The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Steering Wheel Slop, where do I start

Slop in my steering wheel from centered to rotating measures about 3 inches left or right before wheels start to turn.

Start by loooking at the joints in the steering system to see when they start to move relative to the steering wheel. Work you way form the wheel toward the wheels so depending on your system, steering shaft input to the steering gear, pitman arm output from the steering gear, drag link ends, etc.

It may be a small amount of movement at each joint or it could all be in one place (like the steering gear).

Thats some serious slop Dude.
Start with the steering gear. Have someone move the str. wheel back & forth & watch the pitman arm. It should move right along with the movement of the str. wheel.
Jack the front end of the truck up & grab the front wheels at 3-6 o-clock & 6-12 o-clock. Record any play in the king pins, wheel brgs., drag link & tie rod ends. Pull up & down on the tie rods & drag link near the ends. There should be no free play in any of these.
If you have that much play in the steering gear you need to pull it & rebuild it. A small amount of play can be adjusted out.

George

Jack the truck up so both wheels hang freely. Have someone turn the wheel while you watch each joint to see how much play there is at each one. Start with the wheel turned all the way to the left stop.

Think of a stopped freight train that starts moving. Each car will sit still until the front coupling catches and then the car behind will have to wait until it's coupling catches, etc. Your steering should have no catch-up at each joint. It should all start moving immediately.

Steering wheel ....start with adjusting at the box. 1/4 turn at a time. Some play is normal.

The 3" play is simply holding a tape measure at the steering wheel when it is centered and then rotating, watching the horizontal bar (the one you can grip while you're driving). 3" of travel is measured before wheels begin to move. I sure do hope it is normal. I still have enough headaches to deal with before it is roadworthy. The truck is in my garage with concrete floor. I could only hope it is an adjustment in the steering box. I don't know anything about adjusting it. There is a square shaped screw.

In the early days of California Critical Item Inspection for commercial vehicles, and I couldn't find a copy of this although I might still have hard copy someplace, I believe this would've been considered Vehicle Out Of Service (VOOS) criteria. They used to have a chart, but 2" travel on a 20" or 22" steering wheel, max, sticks out in my mind. And it stuck with me because, at the time, I thought ALL our heavies have more than that!! Delivered new! They have since gone away from that particular way to judge wear and evolved into a more detailed component inspection for wear.

Loosen the 5/8 nut and tighten the inner bolt.
With the wheels up ,I can from underneath move the tires from side to side and check
for any binding. If you don`t notice any improvement ,it(SB) might need rebuilding.

@JoeDude: as a point of reference, I checked this on my 58 with all original (as far as I can tell) steering parts. I have greased them recently but not adjusted them and I have right at 1" of movement before the wheels start to turn.

It felt a little loose when I drove it last and I intend to adjust/repair it before really driving.

Steering box adjust is certainly the starting place since it is a no cost adjustment.
Adjusting is done with pitman arm disconnected at one end or the other, personally I prefer to undo the drag link so you can visually monitor the play for the steering box before the pitman arm starts to rotate.
An good tool for setting the tension on the steering box is a trigger pull scale, cheap, available at most sporting/hunting stores, and designed for use in the 2-5 lb range…
You should then inspect the various rod ends on steering linkages before driving, they wear loose, also a relatively inexpensive repair….takes time but parts are relatively cheap.
Steering and brakes….pretty important….not a place to compromise.

Chuck

If you are running the stock steering wheel remember it is larger than your typical steering wheel today.
As in more circumference therefor more travel distance vs todays wheel.

start wheel down any play in spline and wheel itself.
then get under the truck one hand on the steering shaft other on pitman arm.
have someone turn the wheel very slowly left and right. you should see a very minimal difference if any on engage time from wheel shaft movement to pitman start of movement.
Next check all your joints. drag link ends tie rod ends if there is no play in those. check off the ground on the ground etc.

A little bit here and there will add up to some "slop" but after you get it all tightened up it should have a small very little play but there will be some based on non modern parts.

hcb3200 has given the best advice to figure out what's going on with your steering problem so far. Start with that.

I checked the one stock steering column I have in a truck and the
play is about 1 inch side to side till the wheel moves.

If you haven't sorted this out yet, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) The steering gear has a high spot right at dead center where the slop is to be measured. Anywhere else in its rotation will have significantly more slop. There is a procedure in the manual for finding dead center. If you adjust the slop anywhere else, the steering box will bind as it goes over dead center.

2) Put your hand on the pitman arm and the steering box simultaneously while someone else rotates the steering wheel back and forth about 6" against the resistance of the tires on the floor. You are checking for wear in the pitman shaft bearing/bushing. There should be none if its a bearing. More than just a very small amount (a few thousandths) if it's a bushing and you need to pull the box and overhaul it.

3) Use the same technique to check for play in the drag link and tie rod ends, i.e. use your hand to feel the slop. Older ones have springs that can be adjusted. If not the spring type, there should be no lateral/radial movement. You can check for wear in the modern ones with a big pair of Channellock pliers to see how much axial play there is. New ones have very little to none, worn ones can have maybe 1/8 before there will be radial movement. The springs are stiff so squeeze hard.

