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Steering Box Tear-down and Rebuild


NickPick'sCrew

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Nicholas and I are working on the steering box right now and could sure use some technical advice.  We have the covers off and have removed the cross shaft (the shaft to which the pitman arm attaches) and now we need to remove the actual steering gear assembly (also referred to as the tube and worm assembly in the service manual -- the tube is also known as the dreaded spear).  Presently, this gear is not turning in the housing.  I am assuming that there is sand in the assembly (we sandblasted before taking it off) and so it's not budging.  Left or right, in or out.  I'm also not ready to hand Nicholas the three pound hammer just yet.  The version of the manual we have reads:  "Remove the cross shaft from the housing. remove the lower cover and shims and then remove the worm and tube assembly and bearings."  From our reading we get the idea that this assembly should come right out.   Attached are some pictures of where we are.  You can see the edge of the cup and bottom cage (bearing).

 

I suspect we are missing something...is there a trick to removing the cup and bearing or a specific tool to be used here?  Any help at all is greatly appriciated.

 

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Edited by NickPick'sCrew
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Put the nut back on the upper end of the worm tube..and with a block of wood at that nut use a hammer and tap the worm and lower bearing race out of the steering gear box.

That lower bearing race is a semi tight fit in the steering box case.

Worm and tube can then be fully removed.

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Thanks dodgeb4ya.  It does come straight out but it takes some force and care.  Tried a rubber mallet first and then like you suggested block of wood and a heavier hammer.  It wasn't budging.  finally got it off with a slide hammer and some special prep:

 

  1. Placed two short 2x4s (solid, hard wood, no pine) on the shop floor.
  2. Placed the gear box on the 2x4s so that the cap and gearing assembly hole is facing down and that there is a clear passage for the cap and bottom bearing to come out towards the floor between the 2x4.  The tube end that attaches to the steering wheel will be facing up to the sky.
  3. Placed a thick piece of material over the top of the tube (I had some heavy felt) and tape it in place.
  4. Took a five pound slide hammer -- if you don't have an attachment that will slide over the tube as a guide you can do what i did -- used a large socket from a 3/4" set.  Place a piece of cloth - dubbed up in the socket and place the end that typically attaches to the ratchet over the taped tube end
  5. Place the slide hammer into the socket, center everything up and then take a few good solid slides.  Came right out after two hits - first hit was a bit tentative as to ensure the alignment up and down was solid.

I'm going to let Nicholas clean out the box and parts and put it back together once the rebuild parts get in.

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Edited by NickPick'sCrew
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Yes sometimes very dense hard back up blocking and a heavier hammer are required ...it's a thing you pick up on quick growing up in the field.... get er done type of thing in a shop.

But with no damage!

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A little intel about our efforts to source parts.  I've attached the group diagram below.  

 

  • Bottom Oil Seal (19-19-35).  Easy to find both NOS and Newer Replacement.  Wide variance in price depending on who you call or where you look.
  • Cage Assembly (19-15-80)  These are the bearings.  Easy to find as a rebuild kit that also includes the two cups (19-15-63), two bushings (19-19-16) and the bottom oil seal (above).  We didn't need the cups or the bushings as ours had no pitting and the cross shaft and gear fit well with no excess play.  We finally found the bearings alone for much less than buying the whole kit.
  • Gasket (19-19-28) and shim set (19-04-13). We finally found too.
  • We could not find the smaller seals (19-13-4) and (19-14-68) and we were eventually told that most rebuilders don't bother with those anymore.  Said they simply leave out the lower seal (19-13-4) and substitute a felt ring for (19-14-68).  Said there's not enough pressure build up in this box to bother with those two seals which are hard to find anyway.  Thoughts from the more experienced members?

We are fortunate.  We didn't remove 19-13-4 from the bottom of the warm assembly yet and it looks to be in good shape in general.  We did remove 19-14-68 when we were in tear down mode but we kept it for reference.  It seems to be in good shape and we may just reuse it.  

 

We owe a load of gratitude to Justin at Straight Line Steering (CA) for helping us find most of what we were looking for at what seems to be a reasonable price, although I am not sure he would appreciate getting a tone of calls for parts as they mostly focus on rebuilding.  We called a number of rebuilders before finding SLS for advice but the others we reached just wanted us to send in the box and pay a ridiculous amount for the rebuild.

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13 hours ago, JBNeal said:

Thank you sir!  You would happen to know how to source the bushing that is at the top of the jacket assembly (19-14-3 on the exploded view) and the bearing for the tree shifter (19-46-6 on the exploded view)?

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I do not have a specific source for these parts, but my approach would be to determine the specifications (dimensions and materials) and try a local industrial bearing supplier...if possible, bring the old parts and what they mate to so the supplier can get an idea of your needs...they may have some insight that is not commonly found in a google search :cool:

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