The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Steering problem

Steering problem on a 49 panel truck. Rebuilt and installed the steering sector but noticed that no matter how I attempt to position the Pitman arm the wheels turn further to the right, or passengers side, then they do to the drivers side, is this by design or is something out of adjustment. The difference
In the number of turns on the wheel is about one full turn. Please, any thoughts on this, or is this the way they made it? Thanks for the help. Remember, Jesus Christ the Lord is Risen, as He said He would, and all who believe will rise in like manner! Happy Easter

God bless,

Dave

Sounds like both the pitman arm and steering wheel are in the wrong location. Remove pitman arm and steering wheel. Place pitman arm on barely and turn all the way to one lock of the steering box. Then, count how many turns it takes to get to the other lock. Calculate where you need to be to "center" the steering box.

Set the front wheel parallel with the rear wheels and install pitman arm and draglink. Finally align the front end then install steering wheel. Keep in mind the steering wheel may need to be reinstalled a couple times.....

The pitman shaft has four keys on the shaft spline and would be way off of if the arm was put on wrong.
However you could have installed the pitman teeth in the wrong position in the worm nut.
I have also seen pitman shafts with a torsional twist that gave a similar response.

I thought about the the teeth in the worm nut, I dread having to
pull the whole assembly to check and see if the teeth are wrong. As to the positioning of the pitman arm on the shaft, though there are four keys, and as I look closer at the spline it seems that the arm can only go on in one position because the keys are arranged such that it cannot be put on in another position. Am I correct or not? Please, further insight is greatly appreciated.


God bless,

Dave

The arm can go on in one of four positions but the other three would make it imposable to use.

There are stops on the spindles that contact the axle. They may need adjusting. The main thing is to get the wheels straight ahead when the steering gear is in the high point. You can feel the high point by turning the steering wheel & feeling the drag. With the wheelsv off the ground or the pitman arm disconnected. Sometimes you can overadjust the sector adjustment temporarily to find the high point. If you get The gear box centered & the toe in correct you can remove the steering wheel & put it on center.