Hi guys,


After much work I finally got her on the road.


What I noticed is there is a lot of play in the steering wheel.


Is there a way to tighten up the steering? If not any idea what needs to be replaced...worm gear, shaft???


PS, MACS has so many options I am not even sure what to order.


Thanks!

 

Tried to get a picture in, but she did not take initially. I think.

 

Nice truck. Big truck steering box different that pickup, doubt if Max's has parts for it.

 

i will be repairing my steering this winter. i,m very interested in what you find! i was not able to try my truck at road speeds. but since the rest of the truck had a hard life, i imagine steering box must of seen its share!

 

I haven't messed with my steering yet either so will be watching to see what you find out. Hopefully one of the resident Ford gurus will be along shortly with some info. That is a very nice looking truck!

 

Thanks guys, I will let you know how it goes.


I may just break the steering box open and see what falls out. Seems to have worked in the past.


Just joking...I did notice the manual talked about shims. Just kind of confused me, so hopefully out to the shop later to get some hands on training.

 

If you can get an old Motors Repair Manual I think there is a procedure in there for properly adjusting the steering box. Maybe check with your local library or eBay.

 

 

Went the hard route.

Spent most of the day removing the steering box.

Now that it is out, I can not figure how to get the worm gear out.

Here is a picture. Any thoughts?



I put a wrench on the upper most part of the box. She rotated with a lot of effort. Guess it is not threaded.





Inner shaft is the shaft for the steering wheel.

 

I would put it back together and adjust it. Were there any shims in there? They would be on that surface with the 4 bolt holes.
It might need shims to fine tune the tightness. The unit probably hasn't had that much use. Oh well, it is getting an oil change.

 

I'm not sure about the bigger trucks but my 1/2 ton box and the column are one piece. The procedure about adjusting the sector shaft on the gear box should take up the slack.

 

There were 2 very thin shims. I am unclear how they made a differecne.

The "4 bolt" cap tightened on the picture I posted and did not not fit flush.

Also, 2 bearings inside the unit, which support the worm gear do not fit snugly inside the steering box. Maybe they would if the shims worked correctly.

Now I am confused

 

The shims move the worm gear towards the bottom of the box. Here is some info that I found:
Flathead Steering Steering Gear Adjustments

 

I could never figure out the shims and now I know. I did replace mine with the same number of new ones (2 I think) when I redid my box. Steers real easy now.

 

Thanks guys.

On the 4 bolt plate, I just hammered the end piece back in. That removed all of the play in the bearings. I think if you get this out the worm gear and bearings would be removable.

As for shems, I now understand there were none. The 2 shims are just gaskets.

Not sure if I can take out the slop in the steering.

I am ordering a new roller shaft adjuster screw, mine was a bit worn on the end.