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I have a 1950 Chevy 3100 PU all stock. While turning the steering wheel from a straight-ahead driving position I have more turns of the steering wheel to the left than I do to the right. Is this correct or am I missing something in my adjustments or in the rebuild of the steering sector?

Someone took the steering wheel off and put it back on to center it rather than centering the wheel, and doing a steering alignment by adjusting the steering linkage.
You'll need to do it properly by finding the center, aligning the front end, and then removing the wheel and putting it back where it belongs.

If the center point of the steering gear doesn't align with the straight ahead position of the wheels, there's no adjustment to correct it. Wear in various parts of the steering linkage (the drag link pivot balls in particular) can only be corrected by replacing parts, since the drag link isn't adjustable for length. Some people solve the problem by fabricating a drag link from two tie rod ends with a turnbuckle sleeve between them. Find the correct center point of the steering gear, lock the steering wheel into place, and adjust the drag link to point the wheels straight. The steering wheel can then be positioned properly by moving it a spline at a time until the spokes are centered. If there's a major centering error, like a turn or more of the steering wheel, it's possible the steering gear has been assembled incorrectly or something in the linkage is bent badly.
Jerry

And I thought about pulling pivot arm, centering steering wheel, then reattaching pivot arm, but you’ve got me thinking about checking the number of turns left and right and resetting the steering wheel on the column teeth.

The pitman arm needs to be relocated. Remove the arm, Turn the steering left and back
to the right and count back to center. Attach pitman arm loosely with wheels up, check travel.
Then center the steering wheel. Tighten pitman arm down.

"pivot arm" (Pitman Arm) is splined in such a way that it can only go onto the shaft in 4 positions, so moving it a tooth or two is not an option. (At which point someone will respond that by machining new splines in the shaft and/or the arm you can move it just one tooth.) Fix the problem.

I didn’t mean to high jack Curtis’ post. Yes, I meant pitman arm. I’ve never had pitman arm off so it’s good to know there are only 4 positions. I’ll tackle steering wheel on spline someday. I’ve gotten kind of use to where my hand settles on the misaligned spokes though. 🥴

One other possibility is that someone may have adjusted the steering arm stops on the axle, a remote possibility but you just never know what was done in the life of the truck.

Done everything talked about. Still cannot understand why I get 1 and a half turns to the right and three full turns to the left. All parts are new on the front suspension and steering except the lash adjuster. But nothing found in the manuals explaining this issue. So is this normal or not?
No stops to adjust on the axle. Checked centering of the nut on the worm gear. I am aware of the correct fit of the pitman arm to the lash adjuster opposite end. Has anyone checked their trucks steering from left to right?
I appreciate all the reply's from everyone.

Curtis Lee, Sorry to be late to the conversation. Your topic really best fits into the Driveline forum, so it has been moved there for further conversation and help. More help coming soon!

That long curved steering arm that connects to the front end of the drag link can get bent, resulting in the steering getting way off center. I'd suggest making sure the steering gear is assembled properly, center the gear in its travel, and disconnect the front end of the drag link. Align the wheels in the straight ahead position and see how closely the end of the drag link and the steering arm lines up. If necessary, straighten or replace the steering arm.
Jerry
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Thats a big difference. Something is bent or twisted. Take a good look at the sector shaft above the pitman arm. Its hard to imagine but I have seen one twisted in that area.
Make sure the steering gear is mounted flush to the frame.

George

When you say all parts are new , what is original/stock? " I have a 1950 Chevy 3100 PU all stock ".
Some of this advise might not pertain.

Just my suggestion but here goes:
1. remove the drag link from your pitman arm...don't remove it from the control arm, though. Jack up your front end so that both wheels are off the ground and move them so they point straight ahead.

2. GENTLY turn your steering wheel to the right until you just feel it stop. Do not force the wheel, do not let it bang into the stop...just turn it GENTLY until you feel it stop. Please note I emphasize the word gently.

3. Take a piece of masking tape and attach it to the top of your steering wheel or anywhere else you can use as a visual reference point and GENTLY turn your steering wheel to the left until you just feel it stop...same routine as before but this time count the number of times the piece of masking tape passes by at the top (or your other point of reference). My memory is trying to tell me it might be 3 or 3.5 times. That could be wrong but carefully count the number of complete turns.

4. Now divide that number by two and turn your wheel back to the right by that number. If 3, turn back 1.5, etc.

5. Now things in your steering gear box are centered. At least they're very close to being centered if you did this correctly. Carefully get out of your truck without moving the steering wheel and look to see where your pitman arm is. It should be pointing downward (vertically). As Bill pointed out it can only be installed in 4 locations.

If you are using the stock GM drag link, this can be a good indicator of what is going on here. There is (as others have pointed out) no adjustment, but really in this case that is a good thing. Connect it back to your pitman arm carefully (without moving the pitman arm or your wheels) and see if it appears it will match the ball on your pitman arm correctly.

In your case, I would expect your drag link will not connect to your pitman arm correctly...but that is just a guess on my part.

With your steering box still more or less centered, re-connect your drag link to your pitman arm and tighten it completely. Back off 1turn, insert the cotter pin and then see where your wheels are pointing. You can adjust your tie rod to make them agree with your steering box...more or less. You won't be able to get them exact just by eyeballing things unless you have powers I don't have. I'm assuming you know how to adjust your tie rod. If not that is another story. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Once you have your wheels and steering box in agreement (pointing straight ahead), pull your steering wheel and install it in the right spot to look right.

Edit...if your steering box is more/less centered, your wheels are pointed straight ahead and your pitman arm is pointing toward the ground and your drag link is notably too short or long to connect, as others have said start looking for bent/damaged pieces...particularly the control arm connected to the drivers side wheel. At least I'd start there first and then look at the passenger's side arm.

