Steering wheel free play

M

miff

Senior Member
My steering wheel turns about two to three inches before I start to see movement on the pitman arm . All of the bushing have been replaced. The worm gear was replaced . The two tooth selector was replaced with one that takes the ball bearing in the houseing .The pitman arm is the shorten one .All the Drag link balls have been replaced with new ones . The front end was completely rebuilt .l have adjusted and readjusted using the remanded Ford three steps . Every thing seams tight . But still I have that play at the steering wheel. What am I missing?This is on my speeder . On my roadster ( two tooth steering box) I don’t have this problem.
 
Back up a second. Are we talking a "Gemmer" 2 tooth or the later (and parts reproduced) A-3550-C 2 tooth?

Not familiar with a sector containing ball bearings. Do you mean sector housing which uses needle bearings? This is usually a good change and a machinist typically has to make this fit "tight" to the point where the sector shaft has to be "wound" into the bearings.

The usual problem with 2 tooth is in the sector shaft. Typically they are worn on the shaft which allows the sector element to "wallow" in the sector housing. Either new bushings (line-reamed to fit a new sector shaft or a turned down sector shaft) or needle bearings.

The Gemmer versus A-3550-C issue is covered in the Service Bulletins. Today, parts are not available for the Gemmer units, but one can replace BOTH 2 tooth sector shaft AND worm (and the angular bearings) and make the Gemmer housing work with all new A-3550-C internals. You can't "mix & match" Gemmer and A-3550-C components.

Get back to us with further details and someone will pick it up.

Joe K
 
'Sorry to disagree: three of the four two-tooth steering box adjustments can be made while the steering column is in the car. The fourth adjustment can be done in the car, but you need a special tool to twist the eccentric rivet. Unless internal parts have been changed, you generally don't need to make the fourth adjustment with the column in the car. That should have been set when the rebuild took place.
Marshall
 
All the parts were new and replaced .needle bearing installed .Sector shaft Machine to fit the housing.I purchased them from one of the model a parts suppliers. Had the steering shaft sent out to the supplier to have the new gear installed
 
Something is not right in the box. Impossible to tell what is wrong without being there. Does the steering wheel move up and down? Does the shaft for the pitman arm move in and out or up and down? Can you adjust the box so that it binds up on the sectors? Where are you located?
 
Make sure the castle nut on the special pitman arm is tight, VERY tight. If there is the slightest looseness, that will translate to at least an inch of play at the steering wheel. Also make sure the drag link and tie rod end plugs are turned in sufficiently to keep the steering balls from gyrating inside the ends.
Marshall
 
nkaminar said:
Something is not right in the box. Impossible to tell what is wrong without being there. Does the steering wheel move up and down? Does the shaft for the pitman arm move in and out or up and down? Can you adjust the box so that it binds up on the sectors? Where are you located?
Click to expand...

The steering wheel no movement up or down. I believe there is no in or out or up or down movement on the pitman arm I will check and get back to you later to night . I am in St. Louis area .
 
Marshall has a good point. Mine was loose and it took a 2 foot breaker bar and socket wrench to tighten the nut enough so that the pitman arm did not move on the shaft.
 
One caveat to my suggestion about tightening the end plugs in the tie rod - If you need to turn them in more than 1/2 turn, you had better recheck the toe-in adjustment. Tightening the end plugs deeper into the tie rod's ends will create a toe-out situation because by tightening those plugs inward, you are pulling the back of the tires closer to each other. That means a toe-in adjustment will be necessary to restore the factory spec's of 1/16" to 3/32" toe-IN.
Loose tie rod and drag link plugs will cause slop at the steering wheel. Jack the front end up and have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth while you watch the action of the pitman arm, drag link and tie rod. If the pitman moves, but the drag link is delayed in following, the end plugs need to be tightened. Do the same for the tie rod and watch the steering arm movement. If the arms begin to move but the tie rod delays, the end plugs need to be tightened. Tighten all four end plugs so that with a vise grips attached to each rod, you should be able to slightly rotate the rods with some resistance. If you can't twist the rods with a vise grip, the end plugs are too tight. An old Ford dealership mechanic taught me this trick 45 years ago. It works and takes the guesswork out of figuring spring compressions.
Marshall
 
The other aspect of 2 tooth is that "free play" gets "larger" as one turns away from center.

2 tooth takes advantage of the wheels to "self-center" as one turns away from straight ahead. The box is "tight" at center, but as you turn away, a "free play" is seen which gets larger as one turns away.

Ford relies on the wheels to return to center by virtue of the front end geometry. As you turn, the wheels tend to one side or the other of the worm. Wear is always "one side" of the worm - just opposite at each end of turn.

Now I can see if you turn (say) to the limit left or right, you might be able to "wiggle" the tire/rim exposing this free play. You may even detect turning the steering wheel and having to take a turn or two with the car stationary to "reverse" this motion.

The Service Bulletins "adjustment" page refers to this free play.

For you what you're seeing may be "normal." You're fortunate to have something to compare it with on-hand. Compare in the same way and possibly side-by each? And considering that the car in motion will act differently than the car stationary?

Note that 7 tooth steering does not have this effect. Some consider the 7 tooth setup a "better" setup in responsiveness because of this - even as it may suffer more free play overall (particularly at center) due to wear.

Joe K
 
Last edited:
Maybe I have not made my question clear . I have no fenders on the car (speeder)So I can watch the pitman arm .When I turn the steering wheel I have play back-and forth(side to side) . There is no movement on the pitman. After I move the steering wheel about two to three inches, (free play)then the pitman starts to move .
 
I have not adjusted the 2 tooth entirely "in situo." I usually do it on a bench with the assist of a vise.

The adjustment, of course can govern where the box "centers." You choose an adjustment where the sector nearly binds at center and then "loosens" in free play as you turn the steering wheel to either direction. You choose location such that barely binds and full motion either way gives you "equal" free play either way.

And that's about it. Others have asked about "looseness" of the steering wheel vertical - they're trying to make sure the worm is sufficiently restrained between upper and lower angular roller bearing. This you want "tight" but not "binding."

I have seen situation where the worm was pressed on the shaft and whoever made the worm did not have the bearing races "concentric" with the worm. You could spin the mounted worm in a lathe and watch the races "wobble" relative to the motion. A setup which can lead to "binding." Or (thinking) perhaps fooling you as to the actual "bind at center" point.

If you're seeing motion of the pitman arm with the wheel/steering centered - then something isn't "tight." As I said the typical is the sleeve bearing for the sector shaft are worn and the sector "wallows." Yours having been built elsewhere and upgraded to needles shouldn't have this. IF it was done right.

I've described having to "wind" the sector shaft into the needle bearings. It should be THAT TIGHT. A good machinist will make it so. I suspect you're at the point of tear down to find your issue.

Joe K
 
Miff, It is pretty easy to observe a loose pitman arm on the shaft. Have someone turn the wheel while you look. If the shaft turns but not the pitman arm then it is loose. Like I said above, it takes a lot of torque to tighten the nut on the pitman arm.
 
I adjust it tight in the center of the worm only. That's the only place it will be tight as are all Gemmer design steering gears. I adjust them on the bench with everything inspected to be good and no shake in the Timken bearings on the worm (proper preload). Make sure it has the late bearings with the late type worm per the Service Bulletin. The early worms only work with early Timken bearings. Parts for those are not available and haven't been for over 90 years.
 
Just a follow up on my original post. What the problem was, I didn’t have the proper mesh of the two tooth sector in the worm gear . After readjusting ( took a little time). WhenI turn the steering wheel I have immediate response on the Pitman arm. Thank you all for your input .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top