VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 too much play in steering

I have way too much play in the steering on the 48 and must find a solution.I have tried all the simple adjustments advised with no sucsess.Can I find parts to re build the gear and being more of an artist and less of a mechanic,could I do this my self?chef

The most common part needed to rebuild the 1939-48 steering gear is the sector shaft.It was sold as a kit that included the shaft plus the two bushings in the housing that also wore out.The sector shaft replacements were sold thru Chevrolet plus several after market parts suppliers (due to their frequent need). I see them listed on Ebay from time to time.
The pother item that can cause excessive play in the steering is the two piece pitman arm (it attaches to the sector shaft and the tie rods attach to it).The pitman arm on the 1939-48 cars consists of two forgings bolted together.There are four hard rubber insulators between the tow halves.These bushings disentigrate over time causing lost movement in the arm itself.The bushings are available thru the Filling Station (I also have some originals).Either way the arm is removed during the rebuilding of the steering gear and its bushings should be replaced.I would recommend finding some one to rebuild and properly adjust the steering gear.

Is there a trick to removing the pitman arm? I have tried the biggest gear puller i could attach, and just about stripped the thread in it. The only thing i didn,t try was giving the puller bolt a whack with the BFH, I was worried about damaging the internals of the steering box.

I would like to try to help with both questions. For chef-chevy, when you are making your assumption at the amount of play in your steering system are the front tires off the ground? To gauge a system with a lot of play you need someone under the car to tell you how much movement is in the pitman arm when you move the steering wheel a half an inch or less. If the movement seems simultaneous then the way I see it the problem is not in the steering box. Another simple test is to sit at the wheel and try to push or pull the steering wheel away or towards you. This will tell you the amount of worm shaft end play. There should not be any. Another steering box problem is we just do not spend enough time trying to digest our manuals and understanding their adjustment advice.

Good luck finding a mechanic that has the time and patience to diagnose front suspension problems. I would never leave my car, or not be right next to my car, while a mechanic is working on it. They lack the experience and manual understanding to handle most of our suspension alignment issues. You need to babysit them through a logical diagnostic process.

Lastly, remember these are not modern steering systems. They will never respond as well as your wife's modern car or truck. Enjoy the fact that you may be the only one capable of driving your old car!!!


47Aero the answer to your question is to not hit the pitman arm while it is attached to the sector shaft. I usually loosen the nut holding the shaft in place so it is about 4 turns from coming off the shaft. I then install the puller in the picture below and walk the pitman arm down with my impact wrench. The nut keeps the pitman arm from falling off the shaft until I am ready to catch it. If you think the arm is bonded to the shaft then I would clean it up so I could spray some penetrating oil on the area. I would then apply some heat from a small acetylene torch used for soldering copper pipe. Next I would use a brass hammer and lightly tap on the pitman arm where it attaches to the shaft. Reappplying the penetrating fluid over several hours might also allow it to work some magic accompanied by the light tapping.

The pitman arms in the picture show my stash. Notice the one all cleaned up but still having the bushings installed. I have worked at least a half hour on it to free the bushings. I think someday I will soak it for a week in used transmission fluid and then give it some heat. Every guy needs 4 extra pitman arms ready for duty!!!!

Good luck, Mike

Did you adjust the two piece housing with the special eccentric bolt? Years ago when I drove my first 47 with tons of slop before I discovered the housing adjustment, when I finally adjusted it it was like driving a new car LOL

To remove the pitman arm I would recommend a puller designed for removing pitman arms. They are much stouter than a regular 2 jaw puller. They also have a bigger center screw that will not strip and will allow you to use an impact gun. I have a Snap On puller I use along with my 1/2" impact.
Don

As I recall, CO40's sells a kit. You may be able to do it but you likely wont enjoy it.

You might want to look up Lares Mfg (or call and talk to 'em). They can rebuild your steering sector. Last time I looked, they quoted $309 FOB. You pay freight both ways. You can save some $ by going through Rock Auto. They use Lares for the service.

Just an option.

Also, as you may have done, the manual shows 3 ways to adjust the sector which might remove a lot of the play.

Of course, if your haven't, make sure everything else in your steering is tight. A little play here and there stacks up quickly to make for sloppy steering. But, you already knew that.

That does get a little complicated...Many times just messing with the "eccentric bolt" will only bind things up and cause more wear...All three adjustments should be involved...Like the manual says...Check those pitman arm bushings, first ( all four )...I replaced those without removing the pitman arm...Lay on the floor and have a buddy rock the steering wheel and if you see the two piece arm flex in the middle, you need to change them...World of difference...Got mine from Gene...It was all I needed...

