Wandering loose steering and wheel bearings

[Thundergun]

Hey Guys!

Well i'm dangerously close to making progress on my K10. Got the rear end in, brakes bled and new radiator installed. She runs good, but needs some front end work and i could really use input here.

Wandering / Loose steering - big time. Kinda scary actually. What are some steps i can do to diagnose and attempt to fix this? New ball joints? New bushings - which ones? Where to buy? Replace the front wheel bearings? new steering stabilizer? (mine leaks pretty good)

Front wheel bearings - With the tires off the ground, there is a lot of 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock slop. You can grab the top and bottom and rock back and forth pretty good. That's the wheel bearings right? needs replacement right? And this could contribute to wandering steering?

I should add it has a 4" lift with 33" tires.

Sorry for the 20 questions but any input is very much appreciated!!!

Thanks!!

[CipherLogic]

Lift the front end and have some one turning the wheel.

Things to check.

Pitman Arm.
Inner and outer tie rod ends.
Upper and lower ball joints.
Wheel bearings.

These can all be visually inspected and if there is play in them, replace them. All are fairly cheap to replace, some more labor intensive than others and can all lead to slop in your steering.

There is also some bushings in the actual steering column parts but these generally aren't going to fail before the others.

[Thundergun]

Great, thank you very much for the info.

I will get some help and try and locate the slop. that makes perfect sense.

[Dan75k20]

Check your steering box bolts if they are loose this will cause wandering. Also ball joints and tierod ends will cause wandering ,

[roundhouse]

Get a friend to saw the wheel back and forth while you examine every part of the steering with a bright flashlight

We just rebuilt a 77K10 and there was a little bit of slop in the wheel bearings. Some in the upper and lower ball joints and some in the tie rod ends and some in the drag link


Good luck finding these parts that are not made in china

I dont trust  made in china crap for something as important as the steering linkage

Napa was finally able to find it all American made but it wasn't easy

YouTube has plenty of vids showing how to do it all

Might want to plan on doing the u joints in the axle shaft  while you have it out
And be sure after you test drive it to jack it up again and check the wheel bearing preload
Sometimes it feels right  and after a test drive the race will shift a little and the bearing will be loose again

Have fun with the locking washers on the manual hubs

Getting the holes in the lock washer
Lined up with the little tit  is fun fun fun

[Thundergun]

Great thank you for the reply's.

It sounds like i have my work cut out for me (newb), but i look forward to it.

I was hoping it would be something easy, but the truck is old and i'm sure several parts need inspection/replacing. I found a receipt that the wheel bearings were done in 2007, which is almost ... 7 years ago! Talking to others, sounds like that is way over due.

I haven't done wheel bearings or ball joints, but i know there are some write ups on here and some youtube video's.

Thanks again.

[CipherLogic]

Great thank you for the reply's.

It sounds like i have my work cut out for me (newb), but i look forward to it.

I was hoping it would be something easy, but the truck is old and i'm sure several parts need inspection/replacing. I found a receipt that the wheel bearings were done in 2007, which is almost ... 7 years ago! Talking to others, sounds like that is way over due.

I haven't done wheel bearings or ball joints, but i know there are some write ups on here and some youtube video's.

Thanks again.

For the ball joints, you will need a pickle fork, if you can, a pickle fork air hammer. Some times they fall out(rarely), some times a couple hammer blows, but almost always you are going to have to beat the living crap out of it, that's why an air hammer is preferred, but a standard pickle fork and sledge hammer will usually get it done.

Tie rod ends, if they are the same length, count the rotations when unscrewing them and screw the new ones on the same amount of turns, it may not be perfect alignment, but from what you say, i'm betting the alignment is most likely already out.

Wheel bearings, pack them really well. You can either use a bearing packer or pack them by hand, you can probably find a video to pack them by hand, it's just messier by hand, **Stay away from dirt and grit!**

Pitman arm, mark where it is when you pull it off with a paint pen on the spline/arm and you will need a puller tool.

