VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1938 Steering Wheel Slop

I have got a lot of play in my steering wheel.

I loosened the nut on the roller shaft end play, I was able to loosen the screw but not tighten it.

Any suggestion would be appreciated.

I would suspect that the screw adjustment is bottomed out from previous adjustments. Looks like it is time for a steering gear overhaul.

Chevgene,

I have been studying the 1938 shop manual and on page 207 there is a picture of a Master De Luxe and on page 212 they show a Master. My steering box looks like the one on page 207 the Master De luxe.
Was there a change some time in the production year of 1938. My manual was written December 1937.

The picture on page 207 is bascially correct fot a 1938 Master or Master Deluxe.
The picture on page 212 is for a truck and incorrectly labled for a car.
There were no first//seconed design units.
There should be a casing number of 264265 on the housing. May not be visable with unit on car.

Ther are only minor internal differences bwtween th Master and Master Deluxe in 1938.

Thank you Gene

There maybe atleast a half a dozen reasons for what you are referring to as "steering wheel slop" assuming it maybe coming from the steering box should be the last one on your list. Please do a SEARCH of our past posts on the topic. KEY WORD SEARCH TERMS +Steering +Box DISPLAY NAME Mike Buller (disclaimer I am not a mechanic, just someone that has been there done that). Please thoroughly read and reread your manual until you understand how your suspension system works.

All steering problems should begin with an inspection of your entire steering system with your car's front suspension suspended by its frame (front tires off of the ground). Have someone turn the steering wheel while someone is under the car watching all the moving parts. If the slightest movement of the steering wheel (half inch movement) causes movement in the pitman arm then it is my contention the problem is not in the box.

Here is the ranked order I would be checking for problems:

Pitman arm bushings are oil soaked and the rubber is compromised.

Tires and rims wabble when spun. You have a bent rim, tires have flat spots you should see or feel the flat spots.

King pins are well worn. Grab the top of the tire and bottom with the tire off the ground and pull it and push it away from you. If it rocks back and forth you have a king pin problem.

Rocking the tire right to left should also give you an idea on the condition of the bearings as does spinning the tire.

Sloppy tie rod ends, missing or loose suspension bolts need to be addressed.

Your front and rear shock absorbers must be in good working condition.

IF AT THIS POINT YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE AN OBVIOUS PROBLEM THEN IT IS A MUST THAT YOU TAKE YOUR CAR TO A PROFESSIONAL ALIGNMENT SHOP FOR AN ALIGNMENT AND THOROUGH INSPECTION. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ELIMINATE A STEERING PROBLEM WITH AN OUT OF ALIGNED FRONT SUSPENSION SYSTEM. ALL NEW PARTS, INCLUDING NEW BALANCED TIRES CAN NOT SOLVE SUSPENSION PROBLEMS IN A POORLY ALIGNED CAR.

If all of the above have not corrected your problem then I would remove the steering box and inspect it for worn or damaged parts. If it has been leaking replace the bushing. I do not recommend making any steering box adjustments until after all suspension parts are in like new condition with the alignment so accurate that you can take your hands off the steering wheel and the car continues going straight for about 5 seconds.

Good Luck, Mike

While the above post is well intended several of the points mentoned will not apply to a 1938 Master Deluxe.i
Take a car with enclosed knee-action to a front end shop wlll produce more blank stares than you could imagine.

Always great advice from Gene and Mike.

Your post is very timely based on my experiences over the last 6 months. I have been going through the same process to improve steering response on 3 different vehicles ('49 3100 pickup, '54 3100 pickup, and my '37 Master coupe).

Here are 2 key points I have learned along the way.
1) Make the steering gear box adjustments in the sequence defined in the shop manual after you back off all of the adjustments. I made a simple beam torque wrench that measures 0 to 300 in pounds to measure the load on the steering gear.
2) I cannot over-emphasize Mike's guidance about looking at the complete steering system. One extra step I do in the process that Mike describes is that I do all those checks twice. Once is with the vehicle on the ground so the steering system has load. The other is with the front end off the ground. Both will help you determine where you have problems. And you really need 2 people to do this properly.

My '37 Master Deluxe has " play" in the steering wheel. Upon close inspection, I discovered that the king pins I had replaced 2 years ago are still good, but the hole in the Dubonnet Knee that the king pin passes thru is worn and will need to be bored, sleeved and reamed. Which means I will have to buy a new king pin set.
Something to look at.

Hi Dave,

You might want to review this post about kingpins .

The kits with oversize pins might help in your situation. You could possibly fixe the problem by simply reaming the hole oversize and using an oversize pin.

Hello Rusty,
Thank you for the link. I checked it out and found what I was looking for.
All I have to do now is get the car apart and figure out what size the hole has become and see if one of those kits will work without having to sleeve it.

Hi Dave,

You might want to call Rare Parts and talk to Leslie. She can probably tell you want size hole is needed for the oversize pins.

You can compare that to the size of the worn holes in your parts to determine which kingpin set would work. My guess is that the holes in your parts will need to be reamed to get to size as well as provide a true round hole.