Drag link fully adjusted & steering wheel still crooked.

[wchevron]

Dropped my JT off at the shop. Was having some clunking in the front end and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Said the track bar was loose, tie rod knuckles were worn and a couple other bolts were loose. Also needed alignment.
Picked it up this morning. Said they got the alignment perfect but can't get the steering wheel straight. The drag link is adjusted as far as possible. Took a quick look at it at work and it does seem to be threaded as close to the drivers side as possible.
Steering wheel is about 30* angle. Anything else I can check.

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[Badunit]

I don't know how much adjustment you can get out of the drag link but is the wheel off by 30 degrees or is it actually off by 330 degrees the other way?

 

[wchevron]

That's a good question. Not really sure if I turned it in the other direction if I could get it to spin 330*

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Any other equipment installed? Lift? Is the front axle centered if there's a lift?

 

[bleda2002]

Unless you have a giant lift, this shouldnt be an issue. Assuming you arent like 6+ inches of lift the correct fix is to center the wheels, drop the pitman arm and find the center of the steering box, then reinstall the pitman arm facing forward and adjust the draglink to that length. Then you can fine tune it.

 

[wchevron]

No lift but a 1.5" Clayton leveling kit installed (new springs, control arms, sway bar arms and track bar)
Will bring it back to the shop and tell them about dropping the pitman arm and re-adjusting. Thank you

 

[bleda2002]

No lift but a 1.5" Clayton leveling kit installed (new springs, control arms, sway bar arms and track bar)
Will bring it back to the shop and tell them about dropping the pitman arm and re-adjusting. Thank you

Just make sure they find the center of the steering box, I have a feeling they have you over turned to the left

 

[wchevron]

If I decide to tackle it myself, may have some time tomorrow, when I disconnect the pitman arm, should I then unthread most of the drag link (which is fully threaded in) center, reconnect and then adjust the drag link to get perfectly straight if needed?

I was looking on youtube how to do it. Looks like the pitman is notch internally (like a gear) and there are 4 flat spots that have to be lined up with the flat spots on the column for it to bolt back in. I'm assuming when I rotate the arm to line up the flat spot it will be 90* from where it is sitting now. I"m assuming I will have enough thread to adust the drag link to line up with the new pitman end location?

Or am I thinking about this wrong?

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

In all likelihood the Pitman arm is where it's supposed to be in relation to the steering box.
Drop the drag link from the Pitman arm, find the center of the steering box, (# revolutions from lock to lock/2) then adjust the drag link to reconnect to Pitman arm without moving the pitman arm.

Or...
Without disconnecting anything, Find the center of the steering, Jack up the front tires off the ground and while having the steering wheel locked in place, assist the drag link until the tires are straight.

 

[JT1]

In all likelihood the Pitman arm is where it's supposed to be in relation to the steering box.
Drop the drag link from the Pitman arm, find the center of the steering box, (# revolutions from lock to lock/2) then adjust the drag link to reconnect to Pitman arm without moving the pitman arm.

Or...
Without disconnecting anything, Find the center of the steering, Jack up the front tires off the ground and while having the steering wheel locked in place, assist the drag link until the tires are straight.

100% this. There is a ton of adjustment on the stock draglink.

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