Just shipped it up from Phoenix, Az to Dallas, Texas. This is my father's first truck he ever purchased in 1960. It fires up like a champ but the steering is horrible. You literally have to fight the steering wheel to turn it even just a little. Any suggestions on where to start? My main focus will be all mechanical. Then, I will focus on the exterior. My dad and I have the same name so the title, which my father still has, will not change at all. Hilarious.

Right now, the steering is just not safe to drive anywhere. Any help?

 

Here it is. The kids want to ride in back like in the good old days. Sadly, the steering is just too tight to drive it out on the street.

 

Have you tried lubing all the suspension parts, king pins, tie rod ends, drag link etc... The gear oil in the steering box may have turned back to crude oil or tar by now. Don't expect it to turn like the new power steering sissy trucks of today, back the men were men

 

What type of lube should I use? I will look for a drain plug for the steering gear box. Finally, any suggestions on where to find the best and most accurate information on how to rebuild a steering column?

Thank you so much in advance,

The Dude

 

Sweet truck!

You need the '60 Ford shop manual if you want to work on that thing. Trust Me. There isn't a drain plug on the steering box afaik. As mentioned ya need to lube everything, approx. every 500 or 1000 miles. They aren't bad at all to steer when everything is maintained, although parallel parking would be a pain. Steering gear lube is what you want. Equivalent to NGLI #00 grease aka "self leveling".

 

I'll start lubing. Any advice on how to get the old lube out? What tool/siphon should I buy?

Thanks 🍻

 

Start with greasing the king pins. If it's steering really hard, jack the front wheels off the ground first and see just how stiff it is. If they haven't been lubed in a long time, you may have trouble getting them to take grease.

 

Chassis lube for all the grease fittings and gear oil for the steering box. There is no drain plug on the steering gear box. Only way to clean it out is to take it apart, but it may not be needed, try filling it first and see what the results are. Rebuilding the box isn't just a take apart and put together operation, it involves setting bearing preloads and sector shaft preloads. One thing that wears badly in these boxes are the sector shaft bushings. I would lube everything first and then do some testing. Always try to have the truck rolling when trying to turn the wheels helps

 

Thanks for the help. I'll get to work this weekend. I need to clean out the interior and change all the oils as well. Basically, freshen it up. The steering is the major priority.

Thank you for all the help.

 

. . . and don't worry about rebuilding the column. That is not the (or least likely) source of your problem.

Looks like a great starter. Congrats.

 

One other thing to consider involves your choice of tires. The stock steering box was originally engineered to turn relatively thin, hard, bias-ply tires that offered significantly less resistance when compared to the modern radial tires that you are probably running. The wider the tire, the more resistance it has to turning, especially at slow speeds.

Hiball3985 brings up another good point as well. Cranking on the steering wheel while the truck is not moving puts the maximum amount of pressure on the internal steering box mechanism. The stock box just isn't up to that kind of repeated demand, especially with modern radial tires. The steering wheels on these trucks are huge to help overcome the slow speed steering resistance. The basic Ford truck steering box design was becoming dated by the late fifties. Ford went the relatively cheap route and used "Power Assist" to prolong the inevitable redesigning of the steering box to include true power steering. Over the years, that evolved into the power racks that modern cars incorporate into the front suspension.

My '58 F-100 has just over an eighth of a turn free play. Every drive is an adventure and requires plenty of concentration. I can't wait to get busy with a front end overhaul that will include an upgraded steering system. Welcome to FTE!

 

King pins are probably stuck.

You'll probably have to use an oxy acetylene torch to heat them sufficiently to melt the fossilized grease so you can force new grease into the joint. Use mew zerk fittings. The old fittings with be plugged up.

 

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