Hard Steering 34 pick up

3

34farmtruck

Junior Member
Hey I have a 1934 Ford pick up, it has radial tires on it and the steering is very hard to turn. I have removed the gear box and disassembled it and all is good inside. Are there any alternatives so that it is easier to steer? I checked out the Mavel rack option but it will not work on this truck. I have seen where someone suggested an F-1 box but it doesn't have the same mount, will it help if I can make it fit? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If I should not be asking this question here please tell me so I can do it else ware. This truck is all original except for an electric fan and 12v negative ground and radial tires and rims to go with them. I apologize if it needs to be done.
 
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I had bias ply on my '53 F-100. Drove like a dream. Tried radials on my '51 F-1. Tracked well, but impossible at slow speeds. Went to bias ply on it. Problem solved. A compromise.
 
I have heard that if you put the Stainless bearings under the king pins it will improve. Stainless is in the name of the company, and others here will chime in with their correct name. Al K.
 
I have a 53-56 Fi00 steering box in my Model A. Two finger steering with radials. Don't seems it would big a job to install in a 34 truck. Walt
 
I have a 1934 Ford pickup and it steers very, very well - no problems. It pays to keep everything absolutely stock on these old vehicles - including the tires. Mine are on 17 inch rims, just as the originals. I would not experiment with anything else - ol' Henry Ford knew just what he was doing.
George Maher
Fargo, North Dakota
 
What is steering hard, like at slow speed or driving speed or are you grunting when you parallel park? Questions, do you have stock or after market wheels? What is the air pressure you are running? Have you greased the king pins. Have you adjusted the steering box correctly and is there lube in the steering box? Just steers hard can have a number of reasons so just saying steers hard could be do to anything even too much + or- toe alignment. Changing to bearing king pins is a waste of money.
What are the answers to the questions and see if you can diagnose your issue.
 
Well to answer the questions, it steers hard moving slow, like do not even consider parallel parking, the gear box is full and adjusted right according to a local business that works on them, the tires are P205/70R15 (on steel wheels) pretty much straight tread, the air pressure has been tried at 40psi but doesn't help so now at 35psi, the front end is all in good condition and very well greased. Thank you for your help.
 
DICK SPADARO said:
What is steering hard, like at slow speed or driving speed or are you grunting when you parallel park? Questions, do you have stock or after market wheels? What is the air pressure you are running? Have you greased the king pins. Have you adjusted the steering box correctly and is there lube in the steering box? Just steers hard can have a number of reasons so just saying steers hard could be do to anything even too much + or- toe alignment. Changing to bearing king pins is a waste of money.
What are the answers to the questions and see if you can diagnose your issue.
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I think Dick is right on here. I would make a list based on what Dick has talked about and check out everyone one of them before just dumping money into this. My 39 pickup steers very well, it has all stock ford parts except I have Coker radial 6.00x16 tires. At low speeds or when trying to park it does turn a little "harder" as would be expected. Hard steering sure can be though to diagnose as people's perception of hard steering may very.
 
Thanks for your reply. First 35-40 lbs of air in the tire will help it turn easily but is way too much air pressure for a vehicle of that weight, somewhere in the area of 24-26 would be a better choice as well as give you a slightly better ride.

The issue of hard steer centers around your selection of tire and wheel combination. This axle is designed for a 4" wide tire and has a positive camber built in the axle design this tips the top of the tire out to aid in tracking and steering. When you change the tire width and wheel offset you change a series of design elements that create a hard steer condition at slow speed because the present axle design causes the inner spindle to lower as the tire turns thus lifting or placing more load on the tire as it turns. This is what you are experiencing and calling hard steer. The only way you are able to alleviate this issue with the choice of tires and rims is to take out some of the camber, this is not an easy job and should be done by an experienced person. Changing the steering box is a major project. Time to eat your Wheaties.
 
Dick, that is a great point about tire size. I see a lot of people try and run a more modern wider tire on their early fords using a stock front axle. I often wondered how the car would steer and drive like that.
 
You are running a steering setup that was designed to run 4 inch wide tires.
If you put on 6 or 8 inch tires you are going to have hard steering. It has to do with the laws of physics and none of those have been repealed yet.
There are many ways to get modern low effort steering with wide tires and most have been covered here or on the HAMB. The 2 most popular are, change to a F1 or F100 box or add a power assist cylinder to the pitman arm. Both of these mods involve welding and machine work.
 
My 34s steering was surprisingly light the other day ,then I realized that i was on a metal /gravel road which 90% of the roads were in the day . Heres a shot of a Chrysler box thats going in another 34 this will vastly improve steering, it should be as good as Seth's 39 box In 37 Gemmer improved there patented box's and supplied them to to all to the car manufactures so steering improved all round about then .I have driven a stock 34 with near perfect steering with bias ply tires , there was no detail missed on the build, new sector etc ,There are posts on here that out line how you can improve you steering with a stock box . all the steering balls must be in top shape its a common thing to cut them of and reweld new ones on ,some add needle rollers and a bearing in the upper column ,to name a few .check the model A site.
 

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Thank you for the great info. Based on the responses would you recommend going with some Coker radials or bias plys. The F100 box looks like some modifications are required to mount it. Again I really appreciate all the responses.
 
FlatheadTed said:
My 34s steering was surprisingly light the other day ,then I realized that i was on a metal /gravel road which 90% of the roads were in the day . Heres a shot of a Chrysler box thats going in another 34 this will vastly improve steering, it should be as good as Seth's 39 box In 37 Gemmer improved there patented box's and supplied them to to all to the car manufactures so steering improved all round about then .I have driven a stock 34 with near perfect steering with bias ply tires , there was no detail missed on the build, new sector etc ,There are posts on here that out line how you can improve you steering with a stock box . all the steering balls must be in top shape its a common thing to cut them of and reweld new ones on ,some add needle rollers and a bearing in the upper column ,to name a few .check the model A site.
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Ted, that looks like a pretty neat conversion. What's the scoop on that Chrylser box? Is it similar to the 39 ford box?
 
Thanks to whoever deleted my earlier post.

Reduce the amount of caster that you may have. Also, increasing the PSI to about 35 to 40 pounds won't hurt a thing except the ride quality. It will still be better than the original bias ply tires. Grease with a good brand of synthetic grease. This should help. As stated above, bias ply tires will help a bunch, but hard to justify the cost.
 
34farmtruck said:
Thank you for the great info. Based on the responses would you recommend going with some Coker radials or bias plys. The F100 box looks like some modifications are required to mount it. Again I really appreciate all the responses.
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Diamond Back also makes a nice radial, they both have the look of the old bias ply tire. Although they are expensive.
 
Why not simply swap wheels with someone and see what you've got. I run biased ply on both of my Fords. Thats what they were designed to have. If I want a better ride I take my Lexus.......:eek:
 
Dick is absolutely correct. I have a 34pu with a stock 15-1 steering and correct 17" wheels that steers good. I have a 32 that came with 16" rubber when I bought it and I put the correct 18s back on it and it steers very good.
The truck gears add a lot of wind to the wheel that I do not like.
 
Seth its a 37 box with bracketing cut of, it would be the equivalent of F 100 but is a little smaller takes a roller and worm a nice unit you weld the triangle on the outer ,also need to shorten the column as well .
Seth Swoboda said:
Ted, that looks like a pretty neat conversion. What's the scoop on that Chrylser box? Is it similar to the 39 ford box?
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