Lockers and Manual Steering....

On the trail last weekend for opening deer here in AZ and when the weekend was done, my steering has about 1 full turn of play. Highway driving is very difficult and forget about any more offroading. I am pretty sure the new locker in the front D30 blew out my manual steering gear box.

3 questions.....

1) Has anyone ever experienced this?
2) If I replace the gear box w/ another standard manual box, will it just happen again?
3) Any recommendations to prevent this in the future?

Thanks Y'all!

 

1) No
2) No
3) ?
If you haven't already performed a very close inspection of the steering components, I would do so.
Something could be amiss with the bellcoupler:
A) Shaft splines stripped out, lock bolt missing
B) Bearings broken
C) Intermediate shaft cross pins broken (inside bell coupler)

Inspect the u-joint where the two steering shafts meet.
Inspect the pitman arm and the splines there as well; look for looseness or play.
Turn the wheel while you or someone else watches the steering components.
This is assuming all your steering components are still factory stock.

I'm more to believe something was bad or going bad before your hunting weekend.
The steering set-up from the factory is more than adequate and I seriously doubt that the locker alone caused the problem.

 

:iagree: Most likely something was already on its way out. The locker puts more stress on components but won't "take it out" so to speak. It can show weak spots that are already there though.

 

Thanks guys, I'm on the case. Stay tuned!

 

PS or MS both deal with the same strain for a given tire size and locker. Your steering shaft will be under more strain with manual steering, though. I suspect your trouble is between the steering wheel and steering gear.

 

Hi All..

Haven't had much time to mess with rig but when I crawled underneath it was apparent in about 2.5 seconds what the problem was.....







I'm guessing I should just replace all the brackets.

 

Ah yes, you have a '76 or newer CJ from the pics. Common problem with the steering box bracket. M.O.R.E. manufactures a quality much, much stronger replacement for that. I'd recommend upgrading....

 

Eeesh, called MORE. They do not have any brackets for a manual steering box.

 

http://www.mountainoffroad.com/_e/S.../SB7686/SB7686_CJ_Steering_Box_Mount_H_D_.htm

Bet it would work with a manual box though. IIRC the manual boxes just have one less mounting point on them....
Might double check that with Timgr or Jpflat2a but I'm pretty sure this would work.

I'm sure they said that because they don't manufacture one specifically for the manual steering box.

 

Manual boxes have three mounting points, two on the bottom, one on top.

Uh, yeah, that's not gonna buff right out......

 

Yes, same pattern, just one less tab. Should work fine.

 

manual should work with the power bracket, you just won't be using one of the box mounting holes in the bracket.
that's my bet.

 

Hi All!

I had some time this afternoon (not too common this time of year!) and decided to get that steering bracket fixed. I took everyone's advice and picked up the HD bracket, rather than just replacing the OEM. Things worked out fine. There was some slight adjustments needed....i.e...some field calibrations with a hammer and completely remove my winch, but all in all not too bad. I have included some pics of what the old brackets looked like when I removed them and what the new one looks like.

Finally, there is a frame stabilizer that comes with the HD bracket, but I could not use it w/out taking too much off for it to fit and frankly I was getting tired. If you feel it is that important, let me know, otherwise I'm going to toss it in the box with all the other spare parts I have.

...Old brackets and some bolts.


...If it didn't break this time, it would have.....


...HD Bracket side view.


...HD Bracket front view.


Road test worked just fine. Back to the trail early next Spring! :driving:

 

...OH, Almost forgot!

FOR THE RECORD!!!

Yes, a power steering bracket works for a manual gearbox, you just don't use the top-rear bolt hole! Thanks again for all your help!

 

Excellent! Glad it worked so well.

 

Very nice! Good to have verification on this.