VCCA Home Forums CLASSIFIED ADS PARTS - Wanted 1932 Chevy Steering Gear

Looking for replacement parts for my '32 Chevy steering Gear. Big play in the steering with it fully adjusted and plan to pull it this winter and replace the gear.

Have you replaced the pitman shaft bushings with new ones? I have found that worn bushings the biggest contributor to play. The outside bushing depends on lubricant flow through the small passage. Grease will not get to the outer bushing.

thank you. I will check that but it did not appear overly worn upon inspection.

Try to measure the clearances. I expect that both the shaft and bushing wear somewhat out-of-round. Typically the bushing wears more.

Watch the pitman shaft lateral movement when the box is in the car with the steering connected and the wheels on the ground. What you will see is that the shaft moves forward and backward before the shaft starts to rotate. That is part of the "free play" in the overall system. You might also see "back & forth" motion which is due to wear in the thrust bearing.

A steering gear is somewhat unique because it is both a large gear reduction ratio and turns the output shaft rotation so it is at 90 degrees to the input shaft. Both of those actions create large linear loads which must be resisted by the various bearings and bushings.

thanks. Does anyone have a breakout diagram of the assembly. I cannot find one in my books.