2 tooth steering adjustment

Gufshoz

Gufshoz

Member
A question for the forum: I have a small amount of wiggle (not the death wobble) in my steering, so I was going to tune the steering box. The steering is very light and I adjusted the toe-in. When I attempted to adjust the thrust bearing, it was as tight as the bolt would allow. I wanted to back it off and tighten until I could feel it with the steering wheel, but no go. Is it time to consider rebuilding the steering box?
Thanks for your thoughts.
 
The thrust bearing adjustment typically does feel like it suddenly bottoms out. If you get there, try pulling and pushing the steering shaft in and out of the box. If it doesn't move, you're good.

Here is a helpful tutorial on adjusting a 2-tooth steering box with cutaway view of that everything does- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjaI-Od_v8U
 
Paul covers it. Getting the steering column out of the car may take a while, but is a best way, IMHO. Then consider if a total rebuild is needed.
I referred to the service bulletins instructions.
 
Follow the instructions for adjusting your steering box, as suggested above and in the Red Book. Use a good quality gear oil in the box, not grease. 85W-140 G5 gear oil is recommended. You should have close to zero play in the steering wheel when steering straight ahead. Make sure your pitman arm is tight on the shaft. In my car I have to use a breaker bar to tighten the nut. Make sure everything else is tight, such as the drag link and tie rod. And that the front wheel bearings are adjusted correctly. Plus the king pins should have no slop.

If after all that, you cannot get the steering box to work correctly, then you will have to rebuild it. If you rebuild the box, add the plate at the bottom with the tube. That will keep oil from leaking out the light switch.
 
I jack up the vehicle and disconnect the drag link from the pitman arm. This allows an easy way to check the steering gear set in the straight ahead centered position. There should be smooth movement across the centered position. If it feels rough and notchy then it's worn out. New gears and shafts are available. The model As with 2-tooth Gemmer units up into mid 1930 or so, had bearings that are no longer available. There is a service bulletin on this subject. If it has early bearings then now is the time to change them to the late design. This SB describes the differences between the two bearing sets so you'll know what you have.
 
If you decide to replace the whole works and want to go with the F-100 steering setup, Randy Gross makes the whole setup, and Randy's is made correctly so it won't break and cause a wreck.
 
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