Steering box replacement for 46 Dodge Custom

[VinceM]

I have a 46 Dodge. Steering box has been leaking badly with a lot of play for a year and I have put off dealing with it but can't wait any longer. I am trying to source a rebuilt unit. I believe it is Lares # 8150. I am looking for confirmation of my research. Has anyone had theirs rebuilt and from where?  Any help and advice is greatly appreciated. When I finally tackle this job how much of a headache am I in for. I have read my shop manual and it doesn't look pretty especially considering I'll be doing this laying on my back 😓............Thanks in advance. 

[Doug&Deb]

Rebuild kits are available and it’s not a bad job. Removing it sucks unfortunately. The shaft goes from the box to the steering wheel. You have to get the front end high enough to pull the whole thing out from the bottom. Now would also be a good time to check all the tie rods. I’ve done this and I’m the worst mechanic I know lol.

[Loren]

I replaced the seal on my 49's steering box as it was leaking badly. The seal is at the bottom of the box and that means if it's bad anything you put in there will leak.

NAPA still has the listing for the seal.

Here's how I did it.

1) take the pitman arm off the bottom of the sector. There's no need to remove the tie rods, but the car needs to be on reliable jack stands.

2) remove the lock cap from the top of the sector adjustment screw. ( do not mess with the adjustment! ) remove the top plate's bolts. Now mark the position of the slot in the sector adjustment screw on the top plate. If you push up on the sector the plate comes with it. The sector adjustment screw has a plate that slide into a slot in the top of the sector. Now this is tricky, you need to screw the adjustment in one turn in order to clear the housing to remove the top plate, when you push the sector up. ( the dimple in the top plate prevents it from coming off, so you have to turn the adjustment one turn )

3) with the top plate off you can slide the sector completely out. This is where you want to inspect his for damage and extreme wear. If it looks reasonable replace the seal.

4) here's the key to the whole job. Grab ahold of the steering wheel and see if you can feel any play. Sometimes you can't but if the steering wheel turns super easy the bearings may have some wear. To get the play out of the tapered roller bearings on the worm gear/steering shaft, there are gasket/shims under the end plate. They come in various thicknesses and you will want to remove at least one. On my 49 I couldn't remove the end plate as it hits the frame but I could slide the end plate down a little to select the gasket I needed to remove. ( the tube that runs up the middle of the plate is for the horn wire and it doubles as a breather )

5) put the bolts back in the end plate and check how the steering wheel feels. If it's tight you took up too much clearance and you'll need to add a thin gasket. If it's still loose try another thick gasket. I have found there's more play to be removed from the steering in this bearing than there is in the sector adjustment. In fact I try not to disturb the factory adjustment. They knew what they were doing.

6) Set the steering wheel at center and drop the sector in, slide the top plate into the sector and once in place turn the adjustment back one full turn. Now you can put the bolts in the top plate and add the oil. Put the pitman arm back on and check the steering. If you can't help yourself screw the adjustment in ONE notch and lock it in place with the cap.

7) road test. If all is well you're golden!

 

In my humble opinion it's easier to try to fit the steering box than it is to replace it. The problem is usually in the preload of the tapered roller bearings. However there is always the possibility that it's too far gone.

 

[Sniper]

Not sure how relevant this is, but KeithB has some good posts his made when he redid his box.

[Dan Hiebert]

Ditto Loren's and Doug&Deb's post.  Rebuild kits are available, I got mine from Andy Bernbaum.  It is not difficult, and if you are adept enough to get the steering box out, you should have no trouble fixing it if you so choose.  Mine needed a complete rebuild - hardest part for me was getting the old bearing races out simply because I didn't have the right tools.  If yours is just leaking, you may only need the seal and perhaps the sector shaft bushing.  I can't give any better a run-down than Loren does.  As Doug&Deb notes, getting it out of the car first can be a little challenging if you can't get the front end high enough off the ground.  I had to use extra blocks on my jack and jack stands to get it high enough, if you've got access to a lift, that would make it so much easier.  

[Cannuck]

I bought a rebuild kit for mine ,never used it a member of our group suggested I just put in synthetic grease and see if that helped . so I did it dosen't leak and works fine.

[Bob Riding]

Mine was actually too far gone to repair (extreme wear on the gear teeth) so I had Lares rebuild it with NOS parts. Not cheap,($600+) but perfect now. Earl Wells is the Shop Mgr and is great to work with.

[VinceM]

Thanks for all the replies and info. This was my first time posting to Forum and it paid off with great responses. Just what I was looking for. I've decided to have Lares do a rebuild on mine this way I know what I'm getting. I also will have to do all rubber bushings at pitman "knuckle". They are all mush due to the leaking steering box. Oh well..... it's just money and time 🤪. This job is long overdue so I might as well do it right. I have access to a lift so that should eliminate some of the problems -- I hope. 

[Sam Buchanan]

I just ordered a seal from O'Reilly Auto Parts, less than $6 delivered to my local store. Been putting this off for a long time, might as well get it done.

 

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/precision/precision-multi-purpose-oil-seal/ope0/240356

 

Edited November 23 by Sam Buchanan

[Sam Buchanan]

On 11/13/2024 at 6:25 PM, Loren said:

I replaced the seal on my 49's steering box as it was leaking badly. The seal is at the bottom of the box and that means if it's bad anything you put in there will leak.

NAPA still has the listing for the seal.

Here's how I did it.

1) take the pitman arm off the bottom of the sector. There's no need to remove the tie rods, but the car needs to be on reliable jack stands.

