Steering Gear...

Luster

Luster

Compulsively Anal
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
454
Location
Lee's Summit MO
The steering on my '82 has always had a lot of play in it. I could be driving down the hiway and move the wheel 3-4 inches with no response at the wheels.

I finally got around to "turning the screw" on the steering gear box...

WOW! What a difference. It's like driving a different car... or even a GO-KART! I turned it about one full turn clockwise and it really tightened it up nicely....

Here's a picture of the box. (Not mine, but this is what the steering gear looks like)...

You just loosen the nut, then turn the bolt clockwise to tighten, then tighten the nut again.

Don't go too tight or it will bind.

steerbox.jpg
 
Luster said:
The steering on my '82 has always had a lot of play in it.

You just loosen the nut, then turn the bolt clockwise to tighten, then tighten the nut again.

Don't go too tight or it will bind.

steerbox.jpg
Click to expand...

I would advise against anyone adjusting the box like this. Yes it will tighen it but I have replaced MANY gear sets in low mileage vettes that were over-adjusted. The proper way to adjust them is off the car with a 0-30 in/lb dial TW. The difference in feel between 12 in/lbs and 15+ is not much but enough to cause undue wear on the pitman shaft center tooth.

Look over my steering box thread and it will cover it all.

Not trying to flame this post but I could not ignore this as it would have an impact on others.

Good luck

Gary
 
GTR1999 said:
I would advise against anyone adjusting the box like this. Yes it will tighen it but I have replaced MANY gear sets in low mileage vettes that were over-adjusted. The proper way to adjust them is off the car with a 0-30 in/lb dial TW. The difference in feel between 12 in/lbs and 15+ is not much but enough to cause undue wear on the pitman shaft center tooth.

Look over my steering box thread and it will cover it all.

Not trying to flame this post but I could not ignore this as it would have an impact on others.

Good luck

Gary
Click to expand...

Thanks Gary... I'm glad you mentioned this. I had no idea there was a problem with this kind of adjustment. I appreciate the comments.
 
Lars over on CF mentioned a method for adjusting it like that (even had a paper on it), I told him it was not the way to do it...and man, did I get a bunch of crap piled on me! It was incredible. I still agree with gary, with the way these gears are machined to mesh (tapered) it's very easy to set it too tight and damage them.
 
Twin_Turbo said:
Lars over on CF mentioned a method for adjussting it like that (even had a paper on it), I told him it was not the way to do it...and man, did I get a bunch of crap piled on me! It was incredible. ..........
Click to expand...

I take Gary's comment as completely positive. That's the nice thing about VetteMod - it's about information, not bullshit.:yahoo:
 
My rebuilt shitty van steel box was very sloppy I tightened it up a lot

It won't wear out with the amount of driving I do though

And it's going to come of soon for a jeep box
 
why does the box have to be out of the car? Can you just disconnect the pitman and make sure it's on center and then use your torque wrench?
 
lsejlowe said:
why does the box have to be out of the car? Can you just disconnect the pitman and make sure it's on center and then use your torque wrench?
Click to expand...

You would also need to disconnect the steering column from the rag joint. Those in/lb torque wrenches are that sensitive - they will detect even the slightest drag (in this case, the extra effort required to turn the steering wheel while using the torque wrench). You need the in/lb reading on just the steering box gears.

Even then you'll have a hard time swinging that wrench underneath the car and getting an accurate reading.
 
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Exactly, it just can't be realistically done in the car.

I read about people just turning that screw all the time, in fact I read it a couple of times this week alone. Someday someone is going to turn it so tight that it's going to seize the steering whilst driving and the person is going to kill himself.

This is the thread I'm talking about
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1590841

apparently there's a paper in there with suicide instructions.
 
This is a common problem and has been for years. There is an on the car procedure but the best way is off the car.

The box in the picture has the lash screw deep, looks like 0-1 thread above the nut.

If attempting this on the car,in the middle of nowhere, then have the box centered, the wheels straight, and slowly screw in the lash screw until you feel it mesh with some MINOR resistance. This should not be much.

The lash setting is a combination of the preload drag, about 4-5 in/lbs and the on center drag about 7 in/lbs = 11.5-12 in/lbs. That's where I set them most times. I have gone to 14 on road cars but that's borderline and not where I recommend going to with a street car.

A lot of what I see out there for rebuilt boxes are poorly done- if at all. Many times I found "rebuilt" boxes were nothing more then a paint job and grease, the lash setting was no where close and the parts were the originals.

Luster, sounds like you had some play in your box and you were able to adjust it but I would check it if you can. If you have access to the dial TW then you can set it up. It's not a bad saturday job, remove the box and check it. Take it one step farther and get a kit and go through it.

On center, there should be no vertical play in the shaft, no lost motion in the gears, and the sideplay should be around 006 for a stock box. My blueprinted boxes are set for 002-0025"

Many times this is enough to really feel a difference in the steering, of course the rest of the suspension and steering should be in good shape.

When I do a box, unless it's a NCRS box, I witness mark the preload and lash set points. I started this after I blueprinted a box and the guys aligment shop decided to help him by adjusting the box on the rack! He threw off all my work and the box was way out of adjustment.

I used to be able to buy just a pitman shaft new, but no longer can. I have to buy the gear sets. Usually the shaft tooth is what wears the most. I've heard of some places that are brazing the teeth to build them up, but I wouldn't trust this approach.

Hope this helps shed some light on this.

Good Luck.
 
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