Steering Box

[terryt]

When i move my steering left to right i hear a clicking sound from the gear box or the arm coming off of the box and i can't find a vibration at 45 mph and above  is it possible that it could be a gear box causing the vibration 

I have new tires balanced 3 times it steers great i had an alignment done twice suspension seems tight

I am at a loss any suggestions would be great

1990 4.0 2wd no modifications

[Pete M]

have someone saw teh steering wheel back and forth violently as you look for slop in the steering system, especially the track bar at the body side.  also check for cracks in the outside of the uniframe between the steering box attachment point and the track bar attachment point. 

[AZJeff]

2 hours ago, Pete M said:

have someone saw the steering wheel back and forth violently as you look for slop in the steering system, especially the track bar at the body side.  also check for cracks in the outside of the uniframe between the steering box attachment point and the track bar attachment point. 

In addition to a visual inspection of steering linkage joints, I find that wrapping your hand around the joint so that you are grasping both halves of the connection is helpful.  With this type of grip, you are able to feel the relative motion between the two parts of the joint.

[AZJeff]

The following observation is almost worthy of being posted as a “sticky” on this forum:

 

All of our MJ’s are really pretty old vehicles nowadays.  That means any rubber components in the suspension system are really dried out and probably cracked from age and/or heat if they are still original.

 

That means that anytime there are noises in the suspension, or irregular steering behavior, a detailed inspection of parts is warranted.  Even more important is that, if anything in the suspension/steering is suspect or “slightly worn”, it probably would be wise to replace that part general principles.

 

BTW, this applies to engine and transmission mounts as well.  Those OEM mounts were not the most robust to begin with, and thus can benefit from replacement even if they “seem” OK.

[Pete M]

oh, and shake your axle shafts and driveshafts looking for any slop    anything that spins is a suspect in this mystery. 

[Pete M]

21 minutes ago, AZJeff said:

In addition to a visual inspection of steering linkage joints, I find that wrapping your hand around the joint so that you are grasping both halves of the connection is helpful.  With this type of grip, you are able to feel the relative motion between the two parts of the joint.

 

absolutely!  forgot to include that. 

 

bad bushings in the control arms and track bar too. 

[89 MJ]

I think it’s also worth saying that there is an aluminum spacer between the steering box and the unibody. The breaks a lot and when it does, it is known to make a clicking noise. 

[terryt]

Thank you everyone i will keep you posted!

[AZJeff]

2 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

I think it’s also worth saying that there is an aluminum spacer between the steering box and the unibody. The breaks a lot and when it does, it is known to make a clicking noise. 

Yeah, the mounting scheme for the Saginaw steering box in the MJ and XJ is not the best.   Aside from the fact they only use three bolts (instead of four found in other Saginaw boxes), they rely on some formed internal sheet metal spacers to keep the two "walls" of the frame from collapsing towards each other when the mounting  bolts are tightened.  Further complicating the flimsiness of the mounting is that the walls of the frame are not that thick, so getting rambunctious with the wrench when tightening the steering box mounting, one can potentially collapse the frame in the steering box area.

 

The aftermarket steering box spacers help to reinforce this part of the frame, as does the use of large HARDENED washers under the heads of the steering box bolts. (Using longer steerring box mounting bolts allows the use of such washers.) 

 

And how do I know this?  Because my MJ was wandering on the road, and I found that my frame was cracked around the steering box bolt holes, causing the box to move when the steering wheel was turned.  (A previous owner had put some monster swamper tires on the vehicle, and it overstressed the box mounting.)

 

To fix this, I ended up welding in more robust spacers and some gusset plates to fix the cracked frame walls.  Since I have performed that repair/upgrade, my steering box has been noise free, solid, and steering is more precise (at least more precise for a solid axle pickup truck with recirculating ball steering.)