4) King pins (king bolts) will always have a little slop unless they are brand new and recently greased. There is a spec for grease clearance, maybe 0.002-0.004. Loose wheel bearings can be misinterpreted as king pin slop, so make sure to adjust the wheel bearings by the book with a torque wrench not just by feel.

The correct method of adjusting sector gear preload is to use an inch-lb. torque wrench on the steering wheel center nut and measure the increase in turning torque WITH THE PITMAN ARM DISCONNECTED as the wheel crosses over the center point. I've outlined the procedure many times in the 20-something years I've been on this site, and to the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever done it that way. Good luck!
Jerry

Yep. The equivalent of the torque wrench is using a fish scale at the outside of the steering wheel. The spec in the service manual is based on using a fish scale. If you use a torque wrench, you need to do a little math to get the right number, taking the radius of the steering wheel into account. Either fish scale or torque wrench can be used.

2nd to Jerry’s recommendation why use a fish scale? A trigger pull scale is cheaper and you are using it in the middle of its design operating range…..
C

That calculation or at least the formula would be helpful. I adjusted mine with a trigger pull scale but would have welcomed using a inch torque wrench.

The spec in the service manual is 1 to 1-1/2 lb with the sector adjustment completely loose and 2-2.5 lb with the sector adjusted at the center of travel of the wheel. Multiply that number by the radius in inches of the wheel (mine's out in my parts storage and not really accessible). That will give you the number of inch-lb you need.
For instance if the steering wheel is 18" diameter, then the right reading on a torque wrench would be between 9 (9x1) and 13.5 (9x1.5) inch-lb for worm bearing preload and 18 to 22.5 inch lb with the sector adjusted correctly. Be sure to use the actual steering wheel radius, not my guess.

Chuck, I used a fish scale as that's what I had easily available. Yes, a trigger pull scale would be more accurate.

WITH NOTHING CONNECTED TO THE STEERING GEAR OUTPUT SHAFT- - - - -EITHER REMOVE THE PITMAN ARM OR DISCONNECT THE TIE RODS- - - -

Find the center point of the steering gear by turning the gear lock to lock and count turns as you do.

Back up halfway. This should put the sector gear at the "zero clearance" spot.

Turn the wheel 1/2 to 3/4 turn away from center.

Using a deflecting beam or a dial indicating inch pound torque wrench, measure the turning effort to rotate the wheel at the steering shaft nut.

Tighten the sector adjusting screw until the turning effort goes up 10 inch pounds as the wheel crosses the center point.

Tighten the lock nut- - - -the preload is adjusted.

If the torque goes up, drops at center, and goes up again, the steering gear is worn out - - - -repair or replace it.

THE ABOVE PROCEDURE WORKS ON ALL WORM AND SECTOR STEERING GEARS, POWER OR MANUAL, REGARDLESS OF MANUFACTURER.

Jerry

Thank you Kevin and Jerry!

Pitman arm does not move along with the steering wheel until after that 3" play I mentioned. So the steering box is at fault? I did not see any gear oil when removing plug either.

When it stops leaking, that's when you know its empty.

The steering box should have cornhead grease in it, not gear oil. That is thick enough that it won't just run out when you take the plug out.

These GM steering boxes are the recirculating ball type. They use a lighter weight grease than some others such as cam-and-lever. Make sure you sue the specified grease. As I recall cornhead grease comes in several viscosities; the heavier ones not only won't run out of the box through leaking seals, they won't lube the balls in the recirculating mechanism.

What Tommy said is correct. I mix cornhead grease and 90 weight oil until I get something that resembles Jell-O before it sets up. That way the balls all get lubricated and there's no chance of the grease channeling in cold weather. If the grease is too thick to pour into your steering box (through the hole designed for that) it isn't going to distribute correctly inside your box. If you will replace the pitman seal and the thin gasket on the adjustment plate and use some Permatex on your worm shaft nut these won't leak at all.

JoeDude, if the pitman arm fails to move until the steering wheel has been turned 3 inches, something is wrong inside. Maybe...maybe it could be an adjustment but 3 inches is quite a bit. As others have said your pitman arm should move when the steering wheel is turned even a bit. Try this: pull back on your steering wheel...that is to say pull it back toward you and see how much play exists. It should not move at all, but let's start there.

The Steering wheel does not move at all when pulling towards me.
Good to know about the cornhead grease mixture or if there is a suitable viscosity to be found. It looks to me that the box is fairly dry, and from everything the good folks stated here, it doesn't seem like adding grease will make any improvement. Maybe trying small box adjustments?

If there's no backwards play in the steering wheel it tells me it is a possibility your worm shaft bearings are ok...or at least they may just need adjusting...hopefully. Now point your wheels straight ahead, disconnect the drag link from the pitman arm, get a helper to hold the steering wheel dead still and try to move the pitman arm toward the front and rear. Doing this will cause your sector gear to work against your ball nut rack inside. With your wheels pointed straight ahead it should be snug, but let's see what happens when you try to move the pitman arm.

