Adjust Steering Gear

[vintagetin]

So the wheel on my '62 Chepy is LOOSE!!! I finally (after putting a good 10,000 miles on her) decided to have a friend rock the steering wheel and me to climb under and investigate. To my surprise the pitman, idler, and all the tie rods look fine. The play is entirely in the steering box. I noticed an adjustment screw on it. It has a LOT of play. I should just be able to tighten it up and see how much I can take out of it. I understand the wheel is suppose to have a little play.

If I have to repair the unit is rebuilding it relatively easy? or even possible?
The remanufactured units are a bit on the $$$$ side.

Thanks

[monterx7]

i have this same issue......did you ever get this fixed?


thanks

[luvbowties]

Originally Posted by monterx7

i have this same issue......did you ever get this fixed?


thanks

I'd think you could find a good used one on the classifieds in our forum. Many of us removed very good original boxes to replace with power steering. Plus, we know if the box is good or not!

If you can post in 'parts wanted' (or close), bet you could get one just for cost of shipping. I know if I still had one, I'd be glad to do that deal for a forum member.
sam

[Brad54]

These boxes are actually very easy to rebuild.
Truckandcarshop.com carries all the pieces you need, and they're a LOT cheaper than buying a reman'd box.
I've got one torn down on my bench, doing a story on it... they really are easy, but they're a mystery to most guys.
On mine, I'm replacing the bearings, the balls in the recirculating gear/shaft, and the seals.
There are bonze bushings in there too, where the shaft is supported at the top and bottom... the bottom of the shaft registers in one, and it passes through the upper one when it enters the box.
I replaced them on my Corvair box when I rebuilt it, but I really don't think it needs to be, unless there's a lot of slop in it... which can be checked easily with a caliper.

Get out your factory shop manual, and you'll see what I'm talking about.
The lower bushing is a blind bushing, meaning it sits down into the removable plate/cover on the box--it presses in, but there's no way to press it out--it has to be cut out in two pieces, using a chisel. The service manual indicates the entire plate needs to be replaced as a unit with the bushing in it.

Hope this wasn't too confusing.
It's really one of those jobs you can do if you're half-way handy with tools, and have a factory shop manual.

Truckandcarshop is the ONLY place I was able to find all the individual pieces to rebuild a box at home.

-Brad