Do any of the members know of anyone that can rebuild my '37 1/2 ton GC steering box. I am located in SE Wisconsin. Or does anyone have a good one for sale. Thank you
Honk1e #50704

Check the Services section of the G&D. The last time I looked there was at least one advertisement for that service.

The realty is that “rebuilding” is a bit of a misnomer. Typically all the moving parts and bushings and bearings are worn due to lack of lubrication. So the only pieces that are reused in a proper “rebuild”
are the housing and bolt-on covers and plates.

My observation is that most “rebuilders” try to reuse the worm and sector because those parts are hard-to-find and expensive. The result is less than satisfactory.

Thanks Rusty. I talked to a company in Minnesota called Lars Mfg.. Got him out of Hemmings. He said it would run $595 + shipping. He said the worn out parts that they cannot get, they make. For extra $ of coarse. I thought that was pricey. For what little I drive it, I will probley just leave it as is. Thanks for replying.
honk1e

You might try filling the steering box with a mixture of 2/3 John Deere Corn Head grease and 1/3 heavy oil (like Mobil 600W).

That's the mixture I use in my '27 and '28 trucks and it works well. Thick enough NOT to leak out worn seals, but thin enough to lubricate the inside of the steering box.

I use an oral plastic syringe to squirt the grease into the box. Any pharmacy will have the syringe.

Cheers, Dean

. I had Straight Line Steering in San Jose, Ca rebuild the steering box in my 1938 Ton & half Canopy Express AKA = TB. (Box is same as GC but Ton&half shaft is longer and 38 was first year of splines on steering wheel instead of taper key like 37 and older.) When I got it back, it was spongy. Some replacement bushings (see #6.855 in photo) use one long bushing and others use two short bushings. They used one short bushing and the Pitman arm wobbled. I installed a second short bushing and it steers much better now.
. Lou

Hi honk1e,

I agree with the other responses to you post. Lou’s experience is unfortunately not unusual. I have a friend with a ”˜54 3100 and the “rebuild” was marginal at best. They even used a shaft that the threads on the end were so damaged they cut the end off. Then they drilled and tapped a 3/8-16 hole in the shaft. The steering wheel is held on by a bolt and washer. Plus the operating clearances were never set correctly.

Before you do anything to rebuild the box I suggest these 3 steps.
- Dean’s advice is right on target to fill the box with a “honey” consistency mixture of grease and heavy oil or gear case oil.
- Spend time checking the complete steering system from the steering wheel out to the road wheels. There are lots of moving parts and they all wear. I do this with the car on the ground and have a person turn the steering wheel back and forth as I watch each area for movement.
- Follow the instructions in the shop manual and set the proper operating clearances in the steering gear.

“Rebuilding” a steering gear is fairly simple process. The really difficult task is finding all the parts. I know I spent way more time searching for parts than I did rebuilding mine.

Thanks for the responses
I will try the heavier gear grease and do a though check of all the linkage, from the steering arm to the wheels. I will also check the adjustment of the steering gear. Thanks again for your help. I will let you know what I find.
honk1e #50704

Hello honk1e,

Lars was a company I contacted years ago, the price wasn't as high, but shipping costs to and from along with the possibility of custom work was out of reach for me also. What I did was start looking through the G&D for the different vendors selling parts. Fortunately for me, a member of the Northern New England Region and is an advertised vendor, lives in Salisbury Ma. and had the parts I needed.

I did a "rebuild" on my '37 MD steering box. I needed to replace the steering shaft/worm gear and the sector shaft. I actually posted most of what I did, but your steering box has more parts than mine. Which might make it easier to assemble and set clearances, The MD car steering box is split in half and the clearance of the worm gear and sector shaft involved rotating the 2 halves with eccentric bolt and nut, this part took some serious patience, which I am not known to have. I simple would walk away and come back to it a day later.

If you have a manual and follow the directions you should be fine. The only tool you may need is a press for removal and instillation of the bushings. If you don't a local machine shop should be able to perform this operation.

Good Luck and Merry Christmas !

On my 38 Master, the adjustment of the eccentric bolt nearly drove me crazy. Once it was right, the results were wonderful!

I will try doing adjustments first. Thanks for the responses. I will follow up with the results.
honk1e