So I have been trouble shooting a steering problem that I thought might have been in the king pins but after going through them found it not to be the problem. I now think it is in the box and was wondering what I can do to see if that is the problem and if it is a easy fix or should I look at going the Toyota route. Now before you say yes or no on toyota please help me find if it is fixable or not. Thanks a ton.

Cbass

 

The first words out of my mouth are always - Stay original. But that gets people's dander up for a number of reasons.
Anyway, what's wrong???

 

i had too much play on my steering box and a bad leak.went to autozombies and bought one for 150 and they refunded me a 60 dollars for the core.
No leaks,no play and a great piece of mind I say get a new one your truck is more than 40 years old if the box doesnt give up now it will soon and if you rebuilt everything else....
just my 2 cents

 

It is super stiff at all points of steering, to the point of dangerous when trying to turn corners in the city. It also will not return to center like it should, lets start there. Sixoh- you can get a new box from autozone for that cheap?

Edit- went to autozone, they dont sell 58 boxes. Worth a try.

 

No body has a starting point to figure out what is wrong with this steering? I guess I will pull it and take a look at it, cant hurt.

 

Have you tried isolating the steering box? Remove the draglink idler arm from the box so all your turning is the box, But like you said that is gonna be your best bet to remove the whole steering assembly.

Clamp that steering box in a table vise and turn the wheel, You could take the side cover off, my 59 was held by a lock nut with a flat head bolt in the middle, pop it open and take a look, careful with the paper gasket it might just fall apart.

As you look inside you will see the steering sector shaft (what i was told its called) is moved by the worm gear of the steering shaft, I removed mine by hitting it out with blunt hammer, came out pretty easy just so i could have a closer look....you may not have to go that far.

In the middle of the side cover of the box is a sector shaft thrust adjusting screw with the lock nut, In my 59 service manual it has a tear down of the box and how to adjust accordingly....Look under symptoms of hard steering....Good luck!

P.S. Id have to agree with "Sixoh" Im keeping mine original, simple manual box IMO.

 

Check to see if it has any oil in it. If not, add oil. If it does then loosen up the adjuster and see if anything changes (with the wheels off the ground). Most likely you will have to pull it apart. After 50+ years it likely needs a little TLC.

 

Thought of the lube and that is all good, will try the thrust adjuster before I pull it off but after that I guess I am moving in the direction of pulling it apart. Thanks.

 

So I took the whole box and column out, how do I separate the column tube from the box?

 

Got it all buttoned up and I am going to post my results on the other thread so take a look if you want to know were this went.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...roblems-2.html

 

notThis is a very common mistake.

Gear lube (oil) is not used in manual steering gearboxes. These gearboxes use steering gear grease. Available at autoparts stores and from Ford.

The gearbox (sector shaft) seal is not designed for oil, so when oil is present, the gearbox begins leaking within a short time. Using oil causes the steering to become loosy-goosy.

FTE member ibuzzard used steering gear grease in his truck. Said it made all the difference in the world how it steers.

These gearboxes have an adjustment nut used to set the sector shaft's preload. People make the mistake of over tightning it...the result is: super stiff steering.

 

Bill, as per his other thread,he did use grease instead of oil.Glad we have you around,as there's often incorrect,though well-intentioned advice out there.Its' cost me a time or two,and I have to admit to having passed along some of the same bad info I was given.Hope you are well.

 

Steve, I didn't look at the OP's other thread. I was responding to the person who said to use oil.

 

As mentioned, make sure you isolate the problem. The problem will be either at the kingpins, tie rod ends, and/or steering gear box. My 1960 had the same problem before I started the restoration. During disassembly of the front suspension, I discovered the problem which was a slightly frozen kingpin. After 50 years of use and grease build-up, the internal passageways in the kingpin bushing were obstructed by old grease, preventing proper lubrication which resulted in metal-to-metal contact.

To isolate the problem, remove both tie rod nuts and drop the center link and tie rod assembly as a whole. Rotate each spindle back and forth. They should move with little resistance. If a large amount of resistance is felt, replace the kingpins and bushing per the factory maintenance manual procedures (press and hone). With the kingpins checked, install the center link with one tie rod only and tighten the nut to spec. Move the tie rod back and forth. There should be light resistance. The tie rod should move freely throughout the full range of deflection and motion with no play. Unbolt the tie rod, attach the other end, and repeat the procedure. For the steering box, if there are visible leaks around the box it requires a rebuild. DO NOT rebuilt the steering box without carefully following the factory maintenance manual procedure exactly. If the adjustment screws are set incorrectly, premature wear, excessive play, and/or stiffness will be felt, resulting in a safety concern.

When experiencing steering component wear, what most folks don't realize is these trucks were engineered to use skinny bias-ply tires. By now, most of these trucks are running radial tires, usually in sizes wider than the OEM Firestone tire size. The radial construction and wider width/contact area result in greater steering resistance, requiring the driver and components to work harder to steer the vehicle, thus wearing the components at a faster rate. A set of reproduction tires, in the correct size and construction, can be purchased through Coker Tire http://store.cokertire.com/710-15-fi...blackwall.html. By using bias-ply tires, the steering will be smooth and effortless, and the truck will track the road properly without the grabbing and darting often associated when using radial tires on a non-radial tuned suspension.

 

I am not up on all the pros and cons of bias vs radial but isnt there a reason that radial is used so much now?