Durango Steering Box Question

So I'm in the middle of upgrading my power steering. Got the 4.7 WJ pump and the 99 Durango steering box. Got everything appart and now it's time to put the Durango box in. Here's the thing, my Durango box did not come with a pitman arm attached. Having both boxes side by side the output shaft looks identical: it has the four little spaces in the splines in the same directions. When I took out the factory box I made sure the wheels were straight ahead. Since there is no pitman arm on the new box I cannot mark the way the pitman arm mounts up. Can I just bolt the box up and line the pitman arm up with the draglink or is there another way that I'm not seeing to make sure the pitman arm is on correctly.

You could do that straighten the wheels and line it up with the pitman arm. An alignment by you if not by a shop might be needed. You got washers for spacers? I used three on each bolt.

Count the revolutions of the input shaft and then back off from one side half of the number. Then install the arm so it matches with the linkage when the tires are facing forward. Normally the arm should be pointing directly rearward when the box is centered. It is important to get the arm centered in its range, then adjust the drag link to center the tires.

I'm using my C-Rok brace with two washers per bolt. The wheels haven't moved and the factory box was centered when I took it off. My Durango box is a reman Cardone box. Does anyone know if these come centered? It looks like that since the position of the output is similar but I'm not certain. If it's centered I'll just bolt it up and line the pitman arm with the draglink. I know I'll need the steering wheel recentered but as long as the box is centered I can deal with it.

All you have to do is grab the input shaft with a pair of pliers and rotate it. The fluid does not have to be in the pump.

Pitman arms on XJs and Durangos are both keyed the same and can only be installed in that position.

Well that's good to know. If that's the case I probably would have figured it out as soon as I found my pitman arm. It was a b...ch to remove and after many heat and cool cycles it finally came off... Of course when it did I screamed out with joy and grabbed it... It was still hot so it got hurled accross the garage somewhere...

I'm bringing this back up because something just isn't right with my setup. I went ahead and installed the WJ Pump and a cooler with the Durango box, got everything bled and drove it around the block. Did fine. My box is 3 turns lock to lock but it seemed to do fine otherwise. Did a few more mods the last couple of weeks so no real chance to drive her.

Today I'm in a parking lot and I notice it turns much tighter on the passenger side than on the drivers side. Got my daughter to turn the steering wheel lock to lock and the wheel touches the stop on the passenger side but is about an inch off on the driver side. It's like it's off center somehow. Got the wheels straight and it looks like the toe is way out of wack too. I'm getting an alignment tomorrow, but I'm puzzled on how could I have done to cause this. Anyone have any clues?

Did you put your pitman arm back on with the wheel straight?

Take your steering wheel and cycle it all the way to the left. Then count the turns it will go to the right. Back the wheel off to where it is in the center of the range on the box. Crawl under the rig and the pitman arm should be pointing pretty much straight rearward. At that point, the tires should be pointing exactly forward. If they are not, adjust the drag link until the tires are pointing forward. At this time the steering wheel should also be pretty much centered. If the pitman arm is off, it can be removed and reinstalled 90 degrees either direction.

Got the steering box centered using old man's method. The pitman arm is pointing straight back but the tires are turned towards the passenger side some. I replaced the draglink tre and forgot about it. I know I counted the turns on the tre when I took it off and got the new one installed exactly like the old one. I have Currie HD steering, I'm wondering if their tre's can be different sizes? Yes, I checked, I got the correct tre. I'm a novice when it comes to alignment. I guess I'll let the machine take care of that tomorrow.