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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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
