dieselfuel007 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 I’m working on our 03 granite this winter and I resealed the input shaft on the steering box put all new lines on it except for the pressure line and one new u joint on the steering shaft and now the steering is easy and then hard the whole time you steer it back and forth so I swapped the part of the shaft that I replaced the u joint out with one off another truck didn’t help so I put on a reman steering box still didn’t help also change the filter I’m out of ideas other than kingpins also the last guy that drove it before it come in the shop said it was fine before we worked on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 when you changed one u=joint on the steering shaft, did you disassemble the shaft? if you did. were the u-joints lined up on reinstall. the collar and slip shaft should have small arrows to line up. shaft u-joints can cause a binding if misaligned 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyx610 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 I’ve seen/experienced power steering pump taking a shit when steering gets hard and soft turning the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 with the box centered, is the steering wheel straight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyx610 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 20 minutes ago, dieselfuel007 said: I’m working on our 03 granite this winter and I resealed the input shaft on the steering box put all new lines on it except for the pressure line and one new u joint on the steering shaft and now the steering is easy and then hard the whole time you steer it back and forth so I swapped the part of the shaft that I replaced the u joint out with one off another truck didn’t help so I put on a reman steering box still didn’t help also change the filter I’m out of ideas other than kingpins also the last guy that drove it before it come in the shop said it was fine before we worked on it Gotta love the “it was fine until you worked on it “ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 17 minutes ago, Onyx610 said: Gotta love the “it was fine until you worked on it “ pay close attention to the last sentence, sounds like something my wife would say , no offence. it was fine till WE worked on it !! not till "you worked on it " Ony LOL 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyx610 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 1 minute ago, mechohaulic said: pay close attention to the last sentence, sounds like something my wife would say , no offence. it was fine till WE worked on it !! not till "you worked on it " Ony LOL 😄 Lmfao! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 have to question why the quick change of lower steer shaft with another spare after u-joint . possible rollers slipped in one of the caps during install on first shaft installing a spare didn't line up the u-joints creating a bind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 ok,, done laughing,, too funny... if the steering shaft was pulled out of the slip yoke, it may have been put back 90 degrees off.. is the shaft a 4 spline shaft? if so, it may be 1/4 turn off... if it goes 'easy-hard-easy-hard' good chance im right... been there done that, probably will again... jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackpro Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 People think steering shaft u-joints should be lined up perfectly like drive line u-joints. They should not be lined up. If you line them up , they all break over at the same time causing the easy-hard-easy -hard feeling in the steering wheel. Also If you have the set up with a bearing bracket mounted on the steering gear . There should be a sliding collar under the bearing with a set screw. Loosen the set screw and slide the collar down a little to ease up the pressure on the bearing and try . I always mark every piece before I disassemble because I’ve put several back together and had the same problem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 so i guess he took the 2 u-joints apart at the steering box. one should have a cut out in the shaft so that the pinch bolt is put bac in the correct spot. the other has a groove all the way around for steering wheel aim.. those 2 u-joints are not to be phased, like a drive shaft. and really they cant be due to the cut out in the short shaft. and heck yeah, mark the parts before tear down. jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 there should still be the line up arrows ? too late now for that . based on info given the steering shaft sounds to be the culprit ? yes/no. on a 4spline not much choice for mis install, i did see (yrs ago) a binding steering system which has the shaft misaligned. it was a multi spline not a 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselfuel007 Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 Yes it has staking bolts in the shaft I removed and the other end has four splines I have the three joint steering shaft with the carrier bearing i replaced the middle joint in that shaft everything thing else on the shaft seemed to be good the reason I swapped the steering shaft with one off the other truck was I thought I might have bent a ear on the yoke installing the u joint I even installed the steering shaft I was working on in the other truck and it steered fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 if you replace the top u-joint at the steering box, did you happen to flip the shaft yoke 180 degrees? and/or did you put the steering shaft in 90 degrees off? Thats all i can think of, if this is a