Steering: '51 and '52 vague steering. join in as I sort it out….

[Stude Star]

[52 Ragtop]

Raise the car, support with jack stands, have some one turn the wheel and do a visual inspection first. One of the biggest culprits is the center pinch bolt to make sure it is tight! if loose, then there will be a lot of play right there.
Be sure to also grease everything while you have it up in the air.

Jim

[Bo Markham]

You might want to begin your search by jacking the front end up and placing it on jack stands. Start out by checking axle bearing wear, then king pin wear, upper lower A-arms (bushings), outer tie rod ends, inner tie rod ends, bell crank assembly, pitman arm motion at the steering gear box, gear box play. As you know, this procedure will take two people to perform, so while your underneath the car, have a friend, wife, girlfriend (someone you trust not to crank the car up and run over you) slowly turn the steering wheel right/left while you look at each component to see if anything is lose. If everything is good and tight, then attempt to adjust the steering gear.

Like you said, the problem could be in any of a number of components, or combination thereof. Not knowing th mileage on your cars steering components, or whether the steering box is original, or if rebuilt, when it's kinda hard to point at any one thing. Usually, with components that have been well maintained, or replaced the usual suspect is internal wear in the box.

[jclary]

I am in a similar process. Only, I am into my '48 Business Coupe with the planar suspension. Knowing that I am dealing with a 65 year-old car, I am willing to accept some play. However, not the "shimmies." What I am doing, is what I consider the "easy" part first. On mine, there are six tie rod ends. I have already replaced the worst one, and, after a test drive, determined that it is better, but needs more work. Therefore, it is back up on stands and I am preparing to replace the remaining five tie rod ends. Besides the tie roe assemblies, there are a couple of additional bell crank pivot points. Those, are the wear points I plan to tackle, in that order. If that does not bring it to what I am willing to consider as "acceptable"...then I will go after the control arms, king pins, and steering gear...which is a weak point in my experience and skill level.

One other thing...I have acquired two nos rear shocks, and have one front shock on the way. If any of you happen to be stumbling over or stubbing your toe on a nos "FRONT" houdaille shock for a '48 Champion...let's talk.

[Stude Star]

Thanks guys,

So here's the pivot I did the other day. See how the thread has worn enough that they just slide over each other. Not connected at all. this was only apparent with the springs out, so it's good practice to put a jack under the lower A arm, undo the 4 bolts and lower the arm, remove the spring then check the joints without load on them.

[Stude Star]

Just got the drag link off and the bell crank. Cleaned everything up. The bell crank is in great condition which is nice. The drag link rod ends are in good nick too. The inner steering arm tie rods are junk.
the play in the bearings may be the kingpins or both.
My next move is to finish getting the steering box off.

[Stude Star]

Is there a way of getting the steering box out without taking the steering wheel off? We don't have a puller and although we could make one i don't mind doing extra work if it means the steering wheel can stay on.

Cheers, Aaron.

[52 Ragtop]

Nope, The shaft goes all the way to the gear box, and you'll need to drop the column down or maybe even take it out. They ARE a PITA! I have a completely rebuilt gearbox for my 52, and it's just "waiting" until I have some time and ambition!

Jim

[Stude Star]

Thanks Jim, I was worried you'd say that ha ha. Oh well, i'm going to go out there tonight and see what I can see then tomorrow morn we'll try and get the thing off. I'll report back.

[jclary]

You and I are working on similar projects. However, looks like you are taking yours much further than I am. Although, the planar is an older system than yours, there's enough common tasks relevant to both. Here's the link to my thread...

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?77447-48-Steering-gear

Also, I don't know if your steering wheel is very similar to mine, but here's a picture of the puller I use for the truck and Champion steering wheels with the small tapered backside. What I use is a conventional steering wheel puller along with a bearing separator for placing against the backside of the wheel. Since using this, I have had great success in pulling steering wheels without damaging them.

[bezhawk]

Yes you CAN take the steering box out. In fact it is the only way you can remove it.....that is through the inside of the car!!! Even if you get the wheel off, the steering shaft remains. Take out the firewall seal screws that bolt it into place. (It's a very large rectangle of rubber bonded over steel, and bolted to the firewall around the steering column). Then disconnect the pittman arm from the steering box, unbolt the box from the frame, disconnect the column wires for the horn and turn signal switch, unbolt the column from the dashboard brace, and pull the whole works into the car. No need to take the wheel off to remove the steering box.
I almost forgot you need to disconnect the shift linkage on the lower column too.

[52 Ragtop]

Brad,
The more I think about it, the box IS pretty small, I've not tried it through the firewall, but, I'll look at that real close when I replace mine.
Thanks

Jim

[Stude Star]

Great info guys. The steering box is coming out today one way or another!

[studepack]

Try the local parts store and get a large 2 legged puller (one that goes to 6") and a large bearing splitter. Mount the splitter below the steering wheel and shifter housing. Put the legs of the puller to the underside of the bearing splitter. Make sure the splitter is hand tight on the column. The splitter has to loose enough to slide up the column but not too loose where it goes sideways when pulling on it. The legs of the puller will have to be positioned so they won't interfere with the steering wheel. Since my puller has a dimple on the end I took a 5/16" carriage bolt and drilled a dimple on the head. This allows my puller to make contact with the dimple on the carriage bolt. The bolt slides into the tube (where the steering wheel nut was attached). This prevents damage to the tube. The steering wheel pops loose very easily once you start cranking down on the puller.

[Stude Star]

Hey guys, steering box is out!

We took the seat out, disconnected the wiring and pulled the box through the firewall with the column and steering wheel attached.


I then disassembled some of the steering box and found worn bushings, worn tapered bearings and a broken horn button. the pitman shaft assembly seems good.


Should the lower steering shaft bearing have this protruding part of the race? The roller in this area fell out, all the other rollers stayed in place, thoughts? The tapered bush it rides against is scored.



Does anyone know where abouts the shims are that i've heard so much about? And what box do I have? I presume it's a Saginaw? Is that TL??

Thanks for everyone's help, much appreciated.

Cheers, Aaron