Play in my steering

I

Ianrhall

Senior Member
1944 1/2 ton pickup

I have a fair bit of play in the steering on my truck. If I turn the wheel side to side I can see the whole column moving before moving the steering box. Wondering if I am missing a clamp of some kind as column passes through the firewall?
I could make something up to hold the column. I think I need to improve this before I get into steering box rebuilds

Ian
 
First check to see if the bolts holding your steering box to the frame are loose.
Also, are your column drop bolts tight?
 
There's some kind of primitive lock wire arrangement going on between the steering box bolts, I will double check those bolts tho
 
Check for cracks in the mounting plate (if there is one) and also the frame. Maybe one of the "ears" on the steering box is cracked.
 
The column should not be moving. It is held tight at the frame mounting point and also at the column drop.
 
Definitely something wrong then, think it's at the box end, I'll hold fire making up that clamp at the bulkhead
Thanks
Ian
 
If your truck steering column is like my two '48 cars, it has a clamp at the bottom where it attaches to the box preventing any movement unless the box is loose from the frame.
 
It's held at the top(in the cab) then at the bottom at the top of the box, the column moves from side to side before the wheels move. I'm pretty sure there's a problem where the box bolts to the frame
 
Is it possible to have someone watch the steering box (and the column sleeve where it connects to the steering box) while you turn the wheel? It could just be the bottom clamp and drop are loose.
 

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Way back in the late 1950's I had a 48 Merc coupe. Driving through a narrow space was a little discerning at times trying to keep it in the middle of the space IE between two cars etc. In checking I found the two bottom rivets holding the mounting bracket to the frame rail were broken although they were still in the bracket just not holding anything on the bottom. I drilled out the rivets and replaced them with bolts. It worked. Get someone to move the steering wheel and watch for movement at the mounting bracket at the frame.
 
The box is held to the frame by 3 bolts, they weren't that tight, got a good half a turn on them! Doesn't look like the box has ever been off or certainly not in recent history!
Ian
 
Is the outside of the column (mast jacket)moving or is the shaft moving inside the mast jacket. If the shaft is moving inside the mast jacket the bushing is worn inside the column.
 
The outer moves a little and I can hear the inner moving too. I think I've improved it a little by tightening everything up, need to check with another set of hands tomorrow
 
Pull the steering wheel and check the bushing inside the column. I'll bet it is severely worn. You can replace it with a bearing which is much preferred over the bushing.
 
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