steering issue and not a kingpin issue.. jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark T Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 14 hours ago, Mackpro said: People think steering shaft u-joints should be lined up perfectly like drive line u-joints. They should not be lined up. If you line them up , they all break over at the same time causing the easy-hard-easy -hard feeling in the steering wheel. Also If you have the set up with a bearing bracket mounted on the steering gear . There should be a sliding collar under the bearing with a set screw. Loosen the set screw and slide the collar down a little to ease up the pressure on the bearing and try . I always mark every piece before I disassemble because I’ve put several back together and had the same problem. I'm finding out that on some newer trucks, this is even the case on certain drivelines. More important than ever to mark stuff before disassembly , and mark in a lasting non aggressive way like electric pencil that isn't bash'n it with a punch and won't wash off or fall off during moving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselfuel007 Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 I don’t think I could have put anything back different than it was it had staking bolts at the gear box at the top of the short shaft and up at where the shaft comes down from the column and the steering wheel is back where it was the only thing I’ve noticed is the yokes on the short shaft aren’t parallel there off just a bit probably if one’s at 12:00 the other is at 1:00 on our other truck they are in line .the mount on the steering box is a little different or I would try to swap it to.the weld that holds the short shaft into the bottom yoke at the steering box doesn’t look quite factory is it possible that the slack in the wore out u joint kept it from binding from someone welding the shaft in the bottom yoke a little out of phase if that makes sense to anyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 so regarding phasing, those 2 u-joints at the box are not to be phased.. they are offset from birth.. It sounds like you have a good working knowledge of your truck, If the weld is suspicious, then maybe thats the issue. I believe you said you tried it on another truck and it worked fine.. one other thing? your box has a large yoke bolted to the top of the steering box, with a bearing in it. is it in the proper place? just curious? jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselfuel007 Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 I removed the whole shaft but didn’t disassemble the lower shaft carrier bearing etc I can move it probably a spline each way and still get the staking bolt in should I try to get them out of phase as much as possible . It just seemed odd that one u joint was shot and the others were tight wondering if the weld on the short shaft was some repair done that cause the first u joint the bind a wear prematurely i’m I think my next move is going remove the short shaft and carrier from the other truck and try it also going to verify that all the lines are installed the same as the other truck I’m out of other ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 it is a heck of an angle on that steering shaft,, I have replaced a boat load of those u-joints due to excessive wear... grease is great, but the stress on them is greater... jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post dieselfuel007 Posted March 13, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 13, 2022 I figured it out I think it was assembled wrong the last time someone had it apart. I made all the u joint the same as the other truck that has the same setup which made my steering wheel 90 degrees off then I took it loose at the steering box and recentered it I was rereading everybody comments and when looking at the shaft it was just like mackpro said they are like an 1/8 of a turn off I’ve been so frustrated with this I’m glad it’s fixed thanks guys 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Yes sir. I thought so... glad you got it fixed.. Jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 1 hour ago, dieselfuel007 said: I figured it out I think it was assembled wrong the last time someone had it apart. I made all the u joint the same as the other truck that has the same setup which made my steering wheel 90 degrees off then I took it loose at the steering box and recentered it I was rereading everybody comments and when looking at the shaft it was just like mackpro said they are like an 1/8 of a turn off I’ve been so frustrated with this I’m glad it’s fixed thanks guys and thank you for giving this forum an update and a positive repair made one at that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark T Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 1 hour ago, dieselfuel007 said: I figured it out I think it was assembled wrong the last time someone had it apart. I made all the u joint the same as the other truck that has the same setup which made my steering wheel 90 degrees off then I took it loose at the steering box and recentered it I was rereading everybody comments and when looking at the shaft it was just like mackpro said they are like an 1/8 of a turn off I’ve been so frustrated with this I’m glad it’s fixed thanks guys Not many guys on here haven't been through the same thing or something very close to it . Very easy to get tripped up when working on that. Bet it'll be the last time like all the rest of us who've done it.... myself included 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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