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Why Is Your Pilothouse Steering Wheel Crooked?


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Clear Vision Adjustment on a Pilothouse

When the nose was off my truck, I set the steering box preload screw – the big one on top of the steering box – with the front wheels straight ahead, and figured the box was also in the centermost position. Got over a full turn of play out of the thing. Then when I got the truck on the road and began to drive it a little, I found a tight spot to the right of center that should not have been there. This told me that when my front wheels were pointed straight ahead, the steering box was still off-center. To my best knowledge there is no provision for adjusting the relationship between the box and the front wheel position. If the drag link length were adjustable, this would do the trick, but it is a solid piece with no adjustment feature.

My 1948 steering wheel is shaped in three equal triangles. When you are going straight ahead, down the road, your top center spoke is supposed to be centered vertically – should be right in the middle of the wheel. This gives you a clear view of the speedometer and gauges by looking thru the spokes, just like it shows in Pilothouse ad pictures. My wheel was off nearly a third of a turn. The right spoke was completely horizontal, blocking my view of the speedo and gauges. This was not good.

The clear vision adjustment is typically the last thing you do on a vehicle front end alignment, and refers to the steering wheel spokes being completely centered when the front wheels are set dead straight ahead. It’s a fairly simple process on most vehicles, and involves cranking one tie rod adjustment in and the other out to get the right combination of steering wheel position in the straight-ahead position and still keep toe-in set properly.

Not so with our Pilothouse trucks. There really is no such adjustment, because the toe-in setting on these trucks is made with the tie rod itself, and not an adjuster sleeve on each side. Our tie rods are drilled and threaded at each end to accept the tie rod end threads. Toe-in is adjusted by twisting the entire tie rod on these threads. This works just fine to set toe-in – which needs to be around 1/16-inch for radial tires – but allows no adjustment to get the steering wheel spokes straight ahead. Of course, you could pull your steering wheel and if it has no master splines, you could move it to get it straight, but then the steering box would still be off-center. There should be an adjustment between the steering box and the right front spindle – where the drag link is – but our drag links are solid.

I have an extra tie rod and drag link. I played with the idea of cutting the adjustment end out of the tie rod and welding it into the drag link to make the drag link adjustable so I could get my steering wheel AND my steering box straight. Then I had a better idea.

Our Pilothouse drag links – the rod that connects the steering box with the right steering spindle – has a noticeable bend in it toward the right side, just underneath the right front spring. It dips down, in order to clear the spring when it flexes. By straightening this factory-made bend a little, it is possible to effectively increase the drag link’s total end-to-end length. Since my steering box needed to go towards the right side a scotch or two to get to the center high spot position, I discovered that if I were able to lengthen the drag link a little, this would move the steering box to the right – the direction I needed.

Accordingly, I took my trusty floor jack and stuck it below the right side front spring, underneath the bend in the drag link, and proceeded to jack on it – something we’re not supposed to do. Well, I had no way of knowing how much English this drag link would want/need/take to get where I wanted to go, nor how easily it would be to bend. I jacked a few strokes upward on it, and flexed it a little.

Took it for a road test,, and saw just a little change. Went back and jacked harder. Still a little more change, but I was definitely going in the right direction. Finally, I got braver and jacked the right side front wheel off the ground, still jacking on the drag link. Now we were getting somewhere, and my steering wheel was going nearly where it needed to be.

Finally, I jacked the wheel off the ground and added my not-inconsiderable 260 pounds to the front bumper. Now the steering wheel spokes are almost spot on the money. I can actually see my speedometer without looking around the steering wheel spokes. AND, my steering gear high spot is right in the middle when I go down the road. This makes the steering wheel return to center just like it should, after I make a turn and let go of the wheel.

What I need now is a place where I can tie the frame down to the floor and jack on this critter just a little more, and it will be perfect.

I’ll get it yet . . . . . . :D

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GB-I'd be careful with that so that you don't get so much of a bend in it that the drag link starts to flex on a bump, or that it turns further in one direction than the other. If the pitman arm isn't singularly indexed on the output shaft of the steering box, you can probably obtain the same results by moving the pitman arm a tooth or 2 in the correct direction. I bought a used drag link from Merle a year or so ago to replace one that had been bent and felt like it was flexing during a left hand turn. The ends in the old link were tight, but the one I got from Merle made a huge difference. Mike

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Mike,

*You are correct that there is already a considerable bend in our drag links from the factory. What I did was not to increase the bend, but decrease it slightly. In other words, I lengthened it a small amount by straightening it. Now my steering box is centered with my front wheels when I'm traveling down the highway. It steers much nicer, since the high spot of the gears in the box is dead centered now, as it should have been originally.

Please, do not anyone try to completely straighten a bent drag link. They are made with a dog leg in them, and are supposed to be that way. It's just that there should also have been a length adjustment on them, which of course is lacking. It was for want of this adjustment that I did what I did to my own link. I am quite happy with the results.

