I am finally cleaning up my original steering box. When I turn the wheel it turns smoothly, and there are no issues. I did not see that it ever had an excessive amount of oil leaking, or feel that there is any grinding. I am using the original steering setup to go back in the truck. Would you rebuild it using new seals and bearing while it is out, or just let it go? There sure seems to be a ton of gaskets and seals on the LMC photo. Are any of those more important than others?? Thanks

 

It is your decision whether to rebuild, reseal it or not. If it was leaking before, it will leak when you put it back together. If it had play in the steering before, it will have play in the steering now. Maybe you are lucky and your truck had been serviced and kept full of grease in the steering box and it is not worn. If it has run without lubrication, expect the worm and roller to be pitted and the bearings to be pitted. Those gaskets seals you mention are mostly adjustment shims to adjust end play in the worm gear, a most critical adjustment so far as a good driving vehicle. I can understand where the number of items shown could be overwhelming but you might only use a couple of them.
If I had the steering gear on the bench I would certainly at least pull the cover and inspect it.
Edit: BTW, if you fully understand the sequence and procedure, it is not a difficult job to rebuild one of these boxes. If you do not understand the adjustment procedure, ask.
Edit 2: Don't forget to install the horn wire.

 

Hi there, I agree with Ray, at the very least open your steering box to see what it looks like inside.There is nothing wrong with keeping the original steering set up, in fact I like the feel of it and enjoy mine. That said you should know that there are several wear points including but not limited to the steering box that make up the steering system. Here is what I encountered when I was where you are now.I started with king pins which I had a professional do as I was just starting out and knew absolutely nothing about nothing. Then I rebuilt the steering box myself which was pretty easy with a little reading, then I rebuilt the Drag Link, replaced the steering arm (pitman arm) as the ball on it was worn, then the spindle arm ball, followed by the, tie rod ends, and finally the leaf spring pins and bushings. What I found was each wear point took a little more slop out of the steering. So personally if you want to keep the stock steering, I would take the time to at least check each of the component I mentioned. Ill tell you from my experience that a worn steering system is no fun to drive. There are a few alignment things to check also but its all easy work ,just take your time ask a few questions and buy a shop manual which will come in very handy all thru your build. You should also be aware that there are several other options available for power steering, independent front (or rear) suspension in the form of a Mustang ii replacement axle, using a Jag. front and or rear end from an older Jag (certain years). It really depends what you want from your truck, some like them to drive like a newer truck, others like myself like the feel of a truck built 66 years ago. If you don't quite know what you want yet, you may enjoy looking thru the members builds which are listed at the top of the main page in red. Well I have either bored you to death, or helped a little, I hope it was the latter, but there will be others along with information on what they did and why, and how they like it. Best of luck to you , you are in the rite place for help, FTE is the best.

 

Good thread, good question, excellent answers. Good luck.

 

I appreciate all of the input this board provides. I do have a build thread going and I have actually replaced or repaired damn near everything you mentioned so that is a good thing, I'm on the right track. I opened my steering box last night and didn't dive way into it, just enough to drain the old cruddy oil out, look for metal shavings and inspect. I am going to further inspect it tonite and get some pics out tomorrow. So far so good, I just done want to go messing with bearings and races, I did that on the wheels, what a pain. lol Thanks

 

Finding grease in the gearbox is a very good thing. Looking at the sector cover, I believe I see three of a kind and one odd ball bolt, unlike the other three. Perhaps the box has been rebuilt at one time. It has been a long time, but I can not think of a special bolt in that application.

 

This LMC catalog is crap, has errors and omissions.

There are TWO steering shaft & worm bearings (Ford: 68-3571-A), LMC only lists one (lower).

The upper steering shaft and worm bearing cup (not shown) is different than the lower (shown as a bearing & cup).

LMC highlights the housing gasket, but doesn't list it.

LMC shows a steering sector roller (#27), but this is actually the sector shaft.

If you want any of these parts, I'll locate NOS genuine Ford parts, not the made in China CRAP that LMC sells.

 

I have finally gotten my steering squared away and installed, and getting wheel and tires on, I realize I have a ton of slop in the steering. It is 3-4" each way until the wheel "grabs" I have no leaks in my steering box, and my gears look pretty good. I am almost positive that some of this can be rectified by the adjustment bolt, star nut, and pate and screw inside. I have looked at other posts, and am still confused about exactly how to take this lash out.

 

The procedure is described in detail in the workshop manual, p. 201.

 

Vern Tardel has a great booklet on rebuilding the Ford F1 box. The F1 box shares a lot of parts with the earlier Ford boxes.

Tardel lists suppliers and contact info.

A lot of the adjustment in the F1 box is accomplished by gasket “ shim” arrangement. The primary adjustment of the “star” is to set pre-load.

These adjustments will not improve a box with worn components “soft parts”. All it does is make it harder to turn..... this gives an illusion of improvement but it can actually damage hard parts in the box that are still good.

The F1 box is very popular with early Ford and Hot Rod enthusiasts. Good parts are still available.

 

I'd rebuild it. I replaced every wearable item in my front end when I rebuilt it. You can only get so much slop out of the steering box by tightening that nut. The tighter it gets the more pressure it puts on the gears and the harder the wheel becomes to turn. It eventually gets to a point of diminishing return. Despite being sealed and full of grease it will have worn over time. No question.