Thought I was about ready to roll on my P-9 but have determined a bad and or worn steering box. The car set for who knows how long with no lubrication. The steering is "stiff" with a lot of free play and I have determined its not going to get any better. Can a rebuilt unit be purchased or does someone out there rebuild my old one? Otherwise should I try and find a used one someplace? Also the repair manual I have is not clear on the removal. I would appreciate hearing from someone that been there.
Thanks in Advance
Don
I found 4 places in Hemmings that rebuild. Cost varies from $ 275 to $ 600 depending parts needed. The problem I'm having now is following the service manual to get the steering box out. The manual says " using puller C-143 remove the steering gear arm. Later it goes on to say "disconnect the steering gear housing from the frame and lift the assembly out of the car". This is once the disconnections are made and draft pad is removed.
QUESTIONS:
a. Since I don't know what a C-143 puller looks like, can I use a universal puller of some sort.
b. As mentioned in the roller tooth and worm adjustment section of the manual, Am I removing the arm with the 2 tie rods assembled once I get the arm nut loosened?
c. What size is the arm nut, as I need to buy a large socket.
d. It appears that I would need to remove the 2 tie rods to get to the arm. I have "fiddled" with them some and can not seem to disconnect them from the arm.
e. Since the steering gear housing is much larger than the hole in the firewall, there is no way to "lift it Out" and if I read your post right the steering shaft and housing are interconnected such that they can not be seperated.
I must be missing something. It appears I am digging a hole for myself. Maybe someone ( like Jim Benjaminson or Tod Fitch ) could explain the process to me.
Thanks in Advance Don
I use a relatively small puller to get the arm off the steering box shaft.
As for the rest, I will not be much help as my car is quite different. To get the steering column and gear box out on my car, I remove the front floor boards. Not sure how one would do it on your car.
Don - never had to take one out of my car, so shooting in the dark on this one. My guess is once the steering box is loose from the frame, you'll need to pull it up thru the interior of the car - i.e, you'll have to remove the toe board to get it out. Interesting - this is the 2nd time this week someone has asked about removing the steering column!
Jim:
Thanks for response:
1. Unless I can disconnect the "steering tube & worm assembly" from the housing while its still installed in the car, I have a problem. The problem is that I cannot feed the housing ( with tube attached ) thru the firewall into the passenger compartment because the smaller size of the firewall hole. Even removing the floor board won't help. Do you know if the disconnection can be done while in car and how?
2. Do I leave the 2 tie rods attached to the pitman when I remove the large nut? It looks like there is some preload there that may cause everything to "spring apart" while attempting to remove the arm from the shaft?
Again, Thank You
Don
My steering was loose but I was able to tighten it up while the box was in the car. There are shims and adjusting screws that you can play with to get things tightened up. You may want to try this before pulling it. (BTW, my car is a '35, so yours may be different.)
Don,
On my '41 P12 I was able to remove the steering box and shaft from underneath the car by jacking the car up on jack stands and disconnecting the steering column housing from the dashboard so that it would lie down on the front seat. I was able to install it the same way. The shaft will sllde out of the housing if the steering wheel is removed. I discoverd that my box had siezed and needed to be rebuilt. I had a machine shop install the new bearings and I did the rest. It was a little tricky with the '41 because the upper bearings and the lower bearings are different. One side is the same as '40 and older while the other is the same as the '42 and newer. The kit I bought from PlyDo didn't contain the correct sizes but they eventually got me what I needed.
Hope this helps.
Jim
Jim:
Exactly as you said. By using your advice, the steering gear is out and under overhaul. I have decided ( almost ) to spend the $ 35 for new steering gear mounting pads and to replace tie rod ends while at the task. Any thoughts?
Thanks for the post
Don
Don,
I think it is a good idea to go ahead and replace the steering box pad and the tie rod ends if they are old while you have everything a part.
Jim
U might look inside the drag link--there are two heavy springs on either side of the ball. In mine, one spring was broken and the other had been replaced with a stack of washers. Prior to that discovery the vehicle steered like herding cats. With a replacement set from Roberts, it steers like a new car. I had thought the steering box was going, but fixing the drag link corrected everuthing.