Steering Bind

[77broncodriver]

How to test what part of the steering system is to blame?

Every time I go off-roading and I am flexing a lot, the steering wheel locks up to the point that it will not turn at all unless I back up and and relax the suspension.

It has been an ongoing thing and I just assumed it was because I have a mechanical locker in the front but I can still turn the wheel without too much trouble when I an not flexing and the front locker is engaged.

I have a brand new delphi power steering pump from wildhorses and have 35" tires. It did this with 33's as well.

Any ideas? Is it possible something could be binding in the column/steering shaft that would cause the it to lock up?

I have always thought about doing hydro assist, but now I am thinking there is more to it than just adding more power to the steering.

 

[JSBX]

The first thing I would check is the steering linkage. Make sure it is not the drag link, tie rods or the dampener hanging up on something. I am running TRO with heim joint and my linkage gets close to my diff cover.

 

[DirtDonk]

If you have TRO with stock type adjusting sleeves and a stock lower trackbar bolt, or a welded on lower tab for dual shocks, the adjusting sleeve clamps can grab things in the right conditions.
This happens more often when the clamp's open ends are oriented rearward at just the right/wrong angle to catch.

Got a recent pic of your steering linkage and every modification that has been made to the steering AND suspension?

Paul

 

[77broncodriver]

Here is a recent picture after I put on the wh track bar bracket on the axle. I have heim steering. Maybe a heim is limiting the motion when the suspension is flexed?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Apogee]

Does it bind under numerous situations, or is it consistently happening when the driver's side tire is stuffed or something along those lines? It's quite possible that you're just exceeding the range of motion on one or more SRE's, but I would think you'd be breaking them and/or noticing slop or witness marks if that were the case.

 

[DirtDonk]

Well, that rules out the linkage actually hitting or catching on something. And spherical rod ends aren't known (that I know of anyway) for binding in the middle of their rotation. Especially in only one direction.
They're not a type that can be lubricated I take it?

Some other things that can catch, in no particular order:
1. Ball joints. Again though, an odd thing to "catch" in one area.
2. Axle shaft u-joints. Here once again, not something that usually feels like it's catching, but more likely to tighten up the steering overall and impart oscillations into the steering wheel.
3. The steering gearbox itself.
4. Something in the linkage between the steering box and the steering column.
5. Something inside the column.

If I'm not mistaken though, most everything under your truck is "new-ish" though, isn't it Evan? You still drive the thing daily? Have lots of miles on some of the stuff you've updated over the last few years?
The column is original to the Bronco though, correct? What about the steering wheel? If so, I wonder if something in the adapter or one of the bearings is catching.

Otherwise, it really does sound like linkage. Especially because most of those other things I list don't care whether you're flexed up or not. They're just going to bind or catch or break.
Since it's doing it while flexing up, I would look very closely at the rod ends, as Apogee was suggesting they may be maxing out.

If it happens under a specific condition, such as the driver's side stuffed, or whatever, make an note of it.
And the next time it does it, take another pic from the same general area as the one above and let's see where those angles are.

And one more thing... Do you remember if it happened to act up when you were steering hard in one direction or another? Or did it happen somewhere in the middle of the steering range?
What is your caster?

Reason I ask is that if you have a high degree of caster your steering arms on the knuckles will tilt upward fairly aggressively and if you have limited tilt-ability of the rod ends, you may simply be binding the tie-rod ends up.
Usually when limits are reached it's the draglink, but in a caster-full-turn situation, the tie-rod ends can travel quite a bit.

I would actually try to mimic the conditions again as soon as possible. Sounds like it's been going on for awhile now, but I would try to find out what it is and fix it as soon as possible.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[77broncodriver]

Does it bind under numerous situations, or is it consistently happening when the driver's side tire is stuffed or something along those lines? It's quite possible that you're just exceeding the range of motion on one or more SRE's, but I would think you'd be breaking them and/or noticing slop or witness marks if that were the case.

It seems to only happen in the same area of the trail where it is rocky and pretty steep uphill. I usually just back up and change lines to try to avoid it and have never really gotten a good look at the rod ends. I will try to reenact it and check on those.

 

[77broncodriver]

Well, that rules out the linkage actually hitting or catching on something. And spherical rod ends aren't known (that I know of anyway) for binding in the middle of their rotation. Especially in only one direction.
They're not a type that can be lubricated I take it?

Some other things that can catch, in no particular order:
1. Ball joints. Again though, an odd thing to "catch" in one area.
2. Axle shaft u-joints. Here once again, not something that usually feels like it's catching, but more likely to tighten up the steering overall and impart oscillations into the steering wheel.
3. The steering gearbox itself.
4. Something in the linkage between the steering box and the steering column.
5. Something inside the column.

If I'm not mistaken though, most everything under your truck is "new-ish" though, isn't it Evan? You still drive the thing daily? Have lots of miles on some of the stuff you've updated over the last few years?
The column is original to the Bronco though, correct? What about the steering wheel? If so, I wonder if something in the adapter or one of the bearings is catching.

Otherwise, it really does sound like linkage. Especially because most of those other things I list don't care whether you're flexed up or not. They're just going to bind or catch or break.
Since it's doing it while flexing up, I would look very closely at the rod ends, as Apogee was suggesting they may be maxing out.

If it happens under a specific condition, such as the driver's side stuffed, or whatever, make an note of it.
And the next time it does it, take another pic from the same general area as the one above and let's see where those angles are.

And one more thing... Do you remember if it happened to act up when you were steering hard in one direction or another? Or did it happen somewhere in the middle of the steering range?
What is your caster?

Reason I ask is that if you have a high degree of caster your steering arms on the knuckles will tilt upward fairly aggressively and if you have limited tilt-ability of the rod ends, you may simply be binding the tie-rod ends up.
Usually when limits are reached it's the draglink, but in a caster-full-turn situation, the tie-rod ends can travel quite a bit.

I would actually try to mimic the conditions again as soon as possible. Sounds like it's been going on for awhile now, but I would try to find out what it is and fix it as soon as possible.

Good luck.

Paul

Paul,

Everything is relatively new other than the steering box, steering shaft, and column as they are the only parts I haven't changed in the system.

After 6 years of daily driving it, I now have a daily driver for my work commute and normal everyday driving. The bronco sadly doesn't get driven very often now a days. I just finished a lot of work to it so hopefully that starts to change!

While it was happening this weekend it did not matter where the wheels were pointed.

I will try to find an area in our backyard to reenact the situation I was in and get a better look at all of these areas.

The only reason I think it might be from the actual frame flexing or steering column flexing is because when this happens, the piece the steering wheel connects to grinds against the rest of the steering column. See attached picture.

Evan

 

[Apogee]

If your frame is cracked/broken where the steering box mounts, or the box is just loose, then that could explain why your column is shifting/moving. Otherwise, you could just be twisting things up hard enough that you're seeing some relative motion of the box to the column causing the interference. What are you running for a coupler between the column and box?

 

[Justafordguy]

Do you have a collapsible lower steering shaft? If not the frame flex may just be pushing the shaft up into the column and jamming it up.

 

[FordBronc]

Are your stirring knuckles stop bolts adjusted correctly? Different brands of u joints have a wider range of motion. You might be at the manufactures u joint limit of articulation.

 

[Crush]

look for wear marks on the linkage and a matching mark somewhere else. it might just be binding up