Steering: Worn Ross TL sector shaft pins

[salmonstude]

]Has anyone heard of or tried a product from Walck's 4WD which is supposed to take the slop out of a Ross TL steering box. I read an article about a Tight-Steer Sector Shaft Tensioner which is a spring loaded device that installs in place of the stock tensioning screw. The device has a spring loaded pin which keeps constant pressure on the sector shaft keeping it in constant contact with the worm gear without causing binding. The users claim it won't cure bad bearings, tie-rod ends or worn king pins but it will reduce the back and forth sawing of your steering wheel caused by worn sector shaft pins. Allegedly they have been using them for quite some time on Jeeps and they supposedly work really well. Evidently Jeeps had the same Ross steering boxes as Studebaker. My TL sector shaft pins are worn slightlly and I can't find a new replacement. I thought maybe someone else with this problem has heard about the Walck's Tensioner.

[gordr]

[salmonstude]

I thought all that grinding and welding would take the temper out of the pins. I would have to send this to a machine shop because I don't have a welder or a press.

[gordr]

Well, understand, it's only a small spot weld with a MIG or stick welder; you aren't heating the whole piece red-hot. Main purpose of the weld is to ensure that the the repositioned pin doesn't turn in the lever hole. They ARE really tight, but can be driven out by a big hammer and a strong punch.

You could, in principle, continuous-weld the back of the pin to the lever, by allowing it too cool completely between short beads. But a single good spot will do the job. Even if the pin broke free, and began to rotate, the worst outcome would be that the steering box went back to its old loosey-goosey ways. The pin cannot fall out altogether, and leave with no steering at all.

[studebakerkid]

A stude guy with no welder or press.......unheard of.

[nvonada]

Yet like the Yeti, Lock Ness Monster, and conscientious politicians we do exist. I don't have either and wish I did. I keep thinking I will take a welding class at the local JVS but there is never time. It has forced me to get really creative to fix things sometimes. I do have a really big hammer and I am not afraid to use it.

Nathan

[salmonstude]

i'm thinking of buying a Harbor Freight 90 AMP welder. I know they are cheap but how bad can they really be. I'm not going to weld anything heavy duty or structural. Just some body panel and spot welding. Then all I really need is a press. It would probably be less expensive than to send the work out.

[Mrs K Corbin]

in a pinch a vise can be used as a press.......

[salmonstude]

Good thinking. I never thought of that. I guess I'm getting old. Thanks

[garyash]

Most of us are not as brutal on our steering as the Jeep off-road 4-wheelers. However, the Walck shaft tensioner might be a fairly cheap thing to try if the available adjustment doesn't help enough - but do that first. I had this sudden "brain fart" that the Jeep sector arm was going to drop into an M5 box, so I called Walck's earlier this year and asked them to measure their replacement sector arm. The shaft length wasn't the same, but only slightly different. The Jeep gaskets, bushings, cups, and bearing balls do fit, though, and they are cheap and available.

Grinding the pin welds and turning the pins 90 degrees is really pretty simple and works just fine.

Here's an M5 box:

[avantilover]

If Jeeps used these steering boxes, wouldn't their parts suppliers stock them? Restoration parts shops perhaps???