The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Steering Question

My '54 3100 has a little too much free play in the steering mechanism. While going down the highway it will sometimes dart from right to left or vise versa. Is there an adjustment I can do to tighten it up a bit?
Thanks

Hey again DC! Tell us about the truck. Does it still have stock front suspension? Solid front axle? What kind of wheels? Tires? Odometer? Ever had the alignment checked? Or at least check the toe in?

Have you adjusted the steering box as described in the Shop Manual?

As asked above, what wheels/tires, and what PSI?

It has the stock front suspension, solid front axle, original wheels with new Coker bias tires. I haven't had the alignment or toe in checked yet. And where do I access a shop manual? It drives good until I get on a highway that is uneven due to lots of traffic where the tires run, i.e. "dished out" area where you drive. I suspect I need to adjust the steering box and check alignment etc.
Thanks guys.
D C

Have you looked in the Tech Tips - Getting Started (link to Tech Tips is near the top of this page)?

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/#started

Yes, a 1954 Truck Shop Manual is online.

There is a section on steering adjustments.
You will need a light-weight fish scale that Wal-Mart usually sells.

You need to jack it up & pull & tug on the front wheels & linkage. King pins, tie rod ends, draglink, Etc. You can't blame the little box till you find out the cause. Its probably a combination of several things.

I'm guessing the bias-ply tires, even if new, are responsible for a lot of that darting. They tend to climb the ridges in a road if grooves exist. One place in town was really bad and would scare the heck out of a passenger when I had the bias plys.

Once I put on radials, I could finally take a cup of coffee to work with me.

DC, like Tim said, lots of good stuff in Tech Tips, including that gearbox adjustment, and like the other guys said, could be a combination of things. I went thru a spell of twitchy steering at hwy speeds as soon as I got mine roadworthy last year, and I checked all the things the guys mentioned. Everything I did made an improvement, but my experience found that the biggest improvement can from getting the toe dialed in. Spec is 1/16" to 3/16". And checking toe is something you could do/adjust yourself. Do a little research and there are all kinds of info out there on alignment, or just take it in to a shop ultimately, as it's nice to see what the actual figures are. But you want to check out and rule out whatever you can before you go out and pay for that alignment. Flakey steering at hwy spds ruins the whole driving experience otherwise. You'll figure it out. Good luck. Dave

Thanks for all the good suggestions. I'll check all of them out in time.
D C

When I restored my 46 pickup I fount that while I could drive the truck, the entire front end was worn out from king pins to springs, bushings etc etc etc. So if you have not checked all these areas for wear I wouldn't be driving it far.
Best of luck.

Another item to check in addition to the steering box are the tie rods and drag link, if they are still the rebuildable original type. There is a preload spec on those, and if it is too loose, will also give you same loose steering fell.

All front end parts should be inspected regularly; and, adjustments should be regularly checked (as posted above and as described in the Shop Manual):

- steering box (the original topic)
- king-pins (looseness in knuckle/bushings and in axle holes)
- ball joint (tie-rod ends) adjustment
- check steering arm (it is not adjustable in 1954)
- grease front-end parts
- wheel bearings - check and service/adjust
- front end alignment (toe-in)
- tires - tread, balance and pressure (play with different pressures and test drive)
- other?

This is all great information, but for me, rebuilding the steering gear box made my truck go from two handed semi white knuckle on the highway to one handed relaxed feel down the highway. A bit intimidating to start, but not bad once you get into it.