Pitman Arm Bushing?

[ScoobyCarolanNC]

Hey y'all. I'm tracing a little slop I can feel in my steering wheel and gas pedals over small bumps. When there's a little rebound after hitting a bump & the front end is unweighted a bit it feels like something is loose, the severing gets a lil slack, and as the weight comes back I feel something hits back into place. It gets worse the longer I've been driving & the hotter out it is.

I'm bone stock & I had my wife turn the steering wheel while I watched all the joints & I didn't see any slip at any of the bolts. I jacked the passenger side up 3" and had her do it again as I'd read the passenger side was a common culprit. Nothing.

So I was looking at my pitman arm and noticed that it looks like it's missing a bushing or something?



Judging by the rust it looks like that might be where I'm feeling it bang around. Am I missing something in there?

Thanks as always!

 

[OverlanderJK]

There is no bushing. That is your sector shaft.

 

[ScoobyCarolanNC]

Ok. So that all looks normal? Should there be that gap? The washer under looks cracked so I wasn't sure if it should be replaced & tightened.

 

[hudginsja]

That washer is probably a lock washer. No reason to take it apart.

 

[Rebel JK]

Not sure how many miles you have on your stock shocks, but it may be a place to start checking. If your rebound is toast it likely would contribute to an unweighted "feel" on the front end over bumps.

 

[ScoobyCarolanNC]

Thanks for the tips. I've got 70K & the shocks aren't great but they'll last till fall which is when I'll do my lift.

The feeling is in my steering wheel & pedal. It definitely like there's an inch or two of slack somewhere. That gap between the pitman & sector shaft looks like it's the right amount. Should there be some space there like in my photo?

 

[txjeeplover]

Thanks for the tips. I've got 70K & the shocks aren't great but they'll last till fall which is when I'll do my lift.

The feeling is in my steering wheel & pedal. It definitely like there's an inch or two of slack somewhere. That gap between the pitman & sector shaft looks like it's the right amount. Should there be some space there like in my photo?

The gap is normal. If it weren't there, the pitman arm would rub against the gearbox and you'd have far greater problems. The split item is a lock washer which compresses when torqued down and prevents the pitman arm nut from backing off. I doubt that you have any issues with your gearbox, because it's not leaking. If you had a worn bearing, you would have movement at the sector shaft and fluid moving pass the seal.

Without examining your Jeep in person, I'm inclined to think that you have bad ball joints, or a bad rod at one of the four connections.

 

[ScoobyCarolanNC]

The gap is normal.

Thanks! I thought maybe there should be a bushing or something in there. Next up, intermediate shaft boot.

 

[sassmouth]

Thanks! I thought maybe there should be a bushing or something in there. Next up, intermediate shaft boot.

I had a similar issue with slop in the steering. After mounting a GoPro aimed at the pitman arm I found that there was some play. Removing the pitman arm I found that a couple of the pitman arm's teeth that fit over the sector shaft were worn down allowing for the noted play to occur.

Perhaps if you had access to a camera similar to the GoPro you can figure out what's going on especially when driving.

 

[ScoobyCarolanNC]

Hey sassmouth thanks for the idea. So the intermediate shaft was shot?

 

[sassmouth]

Hey sassmouth thanks for the idea. So the intermediate shaft was shot?

No the splines on the pitman arm were damaged requiring a new pitman arm, an easy fix.