Fiddy B2C Posted March 19, 2020 Report Share Posted March 19, 2020 Finishing up restoring my steering wheel and I’m thinking now would be a good time to address my steering box. It has a slight leak and was thinking I could pull it now and rebuild it. The problem is...it has a lot of free movement. When I turn the wheel, it goes 2-3 inches befor the Pittman arm moves, which tells me it is in the gears? I’ve followed several posts on this forum to adjust while the steering is centered, which helped a bit. I removed a shim, then it was too tight so I reinstalled. I’m thinking it’s the gears inside the box. So my problem is, If I’m going to remove the box to replace the seals, I want to be able to tighten up the steering as well. Does anyone have any recommendations for finding new gears, replacing the box, or any other solutions for a tighter steering? Any help is greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBNeal Posted March 19, 2020 Report Share Posted March 19, 2020 Examination of the gearbox internals should reveal if it is salvageable...if the sector gear is worn, that could be replaced with a donor, but if the worm gear is worn, then you might need a replacement donor gearbox...pressing the worm gear off the shaft requires special tooling, including a press that accommodate the shaft...my guess is that the worm gear was baked in an oven just prior to pressing onto a chilled shaft during manufacturing, and reversing this process is not easy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkahler Posted March 19, 2020 Report Share Posted March 19, 2020 This is a source for a steering gearbox rebuild kit that is in Argentina. I bought the kit but have not yet used it to rebuild my gearbox. I will eventually provide feedback on how well things go. I will say I'm impressed with the quality of the components in the kit. Brad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Balazs Posted March 19, 2020 Report Share Posted March 19, 2020 Have you done the adjustments as outlined in the manual? I was worried about my trucks steering gearbox but I was able to adjust the play out of the wheel by a simple adjustment on top of the box. As far as a leaking gearbox goes I found that if you pack the box with synthetic wheel bearing grease you won't have to worry about it leaking. I have put close to 25,000 miles on my truck and it steers like a champ. Sometimes the "fix" is much easier than you would think.... Hth, Jeff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddy B2C Posted March 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 19 hours ago, Jeff Balazs said: Have you done the adjustments as outlined in the manual? I was worried about my trucks steering gearbox but I was able to adjust the play out of the wheel by a simple adjustment on top of the box. As far as a leaking gearbox goes I found that if you pack the box with synthetic wheel bearing grease you won't have to worry about it leaking. I have put close to 25,000 miles on my truck and it steers like a champ. Sometimes the "fix" is much easier than you would think.... Hth, Jeff Yes, I did the adjustments as described in the shop manual right after I got the truck. It helped a little reducing the free travel from 3-5 inches to 2-3. I’ll give it another go to see if I can improve it. I would certainly rather try every adjustment I can instead of replacing the box. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddy B2C Posted March 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 23 hours ago, bkahler said: This is a source for a steering gearbox rebuild kit that is in Argentina. I bought the kit but have not yet used it to rebuild my gearbox. I will eventually provide feedback on how well things go. I will say I'm impressed with the quality of the components in the kit. Brad Interested to see how the rebuild goes. Did the kit come with worm and sector gears? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted March 20, 2020 Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 10 minutes ago, Fiddy B2C said: Yes, I did the adjustments as described in the shop manual right after I got the truck. It helped a little reducing the free travel from 3-5 inches to 2-3. I’ll give it another go to see if I can improve it. I would certainly rather try every adjustment I can instead of replacing the box. Thanks imho ... think I have even read on adjusting newer trucks steering boxes. (60's-80's) Fords are terrible and every Ford I owned the steer box needed adjusted. On my 1987 I got it dirt cheap because it needed adjusted, took 2 min and drove it for 15 years afterwords. On my 1969, I adjusted it once, then 6 months later twice, then a year later the gears were so worn they broke. I believe you can only adjust them so many times before it becomes unsafe to drive. The gears are getting worn and sloppy, so you adjust and pull them together, then you repeat .... at some point they are to thin to be safe. My 1969 broke in the driveway, would have been a disaster if was driving down the highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkahler Posted March 20, 2020 Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 9 minutes ago, Fiddy B2C said: Interested to see how the rebuild goes. Did the kit come with worm and sector gears? What you see in the picture is what is included in the kit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddy B2C Posted March 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 Wow, that looks pretty complete. I PM’d you for additional info. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minicooper Posted March 21, 2020 Report Share Posted March 21, 2020 You’re right, Los_Control, Fords had terrible steering boxes. I had a ‘71 Econoline E300, that I adjusted multiple times. Then the same thing happened to me - I had left the expressway 15 minutes before turning onto my street when the steering failed with a pop, I rolled to a stop in front of my house, no steering, lucky. My B3C does wander a bit on the road, but there’s not a lot of free-play in the wheel. Lasted almost 70 years without adjustment (judging from the amount of crud on the cover and adjustment bolt). The Ford made it 10 years before it snapped. -roland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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