The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Major steering issue

I was driving my 59 Apache home from work tonight and noticed that my steering wheel felt like it had a lot less resistance than normal, almost sloppy. I thought maybe the lash adjustment had backed out somehow. I checked it when I got home and the retaining nut was still tight. I loosened the nut and tried to tighten the adjustment screw a bit to see if there was any change so I would know if I needed to go through the adjustment procedure again tomorrow. The screw felt a little funny, but I made an adjustment and tightened the nut up again. I pulled down the driveway to see if it had any effect. It still felt wrong, almost worse. Thinking maybe I loosened it instead of tightening it, I tried again. I checked and I was going the right direction. I decided to roll down the driveway one more time. This time the steering got extremely sloppy and then I lost my ability to turn left. When turning left, the steering wheel keeps turning with little to no effect on the wheels. When turning right, it works, but definitely not correctly.

Anyway, this brings me to the important stuff. I'm assuming my gearbox is broken. I've checked online and found a supplier that has rebuilt ones in stock (most I saw were out of stock). I've also seen rebuild kits like this one:

http://www.classicparts.com/1955-59-Steering-Box-Rebuild-Kit/productinfo/76-912/#.WIK-fO8izIU

To me, this looks like it doesn't have everything I would need to fix as big of an issue as I think I have. A while ago I found these detailed instructions on rebuilding these boxes:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8257853639/in/album-72157632210242370/

I feel comfortable doing the work, but I'm afraid of having trouble finding all the parts required.

Anyway, I've always received great help here and wanted to get some advice from more experienced people.

-Does this sound like a gearbox gone bad to you?
-Is this something you think should be repaired or is a replacement a better option?
-Has anyone ever had this happen before?

This is my daily driver, so I'm anxious to get everything back to normal. I'm going to have to borrow my brother-in-law's spare vehicle in the meantime. Borrowing anything from your brother-in-law is always extra motivation. Thanks so much. Your help is always appreciated.

If your box is like the one in the '52 manual you posted, the ball guides could have split apart, letting the ball bearings loose, this would let the steering wheel free wheel. Other then that, it would have to break a tooth off the sector gear in which case you should have felt it give way. If you keep turning it, I would bet it looses its right turning ability as well.

The only sure way to know is pull it apart.

Update:

Well, I tore into the steering box and could not find anything that seemed out of whack. Everything looked like it was in pretty decent shape. The only thing I can think of is that something isn't correct up within the column. I'm stumped.

Also, I did triple check all the other associated steering gear and it all looks good. No looseness, no ball ends out of round, etc.

I ordered a refurbished steering box/column assembly last night. I don't want to take any chances with something like this. It's just bugging me not knowing what is wrong. Has anyone ever seen this before?

Is the worm gear still attached to the column?