VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc Steering Wheel Play

How much play should be in the steering wheel when you turn it. I have a 52 Chevy Deluxe. I can move the steering wheel about 3 to 4 inches before the wheels just start to turn. On my newer cars (02', 05') I can only move the steering wheel about 1/2 to 1 inch before the wheels just start to turn.

It seemed like the wheel skipped (lost tension) once (if this is even possible) when I was making a hard turn into a parking lot but I have not been able to reproduce it. There is about 3/8" of the lash adjusting bolt sticking out past the locking nut. The car has 69K miles on it and probably has never been adjusted. I do not want to try and adjust the gears unless it absolutely needs it.

The alignment is good on the car and the linkage is tight. I know that the steering was loose on these cars but 3 to 4 inches seems excessive. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

You should only have a very little play in the steering wheel. My '51 has essentially none. The major cause of play is the center bearing. If when you turn the wheels the center arm moves up and down then the bearing is shot and needs to be replaced.

By the center bearing do you mean the worm gear bearings or do you mean the sector shaft bushing? The sector shaft connects to the pitman arm and is supported by an anti-friction bushing. There are other bearing in the box itself for the sector roller which engages the worm gear. I have tried to move the pitman arm from side to side (left to right of car) by grabbing it at the end where it connects to the connecting rod. It seems to be tight with no movement which seems to indicate that the bushing is okay. It may be that the sector roller and worm gear are just worn and the lash just needs to be adjusted. I need to get a spring scale to measure the bearing preload. Once I turn the lash adjuster I will know how much play there is between the worm gear and the roller. I did not want to do this without being able to finish the procedure.

Thanks

The "center arm" is the idler arm that attaches to the frame in the center of the front cross member. They develope up and down play. The steering gear probably needs adjusting also or the pitman arm and bushings need replacing. If the steering gear was not kept fulll of a soft grease the steering box whould need rebuilding by 40,000 miles. Same with the idler arm. If not lubricated every 1000 to 1500 miles it would get loose.
My '50 has like no play and that is the way they should be or else you are chasing the car all over the road.

Center arm is tight. I guess the steering box needs some serious adjusting. Thanks guys.

Do it the way the manual describes it. Do not try to short cut by leaving the pitman are attached to the drag link (steering arm), I use a trigger pull scale to set the drag.

Advance Auto Parts (and probably other FLAPS) will loan a pittman arm puller for free. I used a $20 fish scale like this one to check the pull on the steering wheel.

- Lonnie

John,

I think I would recheck the tie-rod ends and the pitman before I would start fooling with the gear box. The minor play at the tie-rod ends (et al) will translate to a great deal more distance (motion) in the steering wheel than you would imagine.

Try to see if there is any slack in the shaft coming out of the gear box. I would recommend sending it off for a rebuild if it turns out to be the culprit.

I can live with a little "loose motion" if the car is set up to "drift" slightly right. Such a setting would probably worry the heck out of Gene, but for me I would think it was normal.

I have never owned a 41 with "no" loose motion. I was not old enough to buy a right brand new one as were other folks on here.

Charlie

John, when you are trying to determine the amount of movement of the steering wheel it takes to move your wheels right to left or left to right are you doing it with the front end jacked up so the wheels are off the ground? I think all your steering box adjusting should take place with either the pitman arm off or atleast the front wheels off the ground. You should be able to adjust your box so even the slightest movement of the steering wheel translates into movement at the pitman arm. Typically, you would get someone under the car to verify the amount of left or right movement that someone was causing by a slight turn of the steering wheel.

When you put the wheels back on the ground (and the car is not moving) you still can not assume that turning the steering wheel three to four inches to the right or left will mean the tires have moved the same distance. Good luck, Mike

P.S. Doing an Advanced Search on our web site may give you more info on other posts on this topic. I know we have discussed steering issues on the 37-42 chat site.