Play in pitman arm

[Atom631]

ive been chasing a knock the steering of my 2021 JLUR. I have the steersmarts sector shaft brace. I tracked it down to the sector nut being loose. in turn I think it was putting a lot of pressure on the cartridge bearing so when I pulled it apart the bearing felt crunchy.

I ordered a new brace w/bearing and installed it with 177’ lbs torque. now im noticing there is some slight play in the pitman arm. see video below. im assuming this isnt normal snd ill need a new arm?

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[Carolina Jeeper]

No, the pitman arm is the toughest part of the steering linkage.
I would check the piyman nut torque and sector shaft for play in the bearing there before simply replacing the pitman arm.

 

[Atom631]

the nut is brand new and was torqued to 178 ft/lbs.

if its in the sector shaft, I guess I need a new box?

 

[sherpaJL]

just a WAG, but that sounds to me like a backlash adjustment is needed.
How's your steering overall?

explained here:

 

[Old Jeeper]

No, the pitman arm is the toughest part of the steering linkage.
I would check the piyman nut torque and sector shaft for play in the bearing there before simply replacing the pitman arm.

X2

There should NEVER be any play in the pitman arm, if so you have a real problem.

 

[roaniecowpony]

just a WAG, but that sounds to me like a backlash adjustment is needed.
How's your steering overall?

explained here:

The sector gear is intentionally made with more play on either side of the center. This is because you only need that level of precision (no play) at the center when cruising straight ahead. Don't bother checking the play at any position other than centered.

 

[Carolina Jeeper]

X2

There should NEVER be any play in the pitman arm, if so you have a real problem.

Absolutely! His pitman arm is connected to the problem though.

 

[Old Jeeper]

Absolutely! His pitman arm is connected to the problem though.

Rolie.
I will bet $ you know the difference 'tween Death Wobble and Bump Steer...when I had my shop I would get guys coming in thinking they had DW when it was on Bump Steer.

 

[Carolina Jeeper]

Rolie.
I will bet $ you know the difference 'tween Death Wobble and Bump Steer...when I had my shop I would get guys coming in thinking they had DW when it was on Bump Steer.

Yes, I definitely know the difference.

 

[Atom631]

Rolie.
I will bet $ you know the difference 'tween Death Wobble and Bump Steer...when I had my shop I would get guys coming in thinking they had DW when it was on Bump Steer.

no death wooble or bump steer…yet. drives perfectly straight. in fact, I dont even have a stabilizer on for the past 100+ miles. can do 80 on highway with one hand.

so whats the verdict? new steering box? it is turning 38” ridge grapplers and I definitely feel it bound up hard in the rocks. can i use this as an excuse to go full PSC hydro assist? lol

 

[Atom631]

just a WAG, but that sounds to me like a backlash adjustment is needed.
How's your steering overall?

explained here:

i completely missed this post. i tried before to adjust the backlash bc the steering has been sloppy since the day I brought the jeep home. the adjustment screw on the JL is not a flathead. its an allen head and I could not for the life of me loosen it up. I was worried about stripping the bolt so I just abandoned trying to adjust it.

fwiw - I watched this video. .

 

[failsafe306]

i completely missed this post. i tried before to adjust the backlash bc the steering has been sloppy since the day I brought the jeep home. the adjustment screw on the JL is not a flathead. its an allen head and I could not for the life of me loosen it up. I was worried about stripping the bolt so I just abandoned trying to adjust it.

fwiw - I watched this video. .

Thanks for the video, I had no idea that was a thing.

 

[Atom631]

Thanks for the video, I had no idea that was a thing.

before you go messing with it, do some research. for the most part, everyone i spoke to that did this just made things worse. and both steersmarts and my local offroad shop advised against playing with it.

 

[sherpaJL]

before you go messing with it, do some research. for the most part, everyone i spoke to that did this just made things worse. and both steersmarts and my local offroad shop advised against playing with it.

Fear not. I've made this adjustment.

 

[Atom631]

so I decided to replace the pitman nut with a a brand new factory one and torque to the 184 ft/lbs factory spec. I still had play. I then tightened it more and no change. took a closer look and its definitely the sector shaft moving. see video below. I decided to call PSC bc I had a question about their kits and I got to talking with the tech support guy and he said its totally normal for the factory box to have about 1/16” of play. which is basically what I have.

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