Hello everyone,

I'm onto the next part of this life long truck project! haha. There's a lot of steering play and i'm not sure how I can tighten it up. It's the three on the tree style if that helps...Thanks in advance. Should I rebuild? Buy a new steering box?

 

I rebuilt mine - wasn't too bad. Either way, you want it to be on spec when you start driving it.

 

The steering on my truck was terrible. Driving over 50 mph was a very intense experience. I just thought it's an old truck, and what I was experiencing must be normal. As a teenager, I learned to drive on my truck, and my take away from that early experience was that trucks were different from cars--the car in question was a 55 Olds--very fast and no handling issues--Top speed 108 mph. The old panel truck on the other hand was always difficult to drive--speeding never seriously contemplated.

After returning from a recent 1400 mile adventure with my truck, I took it in to an old school spring and alignment shop. They knew right away that there was a problem. They found a spring in the steering box that was defective and king pins installed upside down. They also added shims to increase the caster. The improvement in handling the repairs made is amazing!

I'd find a good shop that understands old trucks like ours and have your steering issues checked out. It could be something as simple as a spring. My steering box wasn't rebuilt, just repaired and adjusted.

Jim

 

I have a 57 Fairlane which is also pretty loose. contemplating going to a new power steering kit with 16 to 1 ratio. I think we get used to how good these new cars ,, my 2017, that it becomes a shock how slow these old rides steer and how much play they had even when new compared to todays cars. I'm concerned that after i rebuild or replace my steering box with a rebuild, that I will still be unhappy with it??

 

A rebuild on the steering box will make you think you are driving a completely different vehicle . Rebuilt each box on both '52's in the garage & it was a night & day difference . You will be glad you did . It will actually steer where you want it .

 

My slick tracks straight as a train on the highway with one finger steering. They didn't have any play when they were new.

Everybody today judges these old truck brakes, steering, etc etc by something just dragged out of the weeds that was rode hard and put away wet. I actually prefer manual steering in a lot of ways, for my purposes. It steers light as a feather off road on rough trails, on dirt roads and gravel, is completely dead silent, doesn't leak oil, etc. There isn't much to go wrong with these but what there is has to be right. In addition to steering box, King pins, tie-rod ends, drag link, etc. Even worn or misadjusted wheel bearings will cause a bit of wander. It all adds up.

 

Have you isolated where the play is in the system? Between the drag link, king pins, and steering box there are a few different opportunities for correcting actions.

 

Mtflat and firstrider: did your rebuild include replacing sector shaft and gear or just bearings & bushings? Tearing into my steering box and column this week. No idea what to expect.

 

You have to "get out and get under". You need to first diagnose where the play is happening. And there may be more than one part that is bad. Don't just start replacing parts. There are no easy answers. Each of these old trucks is different.

 

What Pete said!

Troubleshoot, then replace. Assuming a solution is a proven way to not solve a problem.

 

I haven’t isolated the problem but I now have a starting point. Before this post I really wasn’t sure where to start looking other than the steering box. I’m new to these old ford trucks and I’m trying to absorb as much knowledge as I can so I don’t go in there blind. The tie rod ends look a little beat up. I’m going to have to lift it and check out the whole system. I found that my brake master cylinder is leaking too. My list is growing by the day! Glad I found this forum (fountain of knowledge).