schulte
ACCELLERANT!!!
Been dealing with some funky steering issues recently... All started with a broken pitman arm last fall. Since then, I've gone through a litany of issues with odd tire wear, hard pulling, binding, wandering, etc.
Finally went through and just replaced everything. Brand new MOOG pitman and idler, new steering gear (old one was leaking a steady DRIP of fluid out the input shaft when turning at low speed/stopped), new idler arm pivot, and new front LCA ball joints (federal mogul).
Found the Cognito Pitman/Idler support kit braces to be a little bent. After a while on the phone with Chad at Cognito and Nick at Norcal, I've determined the PISK ends bent due to interference with the frame, most likely due to the badly worn idler arm/idler arm pivot.
After straightening and re-installing everything, the PISK now clears the frame by about 1/8" at full lock.
This, in retrospect, is probably what caused my pitman arm to break last time... When it broke, I was in reverse, steering at full lock, and went over a bump. Essentially, the PISK was pinned against the frame, and when one wheel went over the bump, it sheared the pitman arm stud right off. This has given me considerable peace of mind in knowing that it didn't just simply shear because of lateral steering force, which is what I was most concerned about happening (while driving at higher speed).
I'm still dealing with some issues at low speed (steering binding/creaking/no PS), but I'm 98% sure that's related to a weak/failing PS pump.
Some pics of what I found...
Finally went through and just replaced everything. Brand new MOOG pitman and idler, new steering gear (old one was leaking a steady DRIP of fluid out the input shaft when turning at low speed/stopped), new idler arm pivot, and new front LCA ball joints (federal mogul).
Found the Cognito Pitman/Idler support kit braces to be a little bent. After a while on the phone with Chad at Cognito and Nick at Norcal, I've determined the PISK ends bent due to interference with the frame, most likely due to the badly worn idler arm/idler arm pivot.
After straightening and re-installing everything, the PISK now clears the frame by about 1/8" at full lock.
This, in retrospect, is probably what caused my pitman arm to break last time... When it broke, I was in reverse, steering at full lock, and went over a bump. Essentially, the PISK was pinned against the frame, and when one wheel went over the bump, it sheared the pitman arm stud right off. This has given me considerable peace of mind in knowing that it didn't just simply shear because of lateral steering force, which is what I was most concerned about happening (while driving at higher speed).
I'm still dealing with some issues at low speed (steering binding/creaking/no PS), but I'm 98% sure that's related to a weak/failing PS pump.
Some pics of what I found...
