Hot Rods Steering issue

Car in question is a 1940 Ford coupe. New "I" beam dropped axle, with new king pins and bushings. New rod ends on the tie-rod and drag link. New after market steering column connected to a Saginaw 605 power steering box with a rag joint and new power steering pump. Chassis engineering split wishbone kit. The car has had the front aligned twice. The '40 steering wheel, steering column, steering box all centered with the wheel set at 9 and 3. When he drives the car and makes a turn the steering wheel does not return to center, it's at 8 and 2. Sometimes the wheel is at 10 and 4. It seems no matter what he does, he can not keep the steering wheel centered. Several people have looked at it and are all stumped. Everything is tight and all the components checked and rechecked. Everything is new and the car only has about 160 miles on it. Any ideas.

 

What’s the caster?

 

And how tight is the lash set in the steering box?

 

I messed with stuff like this for over 40 yrs so here is how I handle these.

Once the wheel is centered, drive it, when you turn left is the steering wheel position change ? Now turn right does the steering wheel change to a different position or is it back again on center ? Or is it reversed? As in turn left and it moves and turning right does it go back close to center ?

I'm just guessing it's not in the front end, it's in the rear, the rear axle or spring is moving changing track of the the car thus changing steering wheel position....

But still like to know the answer to the above......

....

 

Check the splines on the steering wheel. Unlikely, but....

 

Steering box to tight.

 

Is the front axle not properly located by the spring and shackles? See if it's moving left/right when the steering wheel is turned. Some spring/axle combinations need a panhard bar to keep things in place. '41 cars come to mind, as do 46-48.

 

The guys above are right. Either the front axle is shifting side to side. I.Eit needs a front panhard bar. Or one side of the rear is moving front to back. I.E there is a missing leaf spring centering pin.

 

Does it have a panhard bar? Did the split wishbone kit change the height of the pivot point which could cause a caster angle change . Chassis engineering makes good stuff so I doubt that is the problem though. The front shackle angle could cause the steering to wander if they’re too vertical. I’d start with checking the toe with a tape measure. Should have at least 1/16” toe-in. Modern alignment shops don’t always know how to set up cars that old.

 

I blame the steering box . Is it a real Saginaw or a Chinese look a like?
If it's a Saginaw it's defective.

 

After the turn Does the car straighten out on it's own or does he have to turn the wheel to get it to straighten out"
Cut off stock column: does he have a bearing in the bottom of the tube or a bushing? My experience says that bushings will bind up. Then toss in, shaft between column and box working smoothly or not working smoothly. I've seen too many messes that were put together to clear exhaust or ?? that had bindups built in.

It isn't a bad idea to get under it and see if anything moves that shouldn't move when he turns the wheel back and forth and some pressure gets put on the steering linkage .
While I was at it I'd be looking at the rear suspension too to make sure that it was all in good shape.

 

What specs were used ?

 

I had this issue. Turns out the urethane bushing in the end of the column was binding. Replaced it with a bearing and all is well.

 

I agree with 42merc. I went through identical symptoms on my Dodge pickup with everything new on the suspension and or correctly rebuilt. It literally had a mind of it's own and I trouble-shot everything multiple times. Turned out to be a defective (although brand new) steering box.

 

When the kingpins were replaced, did they size the spindle bushings correctly or are they too tight? When a vehicle with a kingpin front end gets a tight or seized kingpin, the steering will not return to center and when driving on a straight road, will require frequent steering input to keep the vehicle going in a straight line.

 

If you are saying after a turn the car returns to a straight position and the steering wheel lost it's center position, something is slipping. Did someone forget to put the half moon key in the steering wheel?

 

has the bolt in plate that holds the split wishbone come loose enough to move

 

Do the shackles move freely, or do they "stick"?

 

Had a Mack truck do this after a frame rail replacement due to a wreck. Turned out the steering box was just loose enough to shift when you turned, but the bolts looked tight, no obivious gaps. Center it up again, then tighten the crap out of the box mounting bolts.

 

I most likely will see the owner this week and I'll ask what you all have mentioned.

 

NEVER assume that new parts are 100% correct, or that they were installed correctly. Prove everything.

 

Who uses urethane bushings in a steering column ? NEVER head of an OEM doing this.

 

Was after market stuff.

 

Too much aftermarket stuff is complete shit.
It only looks like what it is supposed to be. But it is cheap, so people buy it.

 

In Agreement with most said. One glaring nit to pick.

The symptom belies the statement that

The answer, so far, that makes most sense is what @ lostone says

 

More than likely a Delrin bushing , outlast , outwear most bearings@ a fraction of the cost .
Delrin is an Ultra High Molecular Weight product .

 

Worked for a few years for a local company that molded and machined Telfon and other UHMW plastic products. They made things like Teflon seals for aircraft landing gear. And also machined out the occasional batch of Delrin replacement hip socket implants. Must have been pretty tough stuff. Probably still got one in the back of a junk-drawer around here somewhere.

 

"UHMW" is Polyethylene. Delrin is Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as Acetal. While both have good bearing and bushing properties, they are not the same materials.

 

And any bushing, no matter what it’s made of, has the potential for bind if it’s too tight, dry, dirty, or crooked.

 

I stand corrected