Hard Steering rebuilt steering box 2 tooth

A

Alaska Mike

Member
I just rebuilt the steering box on my 1931 roadster. Followed Les Andrews book to the letter. I replaced everything, including the case with the needle bearing up grade. Thought I made all the adjustments. When I have the wheels jacked up, it moves easily. When I put it on the ground, it is really stiff. Won't self center it self when traveling down the road. All of the slop is out of the wheel now, but still really stiff.


King pins and the rest of the steering and suspension seem to be good. I am wondering if the king pin bearings are tight?
 
Did it steer hard before you rebuilt the steering box?

As you know there is more to the front end than the steering box.

I would recommend going over the whole front end. Once done, it will last many years. Enjoy.
 
It sounds like your kingpin bearings,(not the bushings) are not coming into play.They may need to be shimmed.(adjusted)With the car on the ground,grab the bearings and see if you can turn them.
 
IMO, there is too many possibilities at this point where anything mentioned is going to be a guess.

My suggestion is to remove and disassemble. I would start by looking at the sector and those needle bearings. More often than not, the sector housing is improperly machined which can cause issues like you are having. The next question is did you fit the sector teeth to the worm gear, and is it adjusted correctly? Is the upper bearing preloaded correctly, and have you checked the steering shaft with the new worm gear installed for any runout?
 
You just pushed the sector teeth too far into the worm. It probably squaks when you force it. Just back off on the sector adjustment a tiny bit. It is very sensitive. It takes several try’s. Everything looks good until you tighten the 4 screws on the side. Good luck.
 
Keep at it, Mike. You'll find the problem. Properly rebuilt, adjusted and with a couple add-ons (shortened pitman arm is my favorite), you should see near two-finger steering around corners with the two-tooth steering box. Don't expect to notice any improvement while the car is sitting still. Only when the car is moving will you see improvement.
I would also suggest seeing if the king pin bearings are shimmed correctly. Wheels on the ground, you should not be able to turn the bearings with your fingers. Jack the car up off the ground and you should be able to turn them with a little effort. If you can turn the bearings while the wheels are on the ground, the spindle is supporting the car's weight, not the bearings. That would definitely contribute to hard steering. If you can't turn the bearings when jacked up, they are shimmed too tightly, which will also cause hard steering.
With the front end jacked up and the pitman arm disconnected, manually turn the wheels from extreme to extreme. If difficult or if it requires a great effort to do so, the problem definitely lies in the front axle parts, such as king pin bushings not reamed properly or the tie rod end plugs are adjusted too tight.
Go through the two-tooth adjustment procedure again AS WRITTEN IN THE SERVICE BULLETINS with the column in the car, and in the order written. Ensure first that the sector shaft is not rubbing on the frame hole. Oftentimes the mounting bolt holes have become wallowed out from looseness, which lets the steering box sit lower in the hole to the point that the sector is rubbing the frame rail. I've traced hard steering to this simple cause many times.
I gotta ask: you DID put in a steering lube such as 600w or Penrite, didn't you? If you used chassis grease, get it outta there before the metal-to-metal contact between worm gear and sector teeth causes gouges to form in the sector teeth. Chassis grease squeezes out between the gears after a few turns, leaving them unlubricated.
'Dunno what to say about the steering not centering, as you write. Have you checked the toe in? If that's out of spec's, it will cause erratic steering and wandering.
Marshall
 
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I used 600 wt oil. With the wheels up, and disconnected from pitman arm, everything turns easy. With wheels up and pitman connected, it turns relatively easy. Just when I put weight on the wheels do things get tight. I really appreciated all the suggestions. I will start again tomorrow.
 
I believe your problem is you followed Les Andrew's instructions. I had the same trouble recently and finally got things right by leaving the adjustment of the sector shaft end play till last.
 
Alaska Mike said:
I used 600 wt oil. With the wheels up, and disconnected from pitman arm, everything turns easy. With wheels up and pitman connected, it turns relatively easy. Just when I put weight on the wheels do things get tight. I really appreciated all the suggestions. I will start again tomorrow.
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I would drop the front end, not that big a job.

Take it apart and check everything. A little ware here and there, makes for many different problems.

There really is only one right way to fix a 90 year old front end.

It just takes a little more time to do it right.
 
Don’t ever end up with a little friction on center. It will drive you crazy. Can’t drive a car that sticks, even slightly, on center.
 
Thanks to all that responded to my question. Yes, I went out and bought the Service Bulletin Book, an amazing source of information! I followed everyone's advice, and checked everything. As others suspected, I just needed to take my time and set everything according to the book, and tightening those four bolts, does seem to change things a bit. I just kept at it, and am now very happy with the way it steers. Thanks again for all your help and encouragement!
 
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