Sticky Steering
hey guys,
so over the weekend I replaced the ball joints on my 1997 mazda b2300 2WD (so twin Ibeam ranger). I had it aligned, and the toe was out of alignment quite a bit. I think the passengers side ball joint was causing camber issues when I had it aligned after tie rod ends about 6 months ago and they didn't see it.
When I was assembling it, I tightened the castle nuts on the lower ball joints prior to tightening the pinch bolt at the top. However, I noted that the knuckles seemed to be a bit stiff. As in, they took a bit of force to turn them back and forth. I thought to myself that this is probably due to the new joints. Driving it to the alignment shop was real bad since I had a lot of negative toe on the passenger's side.
So they kicked that back in, however it seems like the steering is a bit "sticky". I'm not sure how to describe it. It seems like it takes more force to turn the wheels. As a result, it doesn't self center all the way going down the road. This can be a bit annoying when on the freeway, especially when you kick her out of the ruts changing lanes. you have to correct it by bumping the steering back and forth until you hit it just right, then it tracks straight until you hit a good bump.
There doesn't appear to be play in the steering box or any tie rod ends. (I can stand next to the truck, and very little movement in the steering wheel results in movement at the wheels).
Alignment shop had to make no changes to camber, they didn't provide me with readouts in the caster, and they left the total toe at positive 0.15 degrees (whatever that equates to in inches, no idea).
I've put between 100 and 150 miles on it since and I am wondering if I should just hang in there and see if the ball joints loosen up, or if I have a problem somewhere.
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