the tires left right to rotate the input shaft in the box..?

i will start by jacking her up and counting rotations left and right...and see if they are equal...which i am sure they are not..

 

Didnt catch the year you were working on and I was thinking the drag link had an adjusting sleeve (connector). 03 does not. The input shaft u joint coupler isn't part of the drag link. The drag link is the part you called the 'center bar dodad'..

I meant if you happened to have the u joint already disconnected you could turn the input shaft at the steering box to check the rotations or count both ways. Same with the steering wheel.

 

ahhh i see...how do i turn the input shaft on the gear box? it is only an inch or so long and 1/2" diameter, and the flat spots arent opposite one and other, otherwise i could put a wrench on it..

i will try the other stuff shortly and see where that gets me, then check back in...

thank you very much for your patience and help..

 

Okay, i have jacked the whole front end of the truck up with wheels straight...magically my steering wheel is straight now too..

from the centred position full lock to the drivers side is 1.5 turns( the steering wheel ford logo ends up upside down), back to centre, and then full lock passenger side is about 1.25 turns (the steering wheel ford logo ends up vertical)

when i turn the wheels back to straight the steering wheel appears to be straight...when i drop the truck back on the ground the steering wheel goes kalkeyed again...

to me this is more an alignment issue and not off centred splines..(since the splines would have to be way off, to be off, wouldnt they?)

i dont know though what do you guys think?

 

Since you asked,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
A good alignment shop will first center the steering wheel and lock it there.
Then they should check the air in the tires and adjust as required, providing tires are decent.
They will then correct whatever you have out of line and proceed to perform the rest of any alignment procedures required. There may be an additional charge to remove the steering wheel assy to insure the clock spring isn't damaged and in the correct position. Many so called "alignment joints" can't or won't do this, so be sure to choose a GOOD one. If your air bag light hasn't started flashing any code to you yet,you may be lucky the clock spring has not been broken.

 

thank you...i dont think the clock spring has been broken...everything seems to be good so far i think...no CEL anyway yet...i will take it tomorrow and see what they say...i am worried this will cost a boat load though...

out of curiosity, how does the shop centre the wheel? it it done with an adjustment in the gear box?

thanks again...

my indicators still work...however when i put the right on it seems to fight me like when you have the wheel half turned and try to put it on..