so I decided that since I had a few hours without the family today that it would be a good day to get in there and try to remove those shims and try to fix my wobble. so I break the easy bolt free off the upper pin and then I break the harder bolt free, I quickly realize how difficult this is going to be with the brake line in the way so I begin to remove the brake caliper, after removing the caliper, I then relize that removing the caliper really wont solve my issue I need to remove the brake line, I really don't want to turn this couple hour job into an all day project and it is starting to look like it may turn into one. so as I am sitting there deciding what I should do and I am staring off into space (through the wheel well) I notice one of the four bolts holding my gear box on is backed off the frame about half a dozen turns or so!!! I end up tightening 3 of those four bolts up, and then both of the 2 bolts underneath (the 2 above the pitman arm) so basically 5 of the 6 bolts holding my steering box were loose, I then decided that there is a good chance that this is causing my wobble and decided to put everything back together for a test drive. so here is the magic question, did I fix my problem? is this a likely cause for death wobble?

 

well it did not fix it, the steering does feel a little better but I hit a bump and could tell it is still there. back to square one again!

 

That sucks, I was rooting for you.

 

oh me too, but it couldn't be that simple.

So its like running through the dry desert and you come across a big pool of WATER, and your eyes open wide and your mouth starts to salivate and then you jump head first into a pool of sand! Yah it felt kind of like that! but on the bright side my steering gear box isn't going to fall off anytime soon!!!

 

The steering box not falling off while driving is a good thing I think.

 

yah I replaced the gear box almost 2 years ago because the input shaft splines were stripped, not a good feeling when you turn the wheel and the truck goes straight!

 

I was able to get enough flex from the hard brake line to remove the 2 17mm bolts and lift up on the brake line bracket(after the mud shield was off) enough to remove the upper pin & shims

The one 17mm bolt will have to stay in the bracket, as it can't be removed with the line in the way.

 

my concerns were as follows, if I remove the brake line at the bracket, the brake fluid all over the pin may cause me more problems (not to mention down the sensor hole), huge pain removing that bolt with a wrench at a quarter turn at a time, and how can I torque it back down with that line over it, and finally I would have to remove everything just to get one shim out then put everything back, bleed the brakes, test drive the truck and more than likely (with my luck) go through it all again just to replace the shim and then do this all again on the other side!

I did see someone mention "slotting" the brake line bracket for easy removal, I don't have any kind of die grinder or cutter tool (I do have a body saw but no air supply!) so what could I use to slot that?

also after removing the first bolt and getting the second bolt half way out I had some oil or something leaking, it didn't appear to be coming from the top pin but I really couldn't be sure with the bracket still there. is this normal or could this be a good sign of something wrong in there?

 

When the upper pin is loosened, it will slack the swivel ball seal, allowing a small amount of swivel oil/grease to come out.

I know what you mean about the brake line bracket, I was almost tempted to cut mine off. Its a PITA.