The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Loose steering 1949 Chevy

I’ve got a 49 Chevy one ton pickup I’m restoring to a driver. I haven’t had it on the road yet as the steering wheel has a good 12 inches of play before it engages the wheels. No front end components are involved. I assume it’s all in the steering box. I know there are ways to adjust this but what I want to know is advice from guys who have dealt with this and what tips they have to tighten it up. Thanks for any advice!

If it's that bad, I would pull the steering box and overhaul it. You could mess with the sector adjustment, but to do it right, it should be done on the bench.

The procedure is in the shop manual, which you should have to do a full restoration. You can look HERE for that info.

Ya, no amount of adjustment is going to remove 12 inches of slop.

Rebuild it or have it done.

Several companies do this: Then and Now Automotive, Lares

www.then-now-auto.com Their website is practically useless so I suggest calling them. Ph: 781.335.8860
www.larescorp.com

I think Lares requires you to go through a company like NAPA or Rock Auto to send yours in and have them rebuild it for you.

Here's a reman steering gear from Lares. They rebuilt a steering gear for a 1976 F-150 for me and a 1966 Cadillac gear and both work flawlessly. The one on the truck has been installed since 2016.

https://www.larescorp.com/Part/8016

Thanks much. I suspected that the box was worn out. Thanks for the manual info

Thank you!

Thank you sir!

While you’re at it, inspect and repair/ replace as needed all other front suspension and steering components: kingpins/ bushings, tie rod ends, connector rod ends, springs bushings…
These old trucks actually drive rather well when the front end is good and tight.
Don’t forget about the lever action shocks. Good time to upgrade to telescopic type.

Otto, I doubt there are many on here that know who Otto Skorzeny is! I like Kretchmer, Hardegen, and Topp!

I didn’t have near as much steering wheel movement as you do, but I did adjust my steering sector a bit last weekend and it definitely helped.

I just went out and Lares corp charges $1200ish for a rebuilt plus a $500 core charge= $1700 (without taxes).

Chris

Wow! that's a bunch of $$ for rebuilding.

Assuming the gears and worm shaft bearings are OK (which they should be) you could DIY for a LOT LESS. Sector shaft bushings, and gaskets are available from the usual vendors and a sector shaft seal (to replace the original felt seal) is maybe $10 from RockAuto.

The Factory Service manual details the teardown, reassembly and readjustment. I did mine and it steers well.

I’ve previously done mine also. I’m not trying to steal a thread, but I have 1/8 wheel turn play in my steering wheel and I’m trying to eliminate it. I’ve adjusted everything that I can and still can’t get it out. (All new tie rods, rebuilt steering, kingpins, etc)

Chris

Are you serious? That's crazy! When I had mine done it was in the $300 range with a core charge of $100. That was less than 10 years ago.

Of course you send them your old one so $1200 is the total. They used to sell them straight out but I suppose a lot of people just don't send the core back in so the supply is running out.

Contact Then and Now Automotive. I'll bet their price is a lot less.

www.then-now-auto.com

Chevy of the 40's has a rebuild kit for $216.00. Looks as if it is just bushings and bearings. Eklers has a kit that looks more complete for $169.00

https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detai...ruck_Steering_Gear_Box_Overhaul_Kit.html

https://www.ecklers.com/1947-1959-chevy-gmc-truck-steering-box-rebuild-kit-61-866308-1.html

Chris, with the draglink unhooked, turn your wheel lock to lock, if when it crosses center you don't feel a tight spot, you need to adjust the steering sector so it goes deeper into the box. If that doesn't work, the worm gear or sector gear is worn out. I had an original '37 box well worn with the same play you have. A replacement sector gear fixed it.

$1700 is a lot for a gear box rebuild or replacement, I would for sure tear the original apart for an inspection first.

You will need three or four more parts if you rebuild the box that are not include in the kits. Worm Trust Bearing Trust Bearing/Adj., side cover Bushing, Lash Adjusting Shim Kit (.063, .065, .067 and .069)Shims and Pitman shaft Adjuster Screw. Ecklers kit has the screw and one shim.

Shop manual says to be careful not to turn hard at either end. It can damage the internals of the steering box.

There are spoons at the end of the ball bearing runs. You turn the wheel just slightly to the end of those runs, you will ruin the those spoons.
I did that once, but was able to do some precise and delicate metal massaging, and I was able to get it back into shape using the spoon on the other side as a guide.

Presumably the steering stops on the axles stop the wheels before the steering gear gets to the spoons?

Normally the steering stops will prevent damage Otto, but JoeH specifically said:

Yes, I saw that but it got me thinking about how close to the spoons a steering gear might get when it's turned lock to lock.

When you are working on the steering to check center, going lock to lock is not a problem as long as you don't force it. You need to find the limits to know where the center is.

I rebuilt the box on my 53 3100 a while back. I bought the basic kit with bearings, bushings and seals. I did not replace the balls in the ball nut or the sector shaft or gear. The sector shaft was in nice condition and the sector gear had worn into a perfect mesh. My problem was that I had run out of adjustment length on the bolt that pushes the 2 together. There was plenty of material left on the gear and plenty of play to adjust it tighter. I just made a longer adjusting bolt. I got a little carried away and used a stainless ARP bolt and cut the head off a smaller ARP bolt and welded it on to adjust it with. A hardware store bolt and a file and hacksaw would do the same thing. I just made a new steering column and just finished painting it. Before I assemble it I'm going to check the balls in the ball nut. There is no grease on it right now and there is a very small amount of play in it. I don't know the specs on that. I want to check the balls for roundness and size. Maybe the balls and race have worn together and the old balls should stay in? I have new balls. Thank you for your time.

Sweet fix Mick...

Funny side note. If you zoom in on the pictures of the ARP nuts you will see that one of them has no threads in the bottom of it. I only needed one and was not worried about it. A defective ARP bolt/nut is about as rare as a double headed coin. I called them not for a replacement but to give them a lot number in case there was a problem they were not aware of. They sent me a box with 2 nuts, 2 can coolies, 4 lanyards, a few trinkets, 4 trailer quality stickers, a new catalog and a really nice 3'x5' cloth banner.

For the price of those nuts and bolts they should give you all that stuff with every purchase!

It's kind of a bummer that the bolts only come in a five pack if you only need 3 but when you need 7 and you have 2 left over it's golden.