75 Scout II with sloppy steering

[wrench13]

Hey, new to this forum and to Scouts in general. Just bought a well maintained but high mileage Scout II. Noticed that the steering is a little sloppy. The previous owner mentioned this and said that a new rag joint and tie rod were probably needed. I don't doubt him, but am wondering if there are other issues that may contribute to this as well. Looking for any advice. Oh yeah, a straight steer brace is on the way from scout parts.com, so I've already thought of that. Thanks for any and all input.

[scout]

Other causes could be as simple as loose bolts on the steering box. Might want to check the frame near the box for cracks too.

[jacque]

Hey, new to this forum and to Scouts in general. Just bought a well maintained but high mileage Scout II. Noticed that the steering is a little sloppy. The previous owner mentioned this and said that a new rag joint and tie rod were probably needed. I don't doubt him, but am wondering if there are other issues that may contribute to this as well. Looking for any advice. Oh yeah, a straight steer brace is on the way from scout parts.com, so I've already thought of that. Thanks for any and all input.


Don't even bother with a new rag joint, it will be just as sloppy. Borgeson makes a steering kit for scouts. It is like a U-joint for your steering shaft into the steering box. Takes almost all of the play out. It will cost about $180 and it is worth every penny and easy to install.

[Tim Burr]

Other causes could be as simple as loose bolts on the steering box. Might want to check the frame near the box for cracks too.I second that. These areas are critical to the safety of the vehicle.

[cgoerrissen]

I just replaced my rag joint and it fixed my sloppy steering ($11.50 at Kragen). To check if your existing rag joint is bad, just look at it while turning the steering wheel back and forth a little and see how much play there is in the joint.

[bluescout]

Wrench,

Out of all the problems I've seen, a good condition rag joint is rarely a problem.

I would start the truck and have someone sit in it and move the wheel back and forth starting very slightly. You watch underneath. You'll be able to figure how much slop is in the steering box by seeing how much they can move the wheel before the pitman arm moves. With more movement you'll see if any tie rod ends are loose. With a rough swing back and forth on the wheel, you may see the pitman shaft/arm moving side to side, indicating the frame is twisting. This is common on Scouts, especially if you have some big tires. The fix is a "Straight Steer" bar, which mounts to two of the steering box bolts and also bolts to the frams on the other side of the truck.

Another thing that helps Scout steering is adding a few degrees of caster with wedges between the axle and springs. You can also jack the front off the ground and make sure the ball joints are A) not sloppy loose, and B) not so tight you can't turn them.

[Jesse Ray]

also,

Check to make sure all the bolts holding the reservoir are in place and tight. The reservoir holds the pulley and so ...

I had a bolt loose enough to allow the belt to become loose when turning the wheel and when I replaced bolt (mount had wore into the bolt threads) and replaced the spacer that sits between the reservoir and mount, it tightened everything back up big time.

Huge change for less than a couple bucks in hardware.

[scoutguy66]

I second that. These areas are critical to the safety of the vehicle.

X3 on that. That is the weakest part of the frame. I overdrilled the holes and put pipe in them and welded it, made kind of a sleeve for the new grade 8bolts to go through. Then took flat bar pieces and plated the outside. Works pretty good now. On my second steering box(the other one started popping) and still no frame flex.

[okkool77]

You should really be careful when dealing with scoutparts.com...they like to screw people over. I've dealt with them once and I'm never going back but otherwise what has been said is right. It's not likely your rag arm, i've replaced steering boxes before rag arms...Welcome to the brotherhood.