All these tools can be rented from most any parts house.

[Dan75k20]

Ball joints are not fun to do . Roundhouse what about moog chasis parts ?

[roundhouse]

Ball joints are not fun to do . Roundhouse what about moog chasis parts ?

You'll just have to look in their computer or on the box when it shows up

I just told the clerk to find me some that were made in the USA

If the box said made In china I wasn't gonna accept them

I don't think i still have the boxes.  Lemme check

I had to get the wheel bearings from Grainger special order to get made in USA

The only wheel bearings available from auto parts stores for a Dana 44 are all made in china now

And as much trouble as it is to change the ball joints and bearings   I didn't want to try and save $40 by using china crap

I didn't have much success using the ball joint press
I would up just finding a length of pipe and knocking them out with a hammer

And tapping them back in with a hammer and pipe

I didn't pull the pitman arm
Just the drag link

You will need to buy the special socket to remove the spindle nut if it's 4wd

Mine was a real PITA
One of the spindles was damaged
Apparently the spindle nut came loose or the bearings wore out badly leaving some looseness and the previous owner kept driving it
The hub moved around enough to damage the threads on the end of the spindle

And got hot enough to melt the plastic knob in the center of the locking hub

[Dan75k20]

I guess I'm close enough to canton Ohio to still get Torrington bearings made in Ohio I don't like China made parts either

[dvdswan]

you could always take the knuckle to a machine shop and have them put the ball joints in.  IIRC, there is a snap ring for the ball joints... at least for the dana 44.  also, Autozone and other parts stores have ball joint install kits to rent.

[pholliday1]

A little tip......... When repacking wheel bearings place the bearing and grease inside a zip lock bag and then knead the grease into the bearings with your thumbs. Add more grease to your  bag as needed. No MESS!!!

[Thundergun]

A little tip......... When repacking wheel bearings place the bearing and grease inside a zip lock bag and then knead the grease into the bearings with your thumbs. Add more grease to your  bag as needed. No MESS!!!

Thanks!

[Thundergun]

Ball joints are not fun to do . Roundhouse what about moog chasis parts ?

You'll just have to look in their computer or on the box when it shows up

I just told the clerk to find me some that were made in the USA

If the box said made In china I wasn't gonna accept them

I don't think i still have the boxes.  Lemme check

I had to get the wheel bearings from Grainger special order to get made in USA

The only wheel bearings available from auto parts stores for a Dana 44 are all made in china now

And as much trouble as it is to change the ball joints and bearings   I didn't want to try and save $40 by using china crap

I didn't have much success using the ball joint press
I would up just finding a length of pipe and knocking them out with a hammer

And tapping them back in with a hammer and pipe

I didn't pull the pitman arm
Just the drag link

You will need to buy the special socket to remove the spindle nut if it's 4wd

Mine was a real PITA
One of the spindles was damaged
Apparently the spindle nut came loose or the bearings wore out badly leaving some looseness and the previous owner kept driving it
The hub moved around enough to damage the threads on the end of the spindle

And got hot enough to melt the plastic knob in the center of the locking hub

Thanks Roadhouse. Do you know what size that special socket is that i need? I watched a few video's, and the first thing i am going to try is to tighten up the spindle/hub nut and locknut. They didn't say what size the socket was either. I went to my local parts house and they had a socket there for '6 lug 4x4 Bearing Lock Nuts PN 67037'. the guy said it was for Dana 70's. I have a 10 bolt, which i believe is a corporate?

Anyways if anyone knows the size / type of that socket it would be much appreciated.

Thanks again everyone!

[roundhouse]

Not sure about the socket. It's large. About the diameter of a beer can with 4 prongs inside

Mine is a Dana 44 , which a 80 isnt supposed to have    but it's a different size than the Dana 44 on my bronco

I'd buy a couple different ones and return the one that doesn't fit

You will also need a couple of dental picks or tiny screwdrivers with a hook bent in the tip
To remove the locknuts a million times

It's time consuming to get them lined up right