Sterring Wheel Play

Brother A

Brother A

Senior Member
I have about 6" of play in my steering wheel which makes the car tricky to steer. I have done the steering box adjustments as per Les Andrews with the exception that the box was in the car when I did that. The box was leaking when I bought the car so I'm worried that it may have been used with little or no lubrication. The leak is now repaired and the box is filled with Penrite steering lube. The Pittman shaft nut is very tight - no slop between the gear shaft and arm . Am I looking at a new sector gear or is there a simpler fix I should try first? Thanks in advance for your help.

Steve
 
Adjust it as mentioned in the SERVICE BULLETINS. I would probably remove it from the car and adjust it on the bench.

Make sure the pitman arm is dead tight, or you'll pick up a lot of play there. Also make sure the mounting to frame bolts are tight.
 
Thanks Tom. Where can I find the service bulletins? Would they be different from what Les describes in his handbook?
 
The service bulletins are available from MARC, MAFCA, and many of the parts houses. There are 2 sizes out there, unless you have remarkable eyesight, I would recommend that you get the full size ones (8-1/2 X 11) rather than the hard bound yellow book that is about half that size.
 
Thanks Carl and Tom. I've been working on this today. I re-did the adjustments slowly and methodically. I'm down to about 4 inches of play now. I took it out for a drive and it's actually much better than it was.

I can get more play out of it but I feel some binding when I cut the wheel all the way to the right. It's fine all the way to the left. I'm still scratchin' my chin about that :confused:.

Carl, Have you ever been to Jake's restaurant in Anchorage. I had one of the best meals of my life there. Run by a mad Dane who cooks like nobody else!!!
 
Brother A did you do the steering box again the Les Andrews way ?? Do the instructions make sense. I have been wanting to do this project but the front end has so many issues like alinement, leaking shocks and a bad wobble sometimes when coming to a stop with the wheels aimed straight ahead.

The other day I had the front end up off the ground and was greasing everything and turned the wheel full left and right a couple of times and I also had some binding or a slow spot when going full right .
 
Steering binding on hard left and/or right sounds like your worm/sector alignment. When I rebuilt mine per Les Andrew's book, it's a pretty critical adjustment however, I was putting all new gears in and the steering gear (2 tooth) was out of the car. Getting it set up right solved a lot of other steering problems as well.
Pete
 
Its possible the binding to the right side is from the worm not being centered. If the binding is close to the center, it might be the center high spot to the right of center instead of in the center..Other areas to check that contribute to looseness are a loose pittman arm, loose steering box, loose tie rod and drag link ends, worn kingpins, loose wheel bearings. It helps to have someone rotate the steering wheel back and forth slowly within the free play zone as you check every connection for loss of movement. A little here and there all adds up to a lot at the wheel.
 
A-Jay said:
Brother A did you do the steering box again the Les Andrews way ?? Do the instructions make sense.
Click to expand...

I just used LA's book for the adjustment. The former owner told me that the box was "addressed" during the restoration.

Les' book is fantastic. The instructions are clear and every time I need an illustration... there it is.

pat in Santa Cruz said:
Its possible the binding to the right side is from the worm not being centered. If the binding is close to the center, it might be the center high spot to the right of center instead of in the center..Other areas to check that contribute to looseness are a loose pittman arm, loose steering box, loose tie rod and drag link ends, worn kingpins, loose wheel bearings. It helps to have someone rotate the steering wheel back and forth slowly within the free play zone as you check every connection for loss of movement. A little here and there all adds up to a lot at the wheel.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about the centering adjustment. I'm just not sure if the hard right binding is a result of being off center to the right or left. This may be a trial and error thing. I think I just need to bite the bullet and pull this box. I just hate to lay the car up during the good driving season.
 
Brother A said:
I just used LA's book for the adjustment. The former owner told me that the box was "addressed" during the restoration.

Les' book is fantastic. The instructions are clear and every time I need an illustration... there it is.



I've been thinking about the centering adjustment. I'm just not sure if the hard right binding is a result of being off center to the right or left. This may be a trial and error thing. I think I just need to bite the bullet and pull this box. I just hate to lay the car up during the good driving season.
Click to expand...

You should be able to pull the steering column, adjust it, and reinstall it by day's end. That would work fine for one rainy day.
 
I agree with Tom, the steering box is not that big of a deal to pull, adjust and replace. If that cabriolet avatar is your car, pulling it out of a convertible is easy. Its easier to adjust it on a bench, as the centering adjust is often rusted tight and its easier to access it on a bench. Instructions to center it are in the service manuals. They might be in Les book too, but I don;t have it handy to check. After its centered, you will have to adjust the worm to the sector again, but its not a big deal.
 
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You guys are right. I probably spent more time farting around with it in the car than I would have spent if I just took it out and did it the right way. Gees.... how many times have I said that.
 
Brother A said:
I have about 6" of play in my steering wheel which makes the car tricky to steer. I have done the steering box adjustments as per Les Andrews with the exception that the box was in the car when I did that. The box was leaking when I bought the car so I'm worried that it may have been used with little or no lubrication. The leak is now repaired and the box is filled with Penrite steering lube. The Pittman shaft nut is very tight - no slop between the gear shaft and arm . Am I looking at a new sector gear or is there a simpler fix I should try first? Thanks in advance for your help.

Steve
Click to expand...
Two tooth steering boxes are easy to adjust IN the car!!
Loosen the 4 nuts on the side cover next to the frame by 1/4 turn.
The eccentric nut under the upper nut raises or lowers the sector up to or down from the worm gear. Eccentric has a mark, and it is usually around 1 o'clock position. Clockwise moves sector up, counter clockwise moves it down.
Lower part of the cover has another small eccentric located in a slot. This adjustment moves the sector backwards or forward to center it to the low spot on the worm. Trust me on this, it is MUCH EASIER to make these two adjustments with the steering box IN the car.
 
Brother A , I know this may be silly but did you make sure the tie-rod ends are screwd in as tight as possible without binding [drag link also] ! I have "tightened up much steering play this way, if not than look at the steering gearbox... bobbycoke
 
Bobby,
I did check the rod ends. This play is evident before there is any motion in the pitman arm. I'm pretty sure it's in the box adjustments. As I read the service bulletins I'm increasingly suspicious that it has something to do with the centering adjustment. I think that the sector gear is too tight when turned all the way to the right causing the binding. This limits the amount of adjustment I can make when I try to use the steering box eccentric nut to get rid of the play. I think if I get the gears centered I will have enough adjustment this to an acceptable limit.

Thanks for your response.

Steve
 
I have a 2 tooth box, can I do the adjustment in the car as Bill said. With all other problems that I have up there ? Is this a good place to start or should other basic things be done first. Thanks for any input in this matter.
 
There are 4 adjustments to the 2 tooth box.. Once any one of these needs to be adjusted, the others need to checked and maybe readjusted.. Then you need to start over again.. Its time consuming and can be done while still in the vehicle.. A screwdriver can be 'warped' to do the 4th adjustment.. Of course all the remaining front end parts need to be in good order..
 
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