Steering wheel nut torque

klawockvet

klawockvet

Senior Member
Is there any listing from Ford Motor Co. on torque for the steering wheel nut on early hollow steering columns? I not asking for advice on how to tighten a steering wheel. I'm asking for any published specification from Ford.
 
It is a thin jam nut. I just tighten until I get a firm resistance. Maybe 10-15 ft-lbs. The wheel requires a puller to get it off. I made a piece of 1/4" plate that would go in the hub and used the tapped holes to screw bolts in until it pops off.
 
Sometimes it seems like there is an aversion to reading the manual, that I never quite understood. For my part I like to know what the "rules" are, before I even think about breaking them. Especially with critical parts like brakes or steering. Oftentimes steering wheel nuts are specified to be staked with a punch after tightening, for example. If we don't read the task in the manual, written by the folks who designed it, important steps can be missed. Sometimes they will specify to use a new nut, etc. Attention to detail and performing tasks in a workmanlike manner according to best practices is the hallmark of good maintenance. Simple things - cotter pins are not to be re-used, things like that. I know you didn't ask for a lecture, ha ha.
 
With a tapered shaft and key, it only takes enough nut torqure on there to keep it from coming loose. The applied torque has to consider that the shaft is hollow and the size of the nut and threads. A solid bolt can take more torque than a hollow shaft so standard torques do not apply.

My 1949 to 1951 Lincoln/Mercury Overhaul Manual has 60 to 70 Ft/Lbs for a torque on them. There is a Canadian war time shop manual for the Ford vehicles of imediate pre-war and post war cars that may also have a torque listed but I don't have a copy of that. Many of the Ford shop manuals were plain Jane and didn't have a lot of information. A classic example is the torque for the rear wheel axle nuts.
 
Funny story. I didn't find it funny but you will. I have 1948 Ford 8N tractor that I needed to remove the steering wheel from. I took off the nut and put a puller on there and the wheel would not come off. I tried everything I could think of and the wheel would not come off. I even heated the wheel's hub and the wheel would not come off. I was thinking this wheel is really stuck on there, it must be from sitting out in the rain for all those years. The end of the steering shaft was beginning to look like I was trying to use it as rivet to hold the wheel on. It turns out that the steering wheel is treaded onto the shaft,, you spin on there. The nut if just a jamb nut to keep the wheel from unthreading. I can tell you those are some really good threads in those steering wheels. I had to buy another used steering box by the time I was done.
 
I will reiterate. I am not asking for information on how to tighten a steering wheel nut, or how to get the steering wheel off. Nor does anyone need to assume that I am unable to safely secure my steering wheel. In fact, I am of the opinion that a trunk monkey could fasten the wheel with a firm tug of a wrench or socket and would never have a problem. The biggest problems with the nuts holding the steering wheel are the ones grasping the outer rim.

Let me be clear, what I am asking is if there is any official Ford Motor company literature or service manual that indicates what the official torque is for the steering wheel nut on a 1928 through 1948 Ford automobile.
 
klawockvet,
Couldn't find any information on your question but, I did find a torque of 50-60 F/LB for a '51 Ford. This was in a 1951 Ford service forum. I would think this would be about right for your application.
 
I think your answer is going to be no. I have an extensive early Ford literature collection and my Dad's 60-year collection of Early Ford Literature fills an entire room. I looked through some of it for you last night and I couldn't find anything on the torque specs for that nut or any other nut. Except for a factory 1948 engine manual that listed specs torque specs for the main caps, rods caps. head nuts and spark plugs. No other torque specs for the rest of the engine fasteners. If this was the first year torque wrenches were sold according to the article I read I can't imaging there being any torq specs published before 1948. I looked in a factory trans and clutch manual and there were no torque specs, not even for critical fasteners like clutch bolts. There is an inch-pound pinion bearing pre-load spec and that's it for torque specs. There are no Early Ford factory manuals published like the ones Ford produced in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Those were great, they had a section devoted to steering and at the end of the steering section were the torque specs for all the fasteners. I looked in aftermarket manuals, like the 1948 Motors Manual and some aftermarket Ford repair manuals. There are no torque specs in them. Back then if Ford thought the nut was a critical fastener they used a castle nut with a cotter pin in it but there were no torque values. I don't believe Ford ever printed a later factory manual with updated toque specs for their early automobiles. I looked through a lot of literature. I did find the 1947 factory flat rate time it takes to replace the steering wheel, .5 to .8 hours unless your looking for the torque specs for the nut.
 

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