2) remove the lock cap from the top of the sector adjustment screw. ( do not mess with the adjustment! ) remove the top plate's bolts. Now mark the position of the slot in the sector adjustment screw on the top plate. If you push up on the sector the plate comes with it. The sector adjustment screw has a plate that slide into a slot in the top of the sector. Now this is tricky, you need to screw the adjustment in one turn in order to clear the housing to remove the top plate, when you push the sector up. ( the dimple in the top plate prevents it from coming off, so you have to turn the adjustment one turn )

3) with the top plate off you can slide the sector completely out. This is where you want to inspect his for damage and extreme wear. If it looks reasonable replace the seal.

4) here's the key to the whole job. Grab ahold of the steering wheel and see if you can feel any play. Sometimes you can't but if the steering wheel turns super easy the bearings may have some wear. To get the play out of the tapered roller bearings on the worm gear/steering shaft, there are gasket/shims under the end plate. They come in various thicknesses and you will want to remove at least one. On my 49 I couldn't remove the end plate as it hits the frame but I could slide the end plate down a little to select the gasket I needed to remove. ( the tube that runs up the middle of the plate is for the horn wire and it doubles as a breather )

5) put the bolts back in the end plate and check how the steering wheel feels. If it's tight you took up too much clearance and you'll need to add a thin gasket. If it's still loose try another thick gasket. I have found there's more play to be removed from the steering in this bearing than there is in the sector adjustment. In fact I try not to disturb the factory adjustment. They knew what they were doing.

6) Set the steering wheel at center and drop the sector in, slide the top plate into the sector and once in place turn the adjustment back one full turn. Now you can put the bolts in the top plate and add the oil. Put the pitman arm back on and check the steering. If you can't help yourself screw the adjustment in ONE notch and lock it in place with the cap.

7) road test. If all is well you're golden!

 

In my humble opinion it's easier to try to fit the steering box than it is to replace it. The problem is usually in the preload of the tapered roller bearings. However there is always the possibility that it's too far gone.

 

 

Loren,

 

Thank you for your description of the steering box assembly. I'm going to be replacing the sector shaft seal soon so am doing homework on how all this goes together.

 

Question about your step 2:

 

You state to rotate the adjustment screw "one turn" prior to removing the top plate. Does "one turn" mean 180 degrees (actually half a turn) or 360 degrees (a full rotation)? I'm looking at the illustration in the service manual and struggling to see how a 360 degree rotation buys us anything but can see how 180 degrees (half turn) might disengage the screw cog from the sector shaft.

 

Thank you for any clarification.

[Loren]

The reason for doing it is the cover won’t slide off the sector. A full turn will do it and it’s easy to put back to the original adjustment. I can’t stress this enough, the sector adjustment will not take the slop out of the steering. It only controls the engagement of the gears. The main culprit is the tapered rolling bearings on the steering shaft. The manual says to grab the steering wheel and see if there’s any movement. If you can feel any it really makes a difference if you can adjust it out. Do that check with the sector out of the box. Tapered rolling bearings seem to like some preload so don’t be shy about taking some shims out. Just make sure the steering doesn’t get heavy without the sector.

[Sam Buchanan]

Ok, guess it will make sense when I see it. The steering on my car is nice and tight, I just need to replace the seal. Most likely I'll leave the bearing shims as they are.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Saskwatch]

11 hours ago, Loren said:

t. The manual says to grab the steering wheel and see if there’s any movement.

 Just to clarify, please - with the sector removed from the steering box , do we confirm that there is no movement in the worm gear tapered bearings by holding steering wheel and pushing it toward dash and then pulling straight back towards your chest ? 
  If there is “ back & forth “ movement, remove shims accordingly to take out this movement/play ?  
  Correct adjustment will yield a slight drag while turning the steering wheel full right to left , BEFORE , I reinstall the sector ? 
  Thank you very much 👍

[Loren]

Yes the push/pull movement is not good.

Once fully assembled you can really see just a little movement yields a lot of slop in the steering wheel before there’s any movement in the pitman arm.

Going down the road you’d have a real see saw battle to keep the car going straight.

So you want it with some preload on the bearings.

With the sector removed you should feel a very slight drag on the wheel.

Lastly, the sector engagement with the worm should be left at the factory setting.

This adjustment can be used to take up wear in the gears BUT and it’s a big but, if you get in tight in the center, it will be really tight on the on the right or left. ( as the worm wears in the center )

Thus I’d leave it alone. You would not want the steering to lock at right or left.

[Doug&Deb]

Vince while you have things apart this is a good time to check inner and outer tie rod ends also.

[Saskwatch]

6 hours ago, Loren said:

Yes the push/pull movement is not good.

Once fully assembled you can really see just a little movement yields a lot of slop in the steering wheel before there’s any movement in the pitman arm.

Going down the road you’d have a real see saw battle to keep the car going straight.

So you want it with some preload on the bearings.

With the sector removed you should feel a very slight drag on the wheel.

Lastly, the sector engagement with the worm should be left at the factory setting.

This adjustment can be used to take up wear in the gears BUT and it’s a big but, if you get in tight in the center, it will be really tight on the on the right or left. ( as the worm wears in the center )

Thus I’d leave it alone. You would not want the steering to lock at right or left

   Thank you , much appreciated! 
       👍👍

[JBNeal]

On 11/13/2024 at 5:35 PM, VinceM said:

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated... 

I took apart the steering gearbox in my '49, cleaned and inspected the parts before reassembly, did the correct adjustments, replaced the output shaft seal, then filled the steering gearbox with John Deere corn head grease...that took out the slop and ain't leaked at all since.