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Rebuilding my steering and my steering wheel is not straight. Wasn't before the rebuild either. Is the fix to pull the pitman arm and realign it to the valve with the wheel straight or is there another way. Right now, the pitman arm is disconnected from the valve and off several degrees with the wheel straight. Appreciate the help.
Rebuilding my steering and my steering wheel is not straight. Wasn't before the rebuild either. Is the fix to pull the pitman arm and realign it to the valve with the wheel straight or is there another way. Right now, the pitman arm is disconnected from the valve and off several degrees with the wheel straight. Appreciate the help.
Did you rebuild the steering box and removed the pitman arm? If not exactly what did you do?
Absolutely. The Pitman arm MUST be in the correct position and the steering box MUST be on High center.
The correct way to then align the steering wheel is with the tie rods.
The pitman arm is machined with a wider spline every 90*, there is only one position that is correct. You cannot remove it and index it a spline or two. If you took the box apart that might be the issue, I just answered that question on the C2 forum the other day.
Buying a vendor kit to rebuild a box may sound simple enough to do following the manual but there is more to it and if you don't use a dial TW in the correct scale it is not going to be anywhere close to correct. In a perfect world, the high lash, true center, arm center are all in the correct relationship, in reality they rarely are and the box will be off until they are dialed in.
I no longer detail how I build boxes to answer those questions related to the above statement. Those buying commonly rebuilt boxes may have the same issues or more. One reason Borgeson has been popular is the quality of rebuilt boxes for years as not been too good.
To be clear and yes I should have provided more detail, I did not mess with the box or the gear. My rebuild, as it were, was to the valve and cylinder, where my leaks originated. I also replaced the coupling as that was fubar. Good to know about the pitman arm as that 184 ft lb torque was not looking like fun so glad I asked. I will use the tie rod method to correct for my issue and it should be good. If the box or gear become an issue, I will buy new ones. Not getting into that.
To be clear and yes I should have provided more detail, I did not mess with the box or the gear. My rebuild, as it were, was to the valve and cylinder, where my leaks originated. I also replaced the coupling as that was fubar. Good to know about the pitman arm as that 184 ft lb torque was not looking like fun so glad I asked. I will use the tie rod method to correct for my issue and it should be good. If the box or gear become an issue, I will buy new ones. Not getting into that.
Did you mark the steering box shaft and column shaft before removing the coupling and installed the same way?
I thought the pitman arm was 'indexed'?
Yep, get the steering wheel straight. Maybe ever to slightly cocked to the RT. of center ..to acomodate for the minor amt of counter-steering you do to compensate for the crown in the road.
The car should be on the ground...roll it back/fourth a couple times (in neutral) to settle the suspension. Then loosen, rotate the sleeves till you get the wheels straight, with about 1/8" difference between the rear & front of the tire ..measuring at the same tread locations (relative front and rear). That would give you about 1/16" toe-in. Rock the car back/fourth a couple feet and take another measurement to double-check the measurements...to verify measurements at a different part of the tire.
Do a road test. Expect to need to do another tweak or two. If you take your time, you can do a better job getting your 'tow' and wheel right as an alignment shop, which often don't do test drives. I've set all my vehicle's tow....to get them 'on the money'.
Mel, I did not move the box shaft and the wheel was locked during the removal and install so they are the same as they were. I did note that the wide spline on both shafts were on the same plane when installed. What happens if they are off?
Mark - I did that once following a front suspension rebuild, but did not have the details you provided. I did it mostly using a long level on the tire and standing out in front or back to see if they were straight. My method, albeit much more feel than detail, did produce a descent result, but I don't drive on the freeway either, so it could be off. I will do it as you suggest. Excellent info...thanks.
Mel, I did not move the box shaft and the wheel was locked during the removal and install so they are the same as they were. I did note that the wide spline on both shafts were on the same plane when installed. What happens if they are off?
