Steering end play

B

bdtutton

Senior Member
I have a 1930 Tudor and the other day I climbed over the seat and pulled on the steering wheel and it pulled out about 3/4 of an inch. I pushed it back in and drove the car home with no issues. I decided to try and adjust the end play of the steering box and it still has the same end play. My steering has always been a bit loose and nothing seems to have changed, but this end play concerns me.
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I think it may be time to pull the steering box apart because this does not seem normal to me. Is this normal?
 
Like J mentioned, try adjusting it first.

Yours should a 2 tooth box which has 4 adjustments that need to be done in order. The best procedure is in the Service Bulletins.
 
Pull the box and take it apart. 3/4 of an inch is a lot more that just an adjustment. Something is amiss.
 
The Gemmer steering gearbox has an end play adjustment bolt but I would reiterate on Patrick L's statement on box adjustments. When adjusting one, the others have to be considered too. Les Andrew's Mechanics Handbook also has a good steering adjustment section for both of the model A steering gears. The Gemmer design has multiple adjustments that can be done as previously mentioned. The old Ford 7-tooth, not so many.
 
nkaminar said:
Pull the box and take it apart. 3/4 of an inch is a lot more that just an adjustment. Something is amiss.
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I agree 3/4 inch is more than adjustment. Are you sure the movement is in the shaft and not the wheel? Maybe the wheel is loose on the shaft. Hate to have you pull the whole shebang if it's something else.

Pull out the light switch/horn button and have a look. Or, with a helper, pull the steering oil fill plug. Have a helper pull the wheel in and out and watch the worm inside the housing.
 
Everybody sure likes pulling thing apart before trying easy things such as adjustment. Maybe somebody did something wrong during a shade tree adjustment.
 
J Franklin said:
Everybody sure likes pulling thing apart before trying easy things such as adjustment. Maybe somebody did something wrong during a shade tree adjustment.
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Yep, I agree.
There may well be something really wrong, but, for the little time it takes to try adjusting,,,,,,,,,

Its a decision the man has to make and it sounds from the OP that he kinda wants to take it apart.
 
Mr. Moose has a good point. The steering wheel could be loose.

When you pull up and push down on the steering wheel, do the front wheels move right and left? If not then it is not the adjustment. There is a bolt with lock nut on the top of the box to adjust the end play. The bolt would have to be missing and the upper race locking bolt loose to make 3/4 inch movement and the front wheels would move right and left quite a lot when you pulled up and pushed down on the steering wheel.

In any case, do not drive the car until you get this fixed.
 
The Model A Ford Mechanics Handbook, Volume 1, page 1-305 cautions about over tightening the nut for the steering wheel. The shaft is thin at this point and the threads can be damaged or the threaded end can be twisted off the end of the shaft.
 
I'm still scratching my head a bit about this problem. There are several things affected here. One is the nut & key fixing the steering wheel. The next is the very tight press fit of the worm gear onto the steering shaft. The adjustment of the end play in the streering box is to keep a good bearing preload on the worm gear bearings. The last item is the light switch rod. It is secured down inside the light switch and I don't know how much play it can allow down there. With all this, it's hard for me to get my head around how it can have this much play.

The busted threaded end of the steering shaft seems the most logical. It takes a lot to get that worm off of a steering shaft. The bearings can't move around in the steering box much unless they are gone. The light switch rod would eventually disconnect from the spider with too much movement.
 
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I did the original post....I adjusted everything. The steering shaft slides in and out and the wheels don't move. I think the shaft is loose on the worm gear. The steering was a little loose so I was planning to pull the steering box apart within the next year or so anyway.
 
It might be but I've not seen a shaft come loose from the worm yet. The light switch rod & clip may be all that is holding it if it is disconnected either at the worm or at the nut on top of the shaft. A person can find out by disconnecting the switch rod from the spider and lifting the rod up and out a bit. The steering shaft nut would be visible for inspection. If it's still connected then the problem would be at the worm down in the box.

One of the restorer series of books from MAFCA has a procedure to repair for a separated or damaged thread on the tip of the shaft. It's not uncommon to find damage there.
 
bdtutton said:
I did the original post....I adjusted everything. The steering shaft slides in and out and the wheels don't move. I think the shaft is loose on the worm gear. The steering was a little loose so I was planning to pull the steering box apart within the next year or so anyway.
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I would pull the box before driving, seems very improbable to me that the worm gear is loose on the shaft. If it is the car is not safe to drive IMO. The worm gear is press fit not keyed- I think.

John
 
BD, Depending on the body style, the first thing you are going to do is pull the horn rod and the second thing is to remove the steering wheel. That may answer the question before you remove the box. I don't think the gear is loose on the shaft and I think Mr. Moose had it right that it is in the steering wheel. But I have been wrong plenty of times.
 
bdtutton said:
I did the original post....I adjusted everything. The steering shaft slides in and out and the wheels don't move. I think the shaft is loose on the worm gear. The steering was a little loose so I was planning to pull the steering box apart within the next year or so anyway.
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Seems now's the time to repair all the issues you don't want things to go south on the road it's gone from a little loose to real loose.
 
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