The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Steering gear adjustment

Trying to use my time wisely and get other things done while I wait on parts.

Is there any reason a guy can’t do the steering gear adjustment procedure (the shop manual procedure for an AD truck) WITHOUT the pitman arm attached to the box? Didn’t know if that might screw up the scale measurements or such.

JW,

In doing a quick read of the steering box adjustment procedure in the Shop Manual, the Major Service Operations instructions describe "Adjustment - On Bench" and seem to indicate the pitman arm has yet to be reinstalled after removing the unit and rebuilding). That step isn't mentioned until after the adjustment process is completed and your are re-installing the steering assembly to the truck.

My guess would be you will be fine with doing the adjustment without the pitman arm attached to your connecting rod while the unit is still installed in the truck. The instructions in both the Minor and Major Service Operations "adjustments" both say your weight scale pull reading when measured at the steering wheel should be between 1 - 1.5 lbs.

Sounds to me like you are ok with what you plan. Just be sure to follow the steps specified in the full "Minor Services Operation" from beginning to end.

Dan

I agree with Dan. A simple 0 - 5 lb fish scale was under $5 at Walmart years ago. I even wrote the proper Kent-Moore part number on mine.

Thanks guys. I was thinking just gravity acting on the pitman arm might play a role in the force needed to turn the wheel.

Maybe not as much as you might expect on the gravity idea. When you go through the center the pitman arm will be straight up or down depending on your "mental wheel". If you have an inch torque wrench (the kind with the central rod is visually best for this I believe) you can attach it to a socket and just rotate the wheel through the center. If you have it adjusted properly you'll see the rod sway as you slowly approach the point of greatest resistance and then you will see the needle swing to the highest point. In my opinion this is a really easy and foolproof way to do this work. Here's a decent one: https://tinyurl.com/2rtfa4fz

Jon's inch-lb torque wrench would work fine with a little math. The fish scale spec and the radius of the steering wheel can be converted to inch-pounds. I use the fish scale method with the pitman arm off and the steering gear held in a vice with the steering shaft horizontal. The wheel isn't installed in this picture, but was for the adjustment of the end plug (shaft bearings) and the sector engagement.

I finally found someone with a messier work bench than mine. You win Kevin.

Are you kidding me? He looks like he has OCD compared to my workbench.

Bill, to paraphrase Crocodile Dundee, that's not messy. THIS is messy.

As I recall at the max interference point the inch/lb needle will increase by about 10. There will be resistance all the way leading up to that point...I'd say something in the range of 5 to 7 inch/lbs. As I said, this is a dead simple way of doing it. When the needle hits max, you know your sector and worm are where they need to be and there isn't a lot of room. You'll know it when you hit that point.

The shop manual calls for adjusting the worm bearing first (1 - 1 1/2 pounds at the with the sector gear lash adjustment backed off, then the sector gear lash adjustment (2 to 2 1/2 pounds during the pull over center). How to is from the '57 GMC Maintenance manual is the same as your earlier Chevy truck.

By the way, the 2 - 2.5 pound pull on the outer rim of the steering wheel converts to 1.5 to 1.75 foot pounds if you are using a torque wrench on the nut instaed of a fish scale on the rim.

Just an fyi, at trigger pull scale (hunting store) is accurate in that 0-5 range, not expensive and easy to get.

i used a cheap scale from amazon & a few zip ties to hold it in place while i pulled on it. It was around $12 if i remember correctly (everything has gone up, no more $5 scales anymore) Made a big difference in feel in my case.

I actually just adjusted mine about a month ago when I noticed slightly more play in the wheel than it had when I put it together 4 years ago. Ive adjusted a bunch just on the set screw with good results so i did the same again. Probably got almost a full turn in until the set screw stopped. I left light pressure on it and held it while tightened the lock nut. Thing feels like a new truck now. Better than its ever been. I also made sure it was topped off with “00” grease from tractor supply.

I suspect a lot of people adjust the steering by feel rather than disconnect the connecting rod and mess around with a scale.

Yea people overthink a lot of things sometimes. Its just a slack adjuster.