So something popped yesterday and Im not sure what it was. It kind of made the same sound like a ball joint popping out. Just a loud metal on metal clunk.

Since then, the truck only turns right, and barely turns left. Only enough to make a really wide turn and then have to back up and finish the turn.

Turning right, is not an issue at all.

Ive checked out the tie rods, the drag link, track bar, knuckles, linkage, and it all looks fine.

Im thinking it might be the pit man arm?

This is what it looks like right now, I dont know if its supposed to be this far out.

Any ideas would be great.

 

The picture is from the wheels being straight, if that helps.

 

Looks to me like your sway bar is not letting you steer. can you get another picture same area just pan back a bit more..

 

I thought that too but the sway bad hasnt been touched / moved in the past few months. I took a few pictures, let me know if these help.







You can see the splines on the gear which is why I was thinking maybe it popped off. There was a really loud sound and I didnt see anything fall off the car.

Thanks for any help

 

The nut also looks like its really car down on the shaft.

 

Are the clamps tight on the adj. collar on the drag link. If those loosened it would slip out, and cause a pop like what you heard. I see a newer link at the steering box, so when it was replaced they may not have been tightened enough. It would also make the steering wheel off when the wheels are at center. Does his sound like what you've experienced??

 

theyre tight.

i did them myself and then had it aligned and theyre still tight.

I know what you mean by the popping thing though.

When you say the wheel would be off, do you mean that like, the steering wheel wont turn left because it is already as left as it could be? regardless of the wheels?

i was thinking that maybe the gear was slipping in the arm. and then the arm just popped off, but not fully.

 

Does it seem that your steering wheel needs to be in a different place in order for the wheels to be straight than it did before this happened??

 

That picture right here shows the Sway bar is hitting the Pitmin arm..

 

yeah, its the angle, its not actually hitting it.

 

I've never seen a pitman arm on any vehicle with as much shaft exposure as you have. I would start investigating the steering box and compare yours with a known working box.

 

New steering box might be in order. Dont drive it anymore until it is fixed.

 

Did it just skip a couple notches and move to far to one side, Shouldn't the arm be pointing towards the motor and not the tire.

 

I had the same thing happen with my steering. But i popped the spider gears in the front dif. Were you just driving easy when it started? I sure was not when i popped the spiders.

 

Well, thats for still trying to help me out.

I'll tell you what happened, its been fixed for a while.

The douchers at firestone didnt tighten the adjustment sleeve clamps and the tie rod popped out almost completely.

They fixed it, aligned it three times, and now its been ok for a while. Just another reason why I NEVER bring my cars to shops.