my steering that is. The subject in question is my 49 ford stock suspension, cut 1 coil with home made front lowering blocks. Anyway, the steering wheel has more than 1" play in it and like I said it's steering real squirely and sloopy. Can anyone out there tell me what to look for or walk me through as what I need to do to correct this problem? I'm not at home now, so I'll check back at this later, but any info/help is greatly appreciated! BTW this is my daily driver so sooner I get it back on the road the better...thanks
I wish I knew a little more about later steering boxes in order to help you out. What I know about earlier Ford boxes (at least 32-34) I posted here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=416660 Hopefully the basics will help you adjust the mechanism, and other HAMBers will post more helpful info for your situation. --Matt
When you lowered the car you will of course reset the front end alignment. Add a degree of caster if you can. Should be close to 1.5* positive, 0 to .5* postive camber and about 1/8" toe in. to tighten the steering gear, first the end play on the steering column should be nil. That means you should not be able to compress or pull out the steering wheel. Next loosen the adjuster lock nut on the top of the steering box. then using a flat blade screw driver turn the sector arm adjusting screw in a quarter turn then snug the lock nut. You may have to do this a few times untill the play is gone but do not overtighten that screw, just enough to lessen the play. Check the fluid level and top off with 120w gear oil if you can. I can't stress it enough, good shocks go a long way to remove "squirelly-ness". But a good front end alignment is paramount!
I'm at home now but have to go to a work Christmas party, gotta keep the boss happy. Anyway, thanks for the info. I admit I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this so I'm gonna have to find a "willing" hand! Hooligan, holmes you out there?! Thanks again...anything else I may need to know?
Just want to add, you need to do your box adjustments with the box centered. Basicly that means with the wheels straight ahead, BUT it would be easy for someone to have set the tierods wrong so I like to count the total turns of the steering wheel from one stop to the other and then half it. EG: 5 turns lock to lock would mean the center is at 2 1/2 turns from either side. (D'oh!) Steering boxes are machined with a tighter clearance at the center position, so if you adjusted it off center, you MIGHT do some damage to the gear teeth as you tried to go past center or you could find the steering will bind up on you. Just something to keep in mind...
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