If it is the steering box, I think I would "bite the bullet", and go with a whole new box...Three hundred and change and you have a new box, less frustration...And it's done right...

steering problem solved..Replaced the pitam arm bushings "made some improvement",but I found that the spindle on one side was the wrong year and the correct bearing was not used so it was flopping around big time!!!Replaced the spindle and bearing with the right ones and it steers like a champ..The 39-40 spindle(which someone had installed on the 48)are WAY smaller then the 41-48..I have been driving the car like this for years,I've been real lucky!!

Good to hear...No one enjoys driving a car with "sloppy" steering...It's really frustrating...

Kevin:
Where does one get a new steering box for a 47 ????

Dick

I was referring that you can have your existing steering box rebuilt by a ( professional ) company, like you would your knee-action shocks and original rear shocks...

Dick, you might look into Lares Mfg. While looking into Lares, look at getting the job done through RockAuto (save $).

Hi Chef-chevy,

Thank you for clearly telling us what the problem was with your front suspension. I was glad to know it had nothing to do with the steering box. If you keep the box full of John Deere's Corn Head Grease and check its movement with the front wheels off the ground you should be able to quickly exclude it when diagnosing a suspension steering problem.

I would be suspicious about the damage your kingpin may have sustained with the wrong spindle/bearing combination. In fact the upper link pin, could also have been compromised as could other parts of that side of the suspension system.

Good luck as you enjoy your spring travels, Mike

Just for the education of those not in the USA what is John Deere corn head grease? Coming from a farming country I am fully conversant with John Deere and their products (every second tractor here is a John Deere) but corn head grease is something new. Incidentally I had my 39 MD steering box machined and a proper lipped seal fitted at the sector shaft and now run 90 grade oil in it with no leaks.

I think The John Deere Corn Head Grease has become popular because most of us don't want to be bothered rebuilding our 70 plus year old steering boxes. We want to replace the bushings on the pitman arm and don't want a steady leak of 90 weight oil on them. We also don't want to refill/check them annually or replace the pitman bushings when they swell from the oil leak.

Chevs of the 40's charges about $110 plus shipping/handling for a gasket, seal, races and bearings (individual replacement parts are available from the same source). Rebuilding the box can be threatening because of all the work needed to take it out of your car/truck: following it up with a step-by step manual description, that must be studied, to accomplish the rebuild is frustrating.

The John Deere Grease may still leak from our old boxes, but it is not like the steady drip of a 90 weight oil. Before I used the John Deere Grease I think I followed Gene's recommendation to mix the thickest weight oil with wheel grease to thicken up the mixture. This did help but was not as effective for me as the Corn Head Grease.

I now have my box out of the car (doing body work and replacing the frame) and will probably replace the bushings and the seal. The last time I took my box apart I only replaced the seal and the gasket. I did all my work on my work bench including setting all the recommended adjustments. This way I could make adjustments by feel and ear. It seemed to work out fine. If you do the adjustments on the car then it is a two man/woman job!!!

John Deere Corn Head Grease

Stovebolt John Deere Stovebolt grease

I just sold a complete box (not rebuilt) and it cost $56 to send it from Michigan to California by way of the Post Office. Another not very cheap repair.

Good luck, Mike

P.S. Correct me if I am wrong, but replacing the races requires another level of mechanical expertise. They are pressed in!!!

I got my cornhead grease last July when we were in North Platte Ne.

Per my spindle replacement,I also replaced the king pin as well

I agree...As I had mentioned before...Save the parts and re-use the old ones...You might see a "little" bit of "play" but that's normal...Even with new ones...It's easy enough to inspect them for wear...

Your right..

i have a 50 chevy i put a new seal in.. then it sat for a few years and went to leaking again.. so i filled it with grease. i guess i just wasted my time trying to get it to seal

Whiskey-runner,

Regular grease is not self leveling so there could be areas inside your steering box that are not getting lubricated (especially the bearings and bushings). If it were my box I would top it off with the self leveling Corn Head Grease, try to mix it in (turn steering wheel all the way right and left for several minutes with the wheels off of the ground), and let "sleeping dogs lie." If you are ambitious I would take the steering box out of your truck, scribe the steering box cover to the steering box body in a couple of places, open the body up and clean out the grease, do a good visual inspection (checking for irregularities to the worm gear, sector shaft, bearings, race surfaces), maybe replace the bushings, put things back together, replace the seal and gasket, reassemble everything paying close attention to the scribe marks, fill the box up with the Corn Head Grease, and check all the manual adjustment recommendations.

Good luck, Mike

P.S. Under no circumstances would I use my truck for whiskey running. These trucks were just not meant for that heavy duty of work!!!

FWIW as an aside:

In "the day", there was a lot of whiskey hauled around here, mostly in F**ds with big flatheads or Caddy engines. Very little, if any, hauled behind a 216.

Around '57, I was offered $90 per trip (35 miles loaded & 35 miles empty) to drive a F**dilac. I declined! A bit tempting as $90 was way more than I made in a week.

I don't know what that aside had to do with Corn Head Grease!

Sounds good to me...