Further thoughts on this issue - I wonder how many Pilothouse trucks on the road today have the box off center. It's a little hard to tell, unless you understand the high spot on the center of the gears. This is designed to aid in returnability when you have turned a corner and let go of the wheel for it to straighten out. It is the combination of the high spot on the worm and secoto shafts and the caster on the king pins that make this returnability happen.

The best way to find out if your box is off center is to get your wheels pointed dead straight ahead. I use a long piece of 2 x 4 against each front tire, and compare it with the angle of the running board to make certain the wheels are completely straight with the frame.

Then jack up the front end and begin to tighten down on the gear mesh adjuster screw inside the cap on top of your steering box. Turn it down until it's just snug, and then wirh the wheels off the ground, turn them lock to lock. You are feeling for a tight spot. If you find one, this is the box center.

When everything is as it should be, this high spot should occur when the front wheels are dead straight ahead. The only way to adjust this is by pulling the pitmen arm and moving it a spline or two, (if there's no master spline on it - I don't know) or by doing what I did - lenghening the drag link a little by taking some of the factory bend out.

I drove the truch about 30 miles this morning. This one adjustment made more difference in the handling of the truck, especially at highway speeds, traveling straight ahead, than did the switch to radial tires and gas shocks.

The total package - tires, shocks, proper toe-in and a centered steering box, make for a sweet package. Tracks down the road like it's on rails.

I'm happy.:D

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I was on an errand yesterday so I checked my steering wheel position.

The spokes are positioned so that I can clearly see my speedometer but the lowest one would hit me in the stomach if we met. And I did leave go of the wheel for a moment and it went straight for a while and then it drifted toward the south. Could have been a north wind a blowing.

It rides and steers great so I'm happy with it.

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A pull to one side or the other could be caused by many sources. First on the list would be unequal tire pressure, then front end alignment, etc. Glad yours tracks well. Have you tried the simple test I outline above with your steering box mesh load adjustment? Takes only a few minutes.

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I beg to differ. While you are correct that the placement of the steering wheel is to provide an unobstructed view of the gauages, none of the spokes are in a straight-up, vertical position. According to both of Bunn's books (Dodge B-Series Trucks and Dodge Pickups), the correct wheel position is with one of the spokes at the 9 o'clock position. This is how mine was prior to the restoration. Look at the photos in the mentioned books - top photo on page 25 in the first book and bottom of page 68 in the second. On page 26 of the second book it states that the steering wheel is positioned so that the gauges are "easily viewed through the steering wheel."

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Jim,

I'm afraid you don't understand what I've said on this thread thus far. It doesn't matter much where the spokes are. It matters that when your front wheels are straight ahead, your steering box is centered on the high spot of the gears. Get that right, and the steering wheel can be where it wants. This makes a tremendous difference in how the vehicle handles going down the road in the straight ahead position.

Besides, different configuration steering wheel spoke designs were used between early and late Pilothouse models, so they won't all be the same position, or look the same. Check it out. Early ones had equal spaces between the spokes. Later ones wirh the horn ring, etc, had two spokes closer together near the bottom.

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When I put my truck together I put the wheel back on so that the spokes were in a "Y" configuration. That way I still have a good view of the speedo. And then I could mount my GPS off of the steering column to be viewed between the upper two spokes. It works great for me.

I will be checking and adjusting my steering box, probably this winter when I install Charlie's brake kit. I'm curious to see the difference.

Merle

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Grey Beard - I understood your string discussion. I was only referring to the steering wheel configuration for the 48-50 trucks. I realize the 51-53 had different steering wheels; they also had different dash boards and gauge layouts which didn't necessitate the wheel configuration of the earlier models. The photos I referred to in the Bunn books only relates to the 48-50 model years.

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Now Freind Jim,

Is it not possible to put a steering wheel in any position of 360 degrees and then take a picture - even a FACTORY MoPar picture? I don't for a minute believe that every truck in Mr. Bunn's excellent book had the wheels turned exactly straight ahead.

Over the years, I have pulled quite a few steering wheels from vehicles. I remember that some had an index mark on the shaft at the top, where the nut went on, to indicate where the box center was. It would be nice if all of them had this feature. Never had my Poilothouse steering wheel off, so I don't know if it has such a mark or not, but I can tell you that when my steering box is dead on center, the steering wheel spokes have one vertical on the top. Mebby it's just the way my wheel was installed, don't konw.

My main concern in this thread is so that other readers understand that there is no adjustment on our trucks to center the box. If it is off center, it will handle like crap - mine surely did - and getting the box centered is impossible unless you do what I did.

My truck had a whole lot of body work done to it before I owned it. AND the frame was cracked, so I'm sure it lived a frisky 60-plus year long life of mishap and misery before I got my hands on it. Literally anything could have been bent, sprung, worn or twisted, that would have interfeared with the steering box center position 0 a bent spindle, a bent pitmen arm, a bent drag link, a bent frame, just to name a few. Getting it straight again was the nub of this thread. I hope others check their boxes and learn if they are off center or not. Mine was one third of a steering wheel turn off. Now it's within one inch of perfectly true. I'll get it yet . . . . . .