I’ve got a spare of the curved steering arm. I could get you some measurements to compare to yours.

Replaced drag link, tie rod, kingpins, steering shaft with new nut and bearings -races etc. Did Not Modify. It is basically how it came out 1950, stock with original parts. Did not replace the knuckle or lash adjuster the exception. I get almost 4 and 3/4 turns so I roll the steering wheel back halfway adjust lash check pull but still only get 1 1/2 turns to the right once pitman arm is attached in the correct position.

That almost seems like too many turns. Would/might explain the extra to the right.

What is stopping it when you turn 1-1/2 turns to the right, is the tire/rim hitting, is the steering knuckle hitting the axle, is the pitman/draglink binding? How about front spring center bolt, is the axle equi-distance from the perch on both sides?

Yes, something isn't right with your system. Are the steering stops in place on your spindles?

My 1950 3100 whose steering system has never been touched by human hands since October 1950, is about 3 turns lock to lock. I'll jack it up and measure it exactly if you want me to.

1 1/2 turns from center to right and center to left is good. The more I've thought about it, I think the total (left to right) is 3 turns when the steering is stopped by hitting the stops on your axle---when everything is connected. The reason you want to move your steering wheel gently from side to side is so you won't damage the ball racks in your gearbox. Normally (when everything is all connected) these stops keep you from damaging anything by limiting the amount of travel in your steering. As I said at center 1.5 turns either way ought to have you at max left/right turn. Are your wheels pointing ahead when you are in the center of steering wheel travel?

There is some crazy geometry that goes on when turning the steering wheel all the way to one side.
The two wheels will not be parallel to each other. If they were, you would have a lot of tire scrub on the road.
Is your toe in set right? If it is way out of whack, that might cause your kind of problem.

Carl is talking about Ackermann steering geometry.

In order for an incorrect toe setting to be that noticeable in limiting steering from one side to the other it would have to be grossly off.

A "grossly" bent tie rod caused by using it to pull the truck out of a ditch would do it.

Replaced drag link, tie rod, kingpins, steering shaft with new nut and bearings -races etc. quote from OP

Right, I know. That means that wrong or defective parts were used or the steering gear is messed up somehow. Three turns lock to lock doesn't become 4.5 turns lock to lock with the center point being 3 turns greater on one side than the other without there being serious problems with one or more of the components.

Curtis Lee, before you rebuilt the steering system, did you have the same problem with the number of turns left and right being different?

Do you still have all the old parts you removed?

Post pictures of your system and its components.

When you say” rebuild of the steering sector”, do you mean the steering box? If that is the case, that may be where the problem lies.

Okay, I'm back in town again and capable of jacking up a 1952 1/2 ton truck which has been set up correctly so I can input some correct data. Very sorry for any confusion but please let me try to rectify.

First of all with wheels, tie rods, drag link and everything attached and wheels off the ground, 4.5 turns (almost exactly) is what you will have, turning the wheel from stop to stop. And so turning back from the right hand stop by 2.25 turns will put your sector gear very closely to right in the middle...where the sector gear adjustment can be made. My scanner has broken, but please look at the image taken from a camera shot of the shop manual below.

When I say right in the middle, here is what I mean: your ball nut rides on your worm shaft (with the ball bearings, etc) and with your wheels pointing straight ahead, that ball nut ought to be right in the middle of your wormshaft. As you can see, there are 4 "teeth" and 3 "valleys" on that ball nut and the sector shaft gear has 5 teeth. So with wheels ahead, ball nut in the middle of worm gear the third "tooth" of the sector gear (middle) should be right smack in the middle of your ball nut. If so, it is perfectly set up.

So back to the original question, if your wheels are mounted, your tie rod is mounted, your drag link is mounted and your steering box is set up as I described, I can see no way you could need more turns to the right than the left to hit the steering stop. If on the other hand (as Phil has pointed out) your sector gear is not centered with your ball nut (which is also centered on the wormshaft) or possibly if your ball nut is not centered on your sector shaft then I would say your center point of steering is out of whack and it is possible you might get this sort of situation. It is going to be very important to make certain your ball nut is in the center of your wormshaft and your sector gear stabs the center point of the ball nut teeth with its center tooth. Please let us know where you are on all of this.

Again very sorry for any confusion. Partly the product of timing and partly the fact all my birthdays have started with the number 7 for a while.

Edit...two other points which may be important to keep in mind: 1. Your wormshaft bearings are adjusted by simple compression. That is to say they're cone bearings and when you press on them each will become more tight in their races. 2. Your sector gear rides with the teeth straight but the ball nut (into which it slides) rides at an angle...the rear of it sitting higher than the side facing the outside (toward the frame). So, when you tighten the screw you're pushing the sector gear into a pinched situation and that's what tightens it. Simply more clarification. Hope it helps.

Someone postulated earlier that the curved steering arm being out of shape might cause a symptom like yours. Here’s a few pics against a tape measure if you’d like to compare.

I have trouble believing this is your problem, but doesn’t hurt to look.

My phone isn’t playing nicely today with the picture posting feature. That’s all the pics I can provide until I straighten that up.

I've broke two steering arms on my '57 GMC (one while turning left at a dead stop, the other while trying to turn left at a dead stop with the right wheel & tire up against a curb), but I don't remember ever seeing one that bent. Both showed signs of a developing crack.

More pics

I have to admit I am confused who the OP is. But it sounds like he did some up grades to the
trucks front end that the truck did not like. My guess is he`ll figure it out.

Thanks to everyone will wait and see when I get her on the road and drive for now.