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tight steering after steering gear rebuild

finn188

NAXJA Forum User
Location
logandale, NV
i rebuilt my steering box on my 91 cherokee after it started leaking out the steering input shaft (i know thats not the official name but bare with me).
i decided to go ahead and tap into the box for hydro assist which will be installed in the near future. so my problem is this: after pluging the holes i drilled, rebuilding and adjusting the box, reinstalling it, and refilling with fluid/ cycling the steering about 100 times to get the air out, the steering is stiff for about a full turn of the wheel (from where straight would be to 1/2 turn left, 1/2 turn right) any ideas on a fix would be much apreciated. thanks in advance for the help!!!
 
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There's two different preload adjustments. One on the input gear and another on top of the box to adjust the output shaft. One or both is off. Another possibility, did you put all the balls back in right? It's been a while since I've been that deep in one but I believe the recirculating balls are two different sizes and they need to alternate large, small, large etc
 
if those balls are different then that might be the problem becaose i just cleaned them and put tham back randomly. i did play with both adjusters and it didnt seem to change anything. ill try to losen em both up a little one more time before i tear the box back down. thanks for the ideas!!!
 
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