The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Steering box play

Hi just wondering when these trucks where new (1946) was there any free play in the steering box? Just wondering what to expect if I rebuild the box. I know it also has a lot to do with the other steering components condition. Thanks

My 50 3100 has very little play and has not been rebuilt. I can let go of the steering wheel on the highway at 60 and the truck tracks straight and true with no wandering. One hand on the wheel driving is very easy, even without power steering.

It will never handle like a modern car but fortunately I don't own a modern car so I'm not missing anything.

Make sure your box is actually the problem. All of the other joints in the steering linkage have a cumulative effect on steering looseness.

There has to be a little clearance (play) for the steering box to work without binding up.
Rebuilding one isn't very difficult, but you might look at adjusting the sector depth and worm bearing preload before tearing it down. I may just need adjusting to compensate for any wear that might have happened over the last 75+ years. The shop manual covers it and it's not difficult to adjust.

I can drive mine with one hand too but I don't think I'd let go of it.

Tires have a lot to do with as well, bias or radial.

I meant that I don't have to keep correcting the vector or worrying about slop when I have to negotiate curves it the road, etc. with one hand.

I just went thru this on my 59. It has no play now and drives nice!
Side of the box . 5/8 nut with inner slot.

Wheels up/centered...loosen 5/8 , clockwise turn to the slot.
Move the steering back and forth to check for binding.
I`d bet this one had never been adjusted.

There should be no play in the gear box. Look here for how to rebuild and adjust http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/booklets/5220mts01.htm. The procedures are the same no matter what year you have. Adjust the box, then work your way out to the wheels checking for movement. When the steering wheel moves, so should the tires. Have the tires on the ground, full weight on them, when checking for movement. Tie-rods and drag-link have adjustable ends. Replacement tie-rods come in sealed, modern type joints, or replacement stock type. Mine drives better with the newer type joints. With a fully adjusted steering system and non-worn spring bushings, it should drive like any other truck on the road. Tires will be the next thing to address. GM didn't sell crappy driving trucks.

A few years ago I rebuilt the entire from end of my '41. New king pins, new tie rod ends, new spring bushings, new seals in the steering box and adjusted it using the manual procedure. It now drives and steers straight, no play, no wander.

Update adjusted as per manual and it's taken all the free play out. Thanks for all the comments

I’ve been thinking about a rebuild. The rebuild itself doesn’t seem so tough, but the shop manual makes it sound like you have to take half the truck apart to get the box removed. Is that right?

It will be easier if you have the driver's side fender and the driver's side inner fender piece removed. There are things that will get in your way. And honestly I can't recall for certain but it is possible you might have to remove those to get it out at all. There are other obvious things (gear shift stuff, the clamp to dash piece, the bottom sealing piece, the pitman arm, horn wire, etc). Others will be along to tell you what they think but I remember the work as being more involved than I wished it had been.

Yes, the shop manual speaks of at least some “loosening” of the fenders.

Looks like new grease and an adjustment will be just fine!

For what it may be worth, the only time I've seen one of these steering boxes actually need rebuilding was after somebody had filled the box with what looked to me like chassis grease and used it for a while. Any sort of heavy grease will in cold weather and over time cavitate leaving the box virtually unlubricated. Others may and possibly will disagree but I mix corn head grease and 90 weight gear oil about half/half and use that. I don't want any grease in there that could possibly harden with weather changes, time or anything at all. One thing I'll say...using a thinner mix of gear lubricant may cause your pitman shaft seal to leak a bit. Won't leak much and more in the summer. You can replace it in situ but you will have to get the old seal out and that may not be as easy as you would wish. The old seal was nothing but a metal collar around a piece of felt. The replacement seals today are a rubber lip seal and do a good job. The last old seal I removed I finally got out after making a hook tool out of a small screwdriver.

I’ve got a bottle of “cotton picker grease” that seems to move pretty freely. Can a guy flush out all the old grease somehow?

