Dan Hiebert Posted August 9, 2010 Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 Greetings all. Driving the ol' Dodge has become rather exciting lately - just by trying to keep it between the stripes in the road. Was never good, but has gradually gotten worse over the years, no amount of adjusting per the shop manual did any good. I've had the car for 18 years, but never did anything with the steering except install new tie-rod ends. Took the steering box apart as much as I could while still in the car this weekend. I usually have a firm grasp of the obvious, and discovered that both the sector shaft and worm gear are pretty much shot. I've seen sector shafts and bushings advertised recently, but does anyone know a source for the worm gear? By-the-by, when I got the car, the steering box was packed with grease, not oil. I suspect this contributed to the wearing-out of the sector shaft (the roller is actually frozen) because the grease can't get to the bushings and such like oil can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1949P17BC Posted August 9, 2010 Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 Have replacedin both my cars. I got the bearings and seal from PLYDO, I am sure others have them. Check the links section for rebuilders. I would think that if you pulled the unit out, replace the bearing and seal, and then make the needed adjustments to the gears (adjustment nut on top) also has shims, you should be able to get it pretty tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hiebert Posted February 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 The saga continues. Found a Sector Shaft, and lo and behold once I got it in my grubby hands I found someplace that lists them cheaper. Never fails. The worm gear is indeed totally kaput as well, have yet to find that part. Shops list them but don't have any vs. places that may have them but don't list them. I guess finding the stuff is half the fun I haven't tried any rebuilders, yet. This all leads to a question for the esteemed members of this forum - AB lists steering box insulators, these go between the box and frame - inner and outer. My car did not have anything like this, but I can't say it hadn't been monkeyed with in its previous life. Are these necessary, as in the lack of them may have hastened the demise of my steering box? I suspect a domino of things led up to this situation, an accident the car was in (probably before I was born ), the wrong lubricant, improper adjustment, and poor roads in various States of the Union. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aero3113 Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 (edited) I replaced mine in my 50 Plymouth and they made a huge difference. Edited February 14, 2011 by aero3113 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hiebert Posted February 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 Uh-oh. My car does not have that triangular plate on the outside of the frame, either. I think I see a pattern here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niel Hoback Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 Sounds like someone has done some tinkering. Possibly the rubber wore out, so instead of replacing it, they just eliminated it. Hmmmm, sounds like something I would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Austin Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 Dan, The steering gear arm for a D24 has four rubber bushings on the tie rods, were as the P-15 has none it's solid. The P15 solution was dampen the steering box with rubber and a backing plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hiebert Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 ...are no more! The stars and planets aligned just right and everything came together over the weekend. I shouldn't be surprised, but there were no real issues rebuilding the steering box - these cars are such pleasure to work on. I had to shop out extracting the upper bearing race, other than that I was able to use regular shop tools for everything. Its amazing how bad the original had gotten, I didn't fully realize it until I got the rebuilt one back in the car and adjusted. I had a whole 1/16th inch or so free play at the gears, when there's supposed to be none! That translated to a whole lot of slop by the time it got to the wheels, and the previously noted exitement when it came to keeping the car between the ditches. I can only surmise at how it got to that point, most likely a combination of things compounded by time - a long ago accident, improper adjustment and lubricant (don't use grease), and really bad roads the past few years (these northeastern roads have me chasing the hubcaps fairly often). I installed new bushings, seal, and bearings, NOS sector shaft and worm gear w/ shaft. Did the initial bench adjustment per the shop manual, put everything together with appropriate lube, and viola. Now for some fine-tuning and road test (once the salt washes of the road). Follow the golden rule of not tightening the mounting hardware until the whole thing is fitted first - and everything's peachy! Now to tackle the steering wheel with some PC-7. We're really looking forward to more driving adventures in the D-24 (without the unnecessary excitement). See you'uns on the road! (In spirit if not in fact.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.