1950 Champion steering

[Lothar]

I was doing routine maintenance on my Champion recently and I noticed a gap (see red circle) between my bellcrank (?) assembly and the body of the steering gear box. I don't know whether I'm just missing some seal or grommet, does it need to be tightened, or is there a problem in my steering box? Is this normal? The car steers normally, doesn't catch and isn't particularly sloppy. I haven't seen any good illusstrations of this in my manuals, and I don't have another 1950 Champion handy to compare it to. Any advice?



1950 Champion 4 Dr.
Holdrege NE

[gordr]

That's the Pitman arm, such as it is on a '50 Champion. It looks normal to me. The splined shaft coming out of the steering box is tapered, and the Pitman arm will only go on it SO far. Do be sure to check the oil level in the steering box, and if it is low, refill it with the special lube that is sold by some of our vendors.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[Lothar]

Gord
Thanks for your response. I was just surprised to see the steering shaft exposed, yet not rusty or even all that greasy. I figured that maybe there had been some sort of seal there. I do use the special Ross steering box lube, and it doesn't seem to leak, so I think the steering box is ok.

1950 Champion 4 Dr.
Holdrege NE