JoeDude, as for the lubricant inside the box it is important that it be self-leveling. That basically means it seeks its own level and during use it doesn't run to the side of your steering gear box and stay there...it flows back onto itself all the time. I was always told if you want to know if you have it right get a spoon, dip out some of what you're planning to use and hold the spoon vertically. If the grease doesn't run off the spoon and on to your table it is too thick for the steering box. A friend doesn't use corn head grease, however. He says he uses plain chassis grease and mixes it with 90 weight gear oil until he gets the right consistency. There are several ball bearings in there which recirculate through semi-circular channels machined into your ball rack. Metal guides keep them in place. You want those balls to be bathed in grease all the time but that grease does need some thickness to it. 90 weight gear oil will run too quickly off your spoon. If you get a mix that runs off about like Jell-O before it sets up, you'll be okay.

I've been using Penrite Steering Lube for years and have not had problems with it leaking out.

https://www.sportsandclassics.com/p...-6/steering-box-lube-penrite-semi-fluid/

Mike B

Mike's Penrite Steering Lube is NGLI 00 grade, which is the proper stuff to use.
Member drdoug has sold Chevron NGLI 00 gear oil on here. I don't know if he has more, but a PM to him could find out.
With the proper grade, there's no need to try to custom mix chassis grease and gear oil, although that would work as well.

Does any grease saying "00" work? I saw EP 00.

The stuff I got from drdoug has EP 00 on it, so that should be good.

Cool.

Tractor Supply sells Smitty's (Supper S) 00 grease that should work...

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/super-s-cotton-picker-spindle-grease-00

Mike B

With the pitman arm disconnected and my capable wife holding the steering wheel, there was very slight movement forward and back on the pitman arm. Also, up and down about the same very small movement. The wheel hub also had a very slight movement up and down and forward and back...maybe the king pin? It doesn't seem like these tiny movements would cause 3" steering wheel play.

Related question, what do folks here use for their tie rod adjustment?

Shop manual (from memory) says something like compressing the spring as far as it will go. It might say something about backing off slightly but I remember the end result being awfully darn tight. Like maybe too tight.

If you have stock tie-rod ends, I would follow the shop manual, which does say back them off a little. If the spring is fully compressed, then the spools (for lack of a better term) will be contacting the cups around the balls and if the balls are not completely spherical, then things will bind up as you turn the wheels. The springs are there to allow a little movement, but keep the cups in contact with the balls.

Joe, if your very capable wife will turn the steering wheel just 1/2" back/forth (with wheels centered ahead) you should feel/see movement at the end of the pitman arm. So...and this won't be exact but it will get you steering safely...loosen the 5/8" nut in the center of the plate held on by 3 screws (on the side of the steering box opposite that of the pitman arm). Loosen it about 1 turn. Now with a stubby screwdriver tighten the slotted screw in the middle of that nut you loosened until 1/2" steering wheel travel produces movement and then back off just a hair...you don't want it too tight in my experience. Back off maybe 20 degrees out of a circle. And then holding the central screw still, tighten your 5/8" nut to hold it in place. That should take care of your steering box adjustment for the time being. Now fill your steering box with whatever type of lubricant you prefer (like motor oil or potato salad or cole slaw if you ask 50 different people you'll get 50 different answers...so you pick what seems most logical). Folks here have mentioned 00 grease. As long as what you purchase is self-leveling you'll be okay. Just fill it until it starts running out of the hole where the fill plug is. Now re-attach your pitman arm and adjust each end of it. The best way is to disassemble and clean (in gasoline) all the parts. If you do this please understand there is an axle end and a gear end to your pitman arm. The sequence of re-assembling the parts is important. On the gear end, it goes like this: spring goes in first, then the spring plug (with the small part facing toward the closed end of the pitman arm), then one ball seat, then the ball in the middle, the other ball seat and finally the screw plug. On the axle end, it goes like this: one ball seat in first, then the ball in the middle, then the other ball seat, then the spring seat with the small part facing the opening of the pitman arm, followed by the spring and finally the screw plug. Adjustment is: tighten each screw plug tight to remove all play. Then back off 1 complete turn plus what is necessary to fit the cotter pin in the hole and through the screw plug. Do that for each end, use a grease gun to re-lubricate them and you're finished with that. Now, do the same thing for each tie rod end and please note: each tie rod end reassembles this way: spring seat first (small end pointing toward the open end), spring next, one ball seat, ball in middle, next ball seat and the end plug. Now grease those and adjust this way: tighten each screw plug until the springs are completely compressed and back off only until you can insert a cotter pin through the hole. Now, if you have done all of this, you should not have 3 inches of slop...you should be able to feel/see some motion with just a bit of steering wheel movement. DISCLAIMER: if your pitman arm balls and tie rod balls have worn egg-shaped, you may still have too much play. If those balls are round, all will be Jake. If they're egg-shaped, you need to replace them. When all of this is done, jack up the truck until one front wheel if off the ground...grab at top and bottom and try to move in/out. This will tell you more or less the condition of your king pins, king pin bushings, etc. That will also cause front end looseness and it is another repair sequence altogether.