Your newer trucks must be different than my '37, I was able to drop the box and column out the bottom with the front end pretty high up in the air. It took a little wiggling, but it came out in one piece. Flushing the box might be pretty tough without removing the covers, there is only one way out besides the filler plug, and thats up the steering shaft into the cab! The '41 gear box I am using has at least one of the end cover bolt holes that goes into oil, yours might also. With that you might be able flush some of the old oil out. Fill with gasoline or kerosine and let set, working it side to side every so often, then drain out, let dry and refill.

What Joe said. If you disturb the side cover you'll need a new gasket. If you don't replace it, the box can seep at that cover joint. I made an extra one the last time I worked on one of these. I'll see if I still have it around. I need to make a CNC file out of it so I could just laser cut them for the folks here.

I think dropping out the bottom might be possible with an AD truck too. Would take a little studying to see what all is in the way.

I don't think the box can be moved far enough away from the frame to get it past to drop out the bottom without removing or at least significantly loosening the inner fender. The box sits on top of the frame and the box and column are pretty tight to the inner fender. In my truck I needed to move the box out about 2" to clear my SBC exhaust manifold and in the process I needed to increase the clearance cut out for the box in the inner fender.

A few weeks ago I topped off the old grease in my steering gear with some 80w90. I figured it would help loosen up any crusty old grease and then I could suction it out and replace with the bottle of cotton picker grease I have on the shelf.

Well, it looks like it “self-flushed” out the pitman seal and onto the garage floor. No big deal there. Am I safe to assume the cotton picker grease will mostly “stay put” in spite of the questionable pitman seal?

I think you'll have the same leakage problem with the corn head grease. But you can replace the sector shaft seal without removing the steering gear. The original seals were just a circle of felt material. Just get a lip type seal for a later truck. SKF #11055 would be the corrrect part number.

The picture below was probably of an original seal as I was digging it out of a friend's steering box that we were overhauling. It had some kind of soft metal to the outside supporting a circle of felt.

Other part numbers are GM part # 7801626, CR 11055 and Federal Mogul 313842. These are all lip seals.

By the way, this seal will make the truck faster because the same seal was used in Corvettes 1963-1982.

What all has to come apart to replace? Just remove pitman arm?

Yes

Cool! Looking forward to that once I get my truck assembled. I thought it was just stickers that made it go faster.

Does it make the truck faster, or just make it steer faster? I was assuming the latter and hoping this would make my AD an autocross contender.

I’m a newb to the task of pitman arm removal. Seems that I have read that can be a bit of a nightmare. Any tips?

I borrowed (actually you buy it and when it is returned you get a complete refund) a puller that looked like
this puller to replace the seal on my '52 GMC. Ended up bending the puller without getting the arm off. Took the puller back to O'Reilly's and the counter man said "that shouldn't have happened" and swapped the bent one for another which worked fine. Got my money back when I returned it.

If you have time, take off the nut and spray a little PB Blaster or Kroil on the exposed shaft area a couple of times over a day or two. Put the nut back on (not tight) and (not too hard) hit the arm from the side to help loosen before using the puller.

I assume everyone saw that the Author of this thread followed the adjustment procedure and all is well? Simple fix.

That is good news.

The reason I tagged on here was that I actually located the thread (which I’m not very good at) where someone had advised adding gear oil to the steering box.

Sorry for the hijack.

FWIW, I am not disappointed that the 80w90 leaked out. I sort of expected it. I had planned to somehow remove the old grease before adding the new. The gear oil seems to have just expedited that process.

Purchase two seals when you get to the store, they bend real easy and it might just save you so drive time!

To add to Bill's procedure, with the nut flush with the end of the shaft, install the puller and put some tension on it. Then hold a heavy hammer (4 lb sledge would be good) against one side of the arm, and smack the other side of the arm with a 1 lb hammer. What that does is make the rust molecules that are holding hands in there let go and cover their ears. Usually make things come right off. That works very well for tapered stem items like ball joints or tie-rod ends.

I borrowed a pitman arm puller. Is the pitman arm splined to get it back in the same position, or do I need to mark something? It’s currently too greasy to tell.

SplIned.

It's always good to put witness marks on everything you remove to make correct orientation of the new parts easier.