Steering alignment pulse check

[Dan Hiebert]

Greetings all. Over the winter I've rebuilt the steering box on the D24, what an improvement! But, as these things tend to do, it led to addressing other issues that weren't recognized as such until the "master problem" was fixed. In my case - the alignment. When I first got the car I dissasembled the front end, cleaned everything, replaced a couple of obviously worn parts, and was careful not to change any of the adjustment points when I put it back together. Now that everything is fresh, I decided to check the alignment again. I used the TLAR method initially, with the intent of doing a more thourough job once I got around to fixing the steering box (18 years later ). The front tires show some feathering from the toe in/out being off, and probably from the wandering they did with the worn-out steering box. I followed shop manual steps - set one item before moving on to the next - everything is apropo, but now the question for the esteemed forum members for the last item - the caster. Manual sez 1 degree postitive, my car has 1.5 on the right, and 2 on the left, both positive. I know positive caster is designed to make the car "lead" - or return to straight ahead after a turn. Caster on our rides is set by "proper assembly of the upper control arms", and mine are spot-on according to the manual, yet I have the noted variances. Are they off enough to worry about, especially since they're different from each other? The upper control arms may be a bit out of whack from a long ago accident, and I can probably make the minor adjustments to bring the caster into exact specs, but it will throw the control arm secs off. Should I even worry about it? Thanks in advance!

[greg g]

If you were driving your car 15K miles a year, I might worry about the .5 discrepency. If you were to take it to a shop with a modern alignment machine they would probably be less accurate that that. And since most modern cars with strut suspension are non adjustable, most of the techs probably wouldn't know a castor it bit them.

I would say drive it, enjoy it and leave it be. Improper castor doesn't even show up on the charts that have tire wear patterns as indications of improper alignment. Does you chart give a plus or minus varience? is the .5 within that range??

[Dan Hiebert]

Greg - nope, the manual only indicates +1 degree without any variances. As you noted, I think I'm safe as caster is never quoted as a factor in tire wear (the principle concern - $). One of the mechanics at the office used to race stock cars and was forever adjusting front ends according to track conditions, he said it would only affect which way the car may tend to drift - usually towards the side with the lower number - but wouldn't affect tire wear at all. With the crown built into most NY roads, I would want to have it drift left to compensate for the the crown, rather than down off of it, but he didn't know how bias ply tires would affect it, or whether 1/2 a degee would even matter on these tugboats. I'm gonna take yer advise and drive it as is, if it bugs me, I'll adjust it. Heck, the way it handled in the past, I probably won't even notice what difference a half degree makes. Now if it'd only quit snowing........

[Ramon Angulo]

when you rebuilt your gear box did you have to remove the steering colum or were you able to just remove the steering box. I have to rebuild my steering box as well because there is a ton of play in the steering wheel! Not to mention a puddle of oil under the car!

[greg g]

Have you tried the adjustment procedure? You might be able to get moe of the slop out.

And some one mentioned replacing the gear oil with a John Deere lubicant called Corn Head lube. It is sold to lubricat the gearboxes on combine corn picking combines.

It lubes but doesn't leak.

http://www.greenpartstore.com/John-Deere-Special-Purpose-Corn-Head-Gun-Grease-AN102562.html

Edited April 21, 2011 by greg g

[Ramon Angulo]

I will have to try that lube, can I get it at the auto parts? I did try adjusting it with little results. I ordered a rebuild kit but just haven't been able to figure out how to remove the steering column shaft from the gear box. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

[Andydodge]

As far as I know the only way to remove the steering shaft from the box is to undo/remove the steering wheel, remove the Pitman shaft from the box thru the top plate & then remove the lower bearing plate and take the whole shaft out from underneath............but you have to jack the car way up as the shaft is about 4' long and needs that sort of height to clear the box........I might be wrong but don't think so..........andyd

[Don Coatney]

I will have to try that lube, can I get it at the auto parts? .

I bought it at a John Deere lawn mower dealership.

http://www.greenpartstore.com/John-Deere-Special-Purpose-Corn-Head-Gun-Grease-AN102562.html

Edited April 21, 2011 by Don Coatney

[Dan Hiebert]

when you rebuilt your gear box did you have to remove the steering colum or were you able to just remove the steering box. I have to rebuild my steering box as well because there is a ton of play in the steering wheel! Not to mention a puddle of oil under the car!

Ramon - I took the whole shebang out. You can get the steering box and shaft out without disassembling and removing the column, but as AndyD notes, its a total PITA, and reassembly would be even worse. You'll save a lot of aggravation by disassembling and removing the steering wheel and column before you remove the steering box. Column from inside the car, steering box from outside (under).

[Andydodge]

Ramon, try that lube, also get a Pitman shaft lower seal, and then check the triangular shaped inner/outer rubber mounts that fit between the steering box & chassis, they get oil grease soaked and are definately worth replacing.....which can be done by undoing the steering box 3 bolts and levering the box away from the chassis & installing the new rubbers, hard work but can be done....I did on my 41 Plymouth....lol........you can also install the lower steering worm bearings with the box in the car......but to fully rebuild the box you need to remove the whole thing.........lol.........ain't cars fun?.........andyd

[james49ply]

As to your alignment, 1/2 degre between the left and right is a good thing, this will overcome the crown of the road. and having more than what the book calls for is not something to worry about, just would make turning at slow, slow speeds more difficult, (armstrong power steering). Worry more about the camber and toe, this will wear tires. camber will also cause the car to drift to one or the other side. I have always gone by the settings of 0 camber both sides, 1 to 2 degrees caster with 1/4 to 1/2 less caster on the left (overcome road crown) and set the toe to 1/8 to 3/16 with radial tires. I always get exceptional tire wear with these settings.

[Ramon Angulo]

thanks for the info guys. sound like I have some work to do!

[Dan Hiebert]

As to your alignment, 1/2 degre between the left and right is a good thing, this will overcome the crown of the road. and having more than what the book calls for is not something to worry about, just would make turning at slow, slow speeds more difficult, (armstrong power steering). Worry more about the camber and toe, this will wear tires. camber will also cause the car to drift to one or the other side. I have always gone by the settings of 0 camber both sides, 1 to 2 degrees caster with 1/4 to 1/2 less caster on the left (overcome road crown) and set the toe to 1/8 to 3/16 with radial tires. I always get exceptional tire wear with these settings.

That's what I was pondering, having a half degree or so difference to overcome the road crown. Mine are just the opposite right now (less on the right than the left), and since I've got a borrowed caster/camber guage, might as well make the adjustments, not as if its hard to do, and the weather certainly isn't cooperating with getting on the road this year (snowed here again yesterday!), otherwise I'd be following Greg G's sage advice and driving it anyway. Besides, the alternative is being in the house with SWMBO watching some silly reality show. Adjusting to eliminate tire wear is a common theme, when discussing this with our head mechanic (the aforementioned former stock car racer) he'll make degree recommendations, but defaults to whatever has the least tire wear regardless of specs.

Edited April 22, 2011 by Dan Hiebert