Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

well after a couple hours and some fine "adjustments" and I use that term loosely, ha ha I thought I had the problem resolved both wheels were slightly toed in and each side went to the side an equal distance stopping just before the steer stop on either side - NICE

well but a test drive proved otherwise, the truck drove ok, but it felt like I could make tighter turns to the right than to the left

so... the Greg found me a nice empty parking lot, 57 feet wide with concrete edges on either side so you could not go out of bounce and cheat sort of speak

then I proceeded to make a right hand turn with the wheel turned as tight to the right as possible and I just barely made a couple perfect circles to the right within the confines of that parking lot

ok, awesome now lets try the other way, so I turned the wheel 4 turns to the left, ie all the way and gave it a shot, low and behold I could not fit inside that parking lot

in other words I am unable to make a U turn within 57 feet

help!

[harley87ta]

Could your pitman arm not be clocked in the right position? I think they could be installed in different postions. Not sure if that could cause your issue though

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by harley87ta

Could your pitman arm not be clocked in the right position? I think they could be installed in different postions. Not sure if that could cause your issue though

this one looks like it can be clocked in 4 different positions but the one that it is in is the only one that reaches the linkage and the steering box

thanks for trying to help, I wish I baselined this with my old power steering box still on, but things seemed fine so I had no idea what problems I would have with the manual box

I bought the manual box with the pitman arm to avoid these types of headaches but I still ran into issues

I think its a tie rod linkage issues, but I am not sure

[Boog]

Could it be one tooth off inside the box?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Boog

Could it be one tooth off inside the box?

I think you may be on to something, I will take it apart tonight and let you know, good advice I appreciate it.

[rusty76]

Well crap. Get this thing resolved ok. Good luck.

[Boog]

Greg if you remove the drag link from the pitman arm or the pitman arm from the sector you can then turn the sector from lock to lock. Count the turns then return the sector to center. Now look at the splines on the output shaft. The pitman arm should be parallel with the frame when mounted on the sector. That should get it closer.
Does anyone know if the draglink is different for manual or power steering?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Boog

Greg if you remove the drag link from the pitman arm or the pitman arm from the sector you can then turn the sector from lock to lock. Count the turns then return the sector to center. Now look at the splines on the output shaft. The pitman arm should be parallel with the frame when mounted on the sector. That should get it closer.
Does anyone know if the draglink is different for manual or power steering?

That's what I did, I am 4 turns lock to lock, so I put it in the middle at 2 turns and I am very close to center or even in the center

[harley87ta]

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/wp-co...ev28jl2009.pdf


This pdf is for gm cars but may apply to your steering box too. On page 2 it says the some 73-74 boxes have more tavel right than left

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by harley87ta

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/wp-co...ev28jl2009.pdf


This pdf is for gm cars but may apply to your steering box too. On page 2 it says the some 73-74 boxes have more tavel right than left

thanks man, but my donor box came off of a 77, not sure how those are balanced?

[Gregski]

Anyone heard of BAW tie rod ends? The PO put one of those on the driver side and I'm broke so I was only gonna buy one to match it

[Gregski]

just want to pause and thank everyone trying to help out, thank you for your comments and advice, I had no idea this little "project" was going to kick my butt

[Gregski]

on the way home from work today stopped by AutoZone and rented this here HammerHead

[Gregski]

since I had to pull the manual steering box back off I figured I would take some pics of specialty tools and such needed for the job that I didn't have time to take the first time around, here I am abusing a pitman arm puller

really aint no other way to git this thing off that I know of

[Gregski]

Never time to do it right, but always time to do it over, I'm sure we've all heard that before

so since I had the box off I took it upon myself to replace one of the bearing cups, one was pitted / damaged probably by the one bearing that gave way and shattered and the person kept driving the vehicle

I actually had to devise a puller to pull the bearing forward about an 1/8th of an inch before the slide hammer jaws could even get in there

you ain't wrenched until you made or modified your own tools, am I right fellars?

[Gregski]

a side by side comparison of the old damaged bearing cup and the new replacement one

hey man I aint perfect but I try to do a good job

[Gregski]

then it was time to use my portable press on my 20" by 20" concrete bench top (aka garage floor)

gentle now... even the retainer found its way back into place to keep the bearing from falling out

[Gregski]

then I had to remove both outter steering tie rods, I know some say don't use the Yamaha tuning fork, but I tried the screw the crown nut to the bolt and try to hammer it out but it just wouldn't budge

and yes I ruined the rubber on the new tie rod on the driver side, but oh well I couldn't find a match for it anyway

[Gregski]

here's the BAW tie rod no one's ever heard of

[Wgesnerjr]

Originally Posted by Gregski

here's the BAW tie rod no one's ever heard of

Greg,
Looks like someone got a BAW part in an AC Delco box. (see post #27 & 48)

Weird.

Read here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=714531

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Wgesnerjr

Greg,
Looks like someone got a BAW part in an AC Delco box. (see post #27 & 48)

Weird.

Read here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=714531

thank you, that is crazy talk

[KQQL IT]

Gregski, i just bought an NOS manual box for my pile.
If yours is terminal... I have a known good used one I'd donate.

[Gregski]

and this is the OEM GM one from the passenger side, this one has seen better days, but believe it or not inside it was solid

[Gregski]

ah man... don't tell me we is gonna clean this thing if we're just gonna replace it...

you know how NASCAR tears up the engine right after each race for a close inspection, well Busted Knuckless Garage aint no different we must examine each part for goodness or badness people

all I'm saying is this part after 42 years of service deserves to be in a Museum not in the Trash, that's all I'm sayin'

[Gregski]

I'm telling you this thing with a little love from a grease gun and a new universal rubber boot could be good for another 42 years if we had to use it