JdTms11

so i went about replacing my bad steering gear everything went smoothly with the exception of getting the pitman arm off, took me a while but i got it. anyway i was getting every thing put back together and started to run into problems. i had to replace the tie rod end at the pitman arm b/c i had accidentally damaged it when i was trying to get the pitman arm off, no big deal. i marked the position of the old one then threaded the new one on. my steering wheel was locked straight through the entire process so i shouldn't have had to change the length of the drag link right?

well for some reason it was way off now and once i got it on my steering wheel position fliped 180* and is upside down now. now for the really strange part i was turning the wheel lock to lock and it caused a short of some kind with the horn that stayed on even after i turned the jeep off. ive been working on this Fing thing since Friday afternoon and am pretty fed up. trying to avoid having to tow it to the dealer but its starting to look like that's whats going to happen

ronjenx

It sounds like you damaged the clock spring in the steering wheel.

It also sounds like the new steering gear was not centered before you started the installation.

JKlad

Yep, x2 on the clock spring. A lot of people here have damaged it when they've removed their steering shaft for the 5th wheel grease mod & the steering wheel has rotated freely & broken the c/s. Not a huge job to replace, fortunately.

Dronac

I thought the clock spring was nigh impossible to do yourself?

For us uneducated posters. How do I prevent breaking it, and what repairs could damage it?

JdTms11

well it is the clock spring, nothing i did. i had my wheel tied off so it couldnt move. had to drop it at the dealer, didnt have time to mess with it anymore myself. they got it out and said it looks water damaged, haven't gotten and type of water or mud inside the jeep in a while so im curious as to when/ where the water that supposedly damaged it came from, but i did ask him if it was my fault when i was working on my gear and he said no.

they also let me know my JKS track bar is junk. i pinpointed a chunking/ popping noise while turning to the track bar, but couldnt see what part of it is binding and making the noise. ill have to look at it closer once i get the heep back.

and to add insult to injury i have

leaking transmission line
leaking transmission pan
blown ball joints

told em to take care of the tranny since they have it anyway and i didn't feel like dealing with that pain in the ass repair myself. will be doing the joints myself soon.

74000 miles guess i had some of this coming