Mark - I did that once following a front suspension rebuild, but did not have the details you provided. I did it mostly using a long level on the tire and standing out in front or back to see if they were straight. My method, albeit much more feel than detail, did produce a descent result, but I don't drive on the freeway either, so it could be off. I will do it as you suggest. Excellent info...thanks.
In order to remove the coupling you either have to partially unbolt the box from the frame or pull the column up. What did you do?
To be clear and yes I should have provided more detail, I did not mess with the box or the gear. My rebuild, as it were, was to the valve and cylinder, where my leaks originated. I also replaced the coupling as that was fubar. Good to know about the pitman arm as that 184 ft lb torque was not looking like fun so glad I asked. I will use the tie rod method to correct for my issue and it should be good. If the box or gear become an issue, I will buy new ones. Not getting into that.
Ok, since it is PS and the control valve has been removed and replaced, there is a spec where it should be in the AIM. There is a little window there where the valve position may not be in the same place.
However, if it was off before you might have inherited pervious issues with the car. Some will index the steering wheel on the column to adjust them, not the way to do it. Some replace the box with bad ones and have issues. There is a chisel mark on the end of the column, it should be a 12 o'clock driving straight, that box would have a D-Flat on the input, it should be at 12 o'clock, and there is one on the pitman arm and it should be at 12 o'clock. That is how they were assembled, no thinking, just line up the marks.
If you have some tools and don't mind wasting a little time ...I made a couple of THESE (below)...yrs ago, with some aluminum square tube from the home store and cut wood blocks (exact same height) cut on the table saw. The tubes are dead straight....and I added a strap of plexiglass across the top of the blocks for friction so I can slide (adjust) the wood blocks for different sized rims. You can verify the height is even on your jig by laying the jig on a glass window...and ensure both ends are the same distance from the glass. I was in a hurry when I made them, metal ends would be the better way to go (no expansion due to humidity). One of these days I'm going to ditch the wood and fab up some metal ends.
It makes it a LOT easier to lay a tape measure across the front and rear. Esp if you have a lot of vehicles. Most of my vehicles are 4x4's..so they're a little higher up and easier to run a tape measure. More precise than going off the tread..but that works too. I've been using mine for several yrs now. And BTW, I've had pit-passes at Indy car races and guess what some of the teams use?! A tape measure across a chalk mark on the tires to set the tow. Me and my buddy have seen it twice. That was some yrs ago, but I would have thought they'd have something more high tech. Tow doesn't need to be super-precise.
Mel, My coupling was so fubar it came apart as I disconnected it, along with the rigging used to hold it together. When I put in the new one, I had to pull the steering shaft down to join them in the space provided.
Mel, My coupling was so fubar it came apart as I disconnected it, along with the rigging used to hold it together. When I put in the new one, I had to pull the steering shaft down to join them in the space provided.
That means you weren't the first person separating it which might relate to your problem.
GTR1999 - the D flats on the shafts of the column and the box shafts are at about 10:30-11:00 with the wheel straight. It was this way when I got it. If they should both be at noon, I will need to adjust the tie rods quite a bit.
GTR1999 - the D flats on the shafts of the column and the box shafts are at about 10:30-11:00 with the wheel straight. It was this way when I got it. If they should both be at noon, I will need to adjust the tie rods quite a bit.
As Gary mentioned they should be straight up when the steering wheel is centered. The steering shaft where the wheel is attached has an index mark.
The shaft has the flat spot. If you look at the steering wheel with the nut removed you will see an index mark. The steering wheel is supposed to be centered on the mark.
The box input D-Flat should be at 12 o'clock BUT it all depends on where the flat was ground it. I am almost out of the D-flat worms and no one is making them as good. They do not have the flat in them, I grind them in where I dial in the box, no one else does this. The flat on the column will not be a 12 that is for the pinch bolt to hold the rag flange.
The reason why you had to pull the column down is because someone who worked it before you collapsed it, probably prying on the column flange to separate it to remove the box.
Your box sounds suspect to me but it's your call. If it was my car, I would be checking that box and dialing it in.
06-26-2024, 10:28 PM
Steering wheel alignment
