hard steering

the manual steering in my '57 cj5 is pretty hard even with the front end off the ground. I am wanting to know if thats normal or how to fix it.

 

Do you still have the Ross steering? At any rate--I would disconnect the drag link from the bell crank (simplest) and see if the stiffness is in the wheel/shaft/ross-box or if it is forward from there, bell crank tie-rod ends or steering knuckles.

 

:iagree:

 

Will do. thanks for the help.

 

Even when you adjust the Ross box as aggressively as I do, it should NEVER be stiff with the wheels off the ground.

 

the box and shaft are fine. i think it is just the stabilizer. im going to pull it off tonight and check it out. thanks for the help

 

Mine was hard to steer when I put the stabilizer on too ... I cranked the nuts till the rubbers bulged. So, now I set the nuts so that the rubbers rub the washers but can be rotated easily. All has been good since.

 

You might want to check your upper and lower king pin bearings as I have found them to go bad. You can just disconnect one tire rod from the steering knuckle and turn the wheel back and forth to see if it gets hard to turn.