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Jim Shepard,

Your posting about pics in the Bunn books got me thinking, and I looked them over again, too. If you check out page 100, top picture appears to have the front wheels straight ahead, near as I can tell, and the steering wheel spoke showing through the windshield is identical to the position of my wheel in straight-ahead position. Across the page on 101, lower right pic is also of a steering wheel in that similar position. It is also possible that the straight-ahead position of the steering wheels changed when they went to the newer style wheel configuration.

Have you checked your box as I suggested, to see where the high spot is on the gears? It may surprise you to see where it is. If it's off, you'll be pleased how much nicer if handles when it is set straight. Also pages 137 lower, 141 lower, 143 upper, all appear to have the front wheels straight ahead and show a top vertical spoke. Who knows?

The one thing I am not sure of is if the pitmen arm can be pulled and moved just one spline or so. If this is possible, then there is an adjustment to get the box straight with the front wheels, but it would require a pitmen arm puller to make it.

Good Luck

Edited by grey beard
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Yeah, I was hopin' Merle would drop in . . . somebody I could likely see-saw with, what?

Of course, you could heat this link up a tad, and get any bend you wanted, but I'm sorta' reluctant to do that to steering linkage. I'm sure it's been bent before, or my box would not have been off center. I's amazing to me to think that someone would manufacture a vehicle like our trucks, and design a pretty good cross steering linkage system, but provide no method for centering the box in the chassis.

Have any of you found this problem on your truck, or found a better remedy for getting the box centered in the chassis? My own is still off about 3/4-inch to the right, and I'm about out of bend to straighten in the drag link. the only thing I have not tried is to pull the pitmen arm and see if it can be moved just one spline on the shaft. That might also be a better fix than my method.

Anyone ever had their arm off the box?

Well, why not?:D

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...snip... Anyone ever had their arm off the box?

Well, why not?:D

I have a car not a truck but it has a fixed length drag drag link from the box to the curb side wheel then a tie rod back to the driver's side. I think from your description that this is pretty similar to what your truck has.

I have had mine off any number of times because you need the drag link out of the way to drop the oil pan on my engine. And I needed to get it off to install the driver side dust pan. On my car I'd guess that one spline difference on attaching the arm works out to maybe 15 to 25 degrees of rotation on the steering wheel. Enough to dramatically change the centering of the steering wheel. And there is no position on mine where the spokes line up to a reasonable position. The best you can get is to have the one spoke of the wheel just a bit off of vertical on the top. And that is also the point where the box is centered to the least play. (You get more play between the worm and sector gears when you are off to one side or another but I think you noted that in you earlier posts.)

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Lee,

You are right . . . our Pilothouse trucks have the same cross-steering linkage you describe on your auomobile. Seems to me that if you got the pitmen arm on the box one or two splines off from where it belongs, that it would turn sharper one direction than the other, at least until it hit the steering stops on the spindles.

I am amazed that this problem has not cropped up in threads on this forum in the past - on either the truck or the car side, since it appears we all share the dilemma. I'm willing to bet that a whole blue million - well, a lot, anyhow - of forum members vehicles are going down the road with the steering boxes off center. This condition makes a vehicle handle very poorly, especially on high speed turns.

I'm glad you were able to tell where yours is - it's not difficult if you understand the high spot on the gears in the box when it is centered. Are you planning to attempt to straighten the steering wheel, or will you leave it off-center as it is? Onliest way I know to do this is as I described - bend the drag link cold.

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Lee, ...snip...

Do you mean me? Sounds like you are addressing my post and I don't see a Lee that has contributed to this thread.

...snip... I'm glad you were able to tell where yours is - it's not difficult if you understand the high spot on the gears in the box when it is centered. Are you planning to attempt to straighten the steering wheel, or will you leave it off-center as it is? Onliest way I know to do this is as I described - bend the drag link cold.

My efforts have so far been toward finding the spline that is closest to being correct.

My drag link is a hollow tube with a number of fittings at each end. Basically a spring and a seat on either side of the ball and then a threaded plug with a cotter pin to keep the plug in position. I suppose it would be possible to remove all the bits and pieces from one or both ends of the drag link and then machine a deeper seat for the inside spring to effectively shorten the drag link.

Or, and this I think I'd try first, remove and reinstall the "Silent U" spring shackles on the rear of the front springs such that the whole axle is slightly shifted to one side from where it is now.

But it is not high on my list of things to do because as long as I am on the closest spline the car handles pretty well.

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Todd,

The truck drag links are a solid shaft with a tie rod on each end - non-adjustable, of course. I have an extra tie rod and drag link, and briefly toyed with the idea of using the adjustable tie rod to make an adjustable drag link, but the bend fabricated into every truck drag link would make adjustment impossible - unless I welded one adjustable end into the drag link and removed that end to make the adjustment. Now that would work just fine. Sounds like your drag link is more involved than the truck style.

It's good to kmow that you were able to get your box nearly centered by using the splines - that's good information.

.

It's good to know that someone understood my original thread.

Thanks

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  • 12 years later...

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