Mustang_Charly
Member
My steering always had a little too much free-play on-center, so I decided to do something about it. Thanks to all the good information I was able to find on the internet (especially stangerssite.com) I decided to remove the box for inspection and adjustment, to see if that would help. In preparation for this, I had already bought a new, dial type torque wrench. (CDI product ID 301LDIN, 0-30 in-lb from toolsource.com, and at $157 not cheap, but I figured worth the investment) and a good pitman arm puller.
Removing the pitman arm was a challenge, especially since I didn’t have the 1 5/16 socket need for the nut. I borrowed one from work and got the nut off without much problem. The pitman arm puller in combination with a breaker bar and a pipe extension worked well to pop the arm off.
With the steering box then on my workbench, I scraped and cleaned the black gunk off the outside and did a quick check of the torque required to rotate the input shaft from end-stop to end-stop. There was no increase in torque at the center position (as mentioned in the workshop manual and on stangerssite.com), and the total torque required was only 2.5 in-lbs, a far cry from the 4-5 in-lbs specified.
Since I had no spare parts available, I decided not to plan a rebuild at this time, choosing instead to inspect, adjust, and determine what parts might be necessary in the near future. I wanted to start by loosening the sector shaft adjustment screw and then remove the input shaft nut/bearing race to see how the box looked inside. To my surprise, I found the sector shaft screw was already completely backed out, meaning proper adjustment of the sector gear to the rack was impossible!! This explained the sloppy on-center feel!
Next I opened the box and was pleased to see good looking grease, with no signs of water or rust. The ball bearings on the input shaft looked OK, as did the race.
The internal condition supported my my plan of not fixing something that wasn’t broke, and so I closed the box back up. Then, following instructions, I adjusted the bearing pre-load to give me 4-5 in-lbs of torque at the input shaft, and later screwed the sector shaft adjuster in to give me a total of 9-10 in-lbs on center.
After putting it all back together, I am pleased to report a SIGNIFICANT improvement in steering feel, much more solid and confidence-inspiring on-center.
Removing the pitman arm was a challenge, especially since I didn’t have the 1 5/16 socket need for the nut. I borrowed one from work and got the nut off without much problem. The pitman arm puller in combination with a breaker bar and a pipe extension worked well to pop the arm off.
With the steering box then on my workbench, I scraped and cleaned the black gunk off the outside and did a quick check of the torque required to rotate the input shaft from end-stop to end-stop. There was no increase in torque at the center position (as mentioned in the workshop manual and on stangerssite.com), and the total torque required was only 2.5 in-lbs, a far cry from the 4-5 in-lbs specified.
Since I had no spare parts available, I decided not to plan a rebuild at this time, choosing instead to inspect, adjust, and determine what parts might be necessary in the near future. I wanted to start by loosening the sector shaft adjustment screw and then remove the input shaft nut/bearing race to see how the box looked inside. To my surprise, I found the sector shaft screw was already completely backed out, meaning proper adjustment of the sector gear to the rack was impossible!! This explained the sloppy on-center feel!
Next I opened the box and was pleased to see good looking grease, with no signs of water or rust. The ball bearings on the input shaft looked OK, as did the race.
The internal condition supported my my plan of not fixing something that wasn’t broke, and so I closed the box back up. Then, following instructions, I adjusted the bearing pre-load to give me 4-5 in-lbs of torque at the input shaft, and later screwed the sector shaft adjuster in to give me a total of 9-10 in-lbs on center.
After putting it all back together, I am pleased to report a SIGNIFICANT improvement in steering feel, much more solid and confidence-inspiring on-center.