Steering getting stiff and not returning to center

taroo · **Joined:** Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:14 pm **Posts:** 278

So I don't want to run to the rack and pinion first. Could tie rod ends, ball joints, other cause this? When I put my car on my lift the steering goes from end to end with ease and feels perfect. When I am on the road and driving then the steering is getting stiffer over time and not naturally returning to zero. There are no power steering leaks. Granted, I have never changed the power steering fluid (05 with 151K miles). In the past I have only changed one lower balljoint. Soooo.....what is the opinion of the board? Do I just proactively change the L & R upper/lower balljoints? Could tierod ends cause this? Could this be a pressure issues with the pump? If possibly a pump, how does one go about checking it? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:13 pm

Get it on a rack or jack up with supported jack stands for safety, disconnect the tie rods on each wheel and rotate the wheels one at a time from left to right and check for stiffness. This will test the upper and lower ball joints.
If no stiffness is found in BJ's then the problem is in the steering rack itself.
Post what you find!
:POPCORN:

taroo · **Joined:** Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:14 pm **Posts:** 278

WWDiesel wrote:

Get it on a rack or jack up with supported jack stands for safety, disconnect the tie rods on each wheel and rotate the wheels one at a time from left to right and check for stiffness. This will test the upper and lower ball joints.
If no stiffness is found in BJ's then the problem is in the steering rack itself.
Post what you find!
:POPCORN:

Wow...thanks for the guidance. (why didn't think of that!!) Will do that next and report back. Fingers crossed it is not a rack. (If a rack, do you have to drop the front differential on a CRD to change it? Some videos with the 3.7 show a way of sliding it out the passenger side without dropping the diff.)

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Tue Dec 05, 2023 5:11 pm

taroo wrote:

Wow...thanks for the guidance. (why didn't think of that!!) Will do that next and report back. Fingers crossed it is not a rack. (If a rack, do you have to drop the front differential on a CRD to change it? Some videos with the 3.7 show a way of sliding it out the passenger side without dropping the diff.)

Never changed one on this vehicle, but I would suspect it would have to come out through the drivers side since the largest part of the rack is on the left.
Not sure about the differential drop? Others who have done this maybe could provide some guidance. :wink:

There are several UTube videos on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... eplacement

Steering getting stiff and not returning to center

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