ok well im a little lost at this point and need some help from someone who might know better. i have a 32 ford roadster with all the original steering parts such as the spindles, drag link, pitman arm, steering box and column drop with the key n everything. this problem has just started happening within the last 2 weeks. whenever i turn the steering wheel it seems like it gets harder and harder to turn to the point where i have to fully leaning on the wheel until it moves a little. its not safe on the road so its parked in the garage until i get it fixed. so for the problem whenever i try and turn the car the box starts to make sounds and wines. i jacked up the front end and disconnected the pitman arm from the box to make sure it wasnt in the spindles, the front end turns like a dream, then i moved the steering box and made sure it wasnt binding on the frame or inside the box, once again turned like a dream. no noise, no drag and no friction i have also loosened up the drag link balls to make sure it wasnt in there and it stayed about the same when everything was conected so for the real question what do you guys think is causing this problem? i pulled the box out and there is nothing broken inside, the bearing were replaced when i rebuilt it a year ago and still look brand new, it was shimmed the correct way on the bearing load, and also all the nuts were tight when i took it apart again, and it still had the oil in it. any ideas would be helpful
If it squeaks it is usually worm and sector related. If you have low lube, the gear starts to squeak and becomes hard to turn. If the lube is up over the top of the worm gear then you should recheck the worm gear adjustment screw. Wheels off ground and No load the gear can give you a false sense of adjustment. Most of the time you can spot this by excessive play in the steering shaft. Your steering wheel should only turn about 1" R/L before feeling drag when the wheels are on the ground. Check the lube and Reset the box sector adjustment and post findings
The Jalopy Journal
