Manual Steering Adjustment

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straightlinespeed

straightlinespeed

Sometimes I pretend to be normal
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Had to adjust my box because I had so much slop in it before the car would respond. I tore it down and put new seals and grease in it. Everything looked to be in great condition. I Followed the factory manual on how to adjust it, but I still am unsure of a couple things.

The bearing preload first. Cross shaft screw is backed off. I have the lock nut loose, spun the bearing retainer in until it made contact. The manual says 1-4 inch pounds. Well my inch pound torque wrench lowest mark is 20 inch pounds so I just made sure it was making contact and snugged up the lock ring. I decided to turn the box lock to lock and it moved nice and freely. Of course there was a lot of steering slack before the output shaft actually moved, but it was free spinning.

I then went to the cross shaft adjusting bolt and turned it clockwise until it was snug and I could not turn it anymore. Which if Im correct on my thinking that is actually pushing the shaft down in the case. Then tightened the lock nut. The adjusting bolt and lock nut are flush with each other. When I started I had about 2-3 threads showing on the adjusting bolt. I then turned the input shaft, but it seems to feel a little bit rough as it spins around. I also have a tighter spot when Im about 1 full turn to the left, but about the same feeling thru the rest of it. The 8-14 inch pounds is tough to feel.

I guess Im a little confused on how far to turn the adjusting bolt. It really is not clear to me.. Do I snug it? Just make sure it touches? Make sure it touches then back it off?

Just looking for input on if Im doing the adjusting correctly. Since it seems to be rough feeling
 
You know me. I do stuff "different" lol.

That adjustment bolt with the locknut does one thing and that's all. And here come the arguments.

All it does is take up the slack in the sector shaft bearings as they wear. All I have ever done is adjusted the screw until there JUST is no vertical movement when I apply up and down force at the end of the sector shaft where the pitman arm bolts on. In fact, it does not hurt if it is a gnat hair's loose.....as in no more than .010". Anywhere between there and zero I call good.

If you want me to, I have a 63 service manual around here somewhere that outlines it. I will dig it out and let you know what it says. The procedure will be the same across the board. But it will be some vague *** hooha like you've already encountered.

That's my opinion. Your results may vary.
RustyRatRod copyright 2014.
All rights reserved.
 
I like to tighten the adjusting bolt down as far as I can at first, then back it off while spinning the input shaft through its travel. It helps to have a pitman arm on the output and a pot connector to spin the input if you have the box in a vice. With the output shaft down and input facing you, the master spline should be pointing up when centered. When turning through its travel it should feel snug(not rough) within about 3/4 turn either way from the center, with no slop. And no preload(or freely traveling) on the outside of the travel, with minor slop. Unfortunately all manual boxes have a small amount of slop when at the far ends of their rotation, especially with the stock 24:1 worm gear. You're right, it is difficult to feel that 8-14 inch lbs. without having a lot of experience, its even harder to explain without my frantic hand gestures. So, snug in the middle and free on the ends. Hope this helps.
 
Thank you guys. I didnt get a chance to work on the car today but I'll double check this stuff and hopefully it smooths out.
 
You say you have the factory manual?
Here just in case.
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=215220&highlight=steering

I'm thinking you have the cross shaft too tight. 8-11 inch pounds to turn the worm shaft is nothing.
See step 42 "high spot"? I think it should turn fairly freely after that either way.

For one thing you say it turned freely until you made the cross shaft adjustment.
For another thing you had threads showing before and what has changed since you tore it down. The only thing you did was grease it.
 
Yes, I have the service manual for my car. I opened the manual again and read what your talking about. It does spin freely thru the high spot, but it tightens up about 1 turn past the high spot for a partial turn, then gets free again.

Yes, it actually spun way to easy in my opinion prior to me opening it up and cleaning everything. Which I believe is the slop in the steering that I felt. I bet it was about a 1/4 turn of the wheel before the car would respond.

Yes, I had a couple of threads showing initially and after I made the adjustment then it was flush.

I also made these adjustments with the box in the car, Im going to take it back out tomorrow and open it back up again. This time I'll make all my adjustments on the bench. I think I will get a better feel for the adjustments on a bench instead of under the car.
 
Got it fixed! I must have not had the lower bearing in the case seated properly. I took it apart, checked it and then reassembled it. Then readjusted everything and I think I have 1-1/2 to 2 threads showing on the cross shaft adjusting bolt. Thanks guys, for your input!
 
check to make sure the shoes in the steering coupler are installed correctly before you connect the steering column. When I got my car the slop was bad and it ended up the shoes were installed 90* out.
 

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mderoy340 said:
check to make sure the shoes in the steering coupler are installed correctly before you connect the steering column. When I got my car the slop was bad and it ended up the shoes were installed 90* out.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes they are installed correctly. I rebuilt my coupler this past summer and followed that pic.
 
RustyRatRod said:
You know me. I do stuff "different" lol.

That adjustment bolt with the locknut does one thing and that's all. And here come the arguments.

All it does is take up the slack in the sector shaft bearings as they wear.
That's my opinion. Your results may vary.
RustyRatRod copyright 2014.
All rights reserved.
Click to expand...

Not quite, the teeth on the sector shaft are ground with a taper in them so when you adjust the sector your actually meshing the teeth tighter against the recirculating ball nut on the worn shaft, has nothing to do with the sector shaft bearings. The taper on the sector teeth is also why you have to make your adjustment on the "high spot" it's all in how the teeth mesh with each other.
 
mderoy340 said:
check to make sure the shoes in the steering coupler are installed correctly before you connect the steering column. When I got my car the slop was bad and it ended up the shoes were installed 90* out.
Click to expand...

Also make sure it's not wore out too. I was adjusting one for a buddy and when checking for slop as I tightened it up I noticed the shaft moving in the coupler. I took it a part and the shoes had wore grooves inside the coupler.
 
I want to disassemble the steering column to clean, lube and repair as needed. I have the coupling body off. Now what? the steering shaft to shoe pin does not look like it is going anywhere and with it in place nothing else is coming off. What am I missing?

Omar
 
Since this thread was about the gear box, its best to start a new thread on your issue. That way it dont steer (hahaha see what I did) away from the original.
 
daliant said:
Not quite, the teeth on the sector shaft are ground with a taper in them so when you adjust the sector your actually meshing the teeth tighter against the recirculating ball nut on the worn shaft, has nothing to do with the sector shaft bearings. The taper on the sector teeth is also why you have to make your adjustment on the "high spot" it's all in how the teeth mesh with each other.
Click to expand...

That's not what the service manual says, but ok.
 
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