Like many others have discussed here, our '03 has been lurching left and right on the highway with no steering wheel input. There is a ton of free play in the steering box and in the FSM the slack removal process looks pretty typical. (I've done this on other trucks) But then I looked at my box. Is non-adjustable steering box another one of those '03-'04 "improvements" or did the screw maker forget the part about the socket well? Is this normal?

 

Can anyone help with this? Drawing from FSM attached showing hex socket end. Any idea why is there no hex or torx inset in my adjuster screw? Or am I missing something obvious?

Thanks in advance!

Ron

 

the screw is a torx in the center of that bolt looks like yours is full of grease or gunk i cleaned mine with a screwdriver try poking around and see if its just full of junk

 

Thanks Blackhills - much appreciated. That was my first thought so I probed in the middle with a sharpened stiff welding rod.

But I admit I didn't remove MAF and get down there with a pick & hammer - or perhaps a small drill. I'll do that next - if it is just built-up gunk it sure looks and feels like bare metal all the way across.

I'll report back once I know more.

Thanks again.

Ron