Hoping to get some advice on the last mechanical bit I need to tackle: the steering box.

Right now I have 4" of play in the wheel before I get any movement in the pitman arm. I'm pretty sure I need a rebuild of the box, but am unsure of the best route to go.

My plan for this '55 F100 is to have something fun to ride around town. I've been sticking with original where possible, but am not opposed to a more modern aftermarket part if that's the best path.

It seems my options are:

1. $290 - Rebuild kit and do it myself
2. $550 - Rebuilt box
3. $? - Find a local shop to do the rebuild? Do these shops even exist?
4. $? - Find a more modern equivalent box that will work?
6. $? - Find a used box from someone who switched to a different setup?

I've looked at the instructions for doing the rebuild myself; it seems doable, so that's currently the direction I'm leaning.

Does anyone have any advice before I pick a path and dive in?

Thanks!
- Bill

 

Bill,

I rebuilt the one for my 52 F-1 and it was pretty simple. If you have the instructions you have most of what you need

My lessons learned from my F-1. Im not sure if they will all apply to your F-100.

1. I bought a new shaft and worm gear assembly. I didn't attempt to heat up, remove, and shrink on a new worm onto my old shaft. My worm was worn and pitted pretty bad.

2. The wheel on the sector gear. The pin was put in a press and mushroomed at the factory to hold it. I had to grind the old pin to drive it out. I tack welded the new one.

3. There are shim washers that may need to be ground on a surface grinder to give the right clearance for the wheel in the sector. My new wheel and washers assembled were about 0.014" thicker than the old ones. They wouldn't go in. Fortunately I had a machine shop up the street and he charged me $15 to put them on a surface grinder and take 7 mils off each of the two washers. Then it fit fine.

4. The new sector shaft bushings will press in easy, but the will have extra stock to the sector shaft. They will need to be reamed to get them to the right size to the shaft diameter. I had a machine shop do that on a rotary broach. He just did it by feel using the sector shaft until it fit right with just a few mils clearance.

5. Using the shim gaskets and adjusting the right amount of drag worked just like the instruction said. I got it right after 2 or 3 tries.

Good luck. Mine may be different than yours, but hopefully that will be of some use

Keith

 

Thanks a lot Keith.
From everything I've read, your additions seem spot-on.
Good idea getting a machine shop's help with some of the minor adjustments.

Thanks again.

 

Bill
Did you ever rebuild your steering box? How did it go?

 

Sorry for not coming back and closing this thread.

After more research, I decided to get the rebuilt box from MidFifty. It wasn't much more than the rebuild kit, and obviously was a much more straightforward installation.
I also replaced the tie rod ends and rebuilt the drag link.
Sadly, I don't think it improved my issue much.
One of my challenges on this truck is that I don't have a reference for what "good" is.
Maybe it's right now - but on the fast, skinny winding roads by me, I still wish I had less dead-play in the wheel.

 

How much free play is there now? How much before?

 

You may also have a worn out steering arm ball, a worn out pitman arm ball, and could have worn out spring pins / bushings. You would be amazed at how worn spring pins can get especially if the truck was not maintained.

JB