Anyone try adjusting their steering box on the bench with the manual? Mine was rebuilt 30 years ago by Bair’s and I thought while I had it out I would touch up the adjustments. I have a 1/4” beam in-lb torque wrench and found a 12 point socket that engaged the splined shaft well.

I backed off the lash adjustment and backed off the worm gear lock nut. I tightened up the worm nut until I started to feel some resistance increase in fiddling the input back and forth and then backed it off slightly. However, although the manual calls for 4-7 in-lbs at this point, my torque wrench couldn’t really read more than 1 - 2 in-lbs. Trying to tighten it anymore imparted a slight feel of inconsistency or roughness from just twisting the input back and forth with my fingers.

Next I gently went from stop to stop by turning the input with my fingers and back halfway to find center and then I tightened the lash until slight resistance, backed off a hair and put my torque wrench back on it. I believe at this point the manual calls for 8 to 14 in-lbs torque resistance on the input. Again, I couldn’t pick up more than a couple in-lbs before I could start feeling some increased resistance around the center. I gave up on the torque wrench and used my fingers to snug the center point lash to just short of increased resistance at center. Off center, holding the pitman arm with one hand and the splined input with the other, I could feel the very slight lash that disappeared around center as I rotated it right and left of center. At that point I tightened the lock nut and quit. I had marked the position of the lash screw slot before I started and after tightening up the worm adjustment, the lash adjusted back a little short of where it originally started which seemed to make sense.

So, anyone else monkey with these and have any useful insight on adjusting them? If I tried tightening either adjustment up to the torque readings in the manual I would have a rough, catchy gearbox. Right now it seems a little tighter but spins by finger twisting or torque wrench from close to lock past center to close of lock smoothly. I think my fingers are a little more sensitive to picking up tightening or roughness. Admittedly my in-lb 1/4” torque wrench is inexpensive but they are pretty simple and fool proof. I checked it against a 1/4” click type torque wrench at 25 - 30 in-ibs or something like that last winter and they were close together.

 

I've rebuilt a few with Gary Ramadei help. Just follow his paper and you'll be fine.

 

All I’ve found so far after searching is this old thread by Gary.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-are-back.html

Has he posted something else?

 

As I remember it, the torque specs are for dry box arent they? I rebuilt mine without ft pound torque wrench ( not knowing how cheap they are!) When I got it in the car I had too much play. So I loosened the lash adjustment, and tightened the big sheet metal nut a little at a time,till I liked the feel, then readjusted the lash. I did it with the wheels off the ground so I could turn it lock to lock and feel for binding.

 

He has some texh papers available with step by step
just ping or email him, hes always willing to help
He's pretty active on the FB corvette sites too

 

I have his email so I’ll message him.
Thanks

No, the box should be filled with grease as it’s assembled so adjustments would definitely be with a greased box. There are details in the service manual for in car adjustments with the pitman arm disconnected. And the chassis repair manual has details on a full rebuild and adjustments. In the end most of us have done pretty much as you did. I thought since I had the box on the bench I would try to do it a little closer to the manual steps. In the end I pretty much did it by feel too. The worm gear and sector preload torque figures don’t seem to be realistic. I may need to go back to the garage and check the manuals to verify those are in-ib specs.

 

I rebuilt my steering box a few months ago and my experience with pre-load adjustment using the GM service manual was pretty much exactly the same as yours. I also ended up just doing it by feel, and it seems to be working fine.

Ted

 

Yeah, those old threads are 17 years old now. I don't go into that level of detail anymore, for several reasons. Getting good parts for many rebuilds today isn't the same as it was. Back then Tom Reina supplied all the vendors with new gears and parts. He's been gone for 12 years now. I bought his stock and still have a lot of it. Those are the parts I use in addition to having some made.

In order to dial in a corvette Saginaw steering box beyond a vendor level build, you will need a 0-30in/lb dial torque wrench. The beam TW or Clicker are not going to show the travel precisely.

Note: The last dial TW I bought was $180 and that was a few years ago, so maybe you can borrow one if you don't have one?

If you decide to rebuild the box, a common rebuild kit will work but the bushings are one size fits all and they don't come with cover bushings anymore. If you just want to regrease and adjust the box, use a high drop point grease or clean it all out and use Lucas X-Tra HD green if you can find it today, but you can't mix it with a lithium grease. The Lucas X-Tra HD green has been on back order for over a year. I still have stock of that too. Many lithium greases have low drop points and will weep oil out of the box- just sitting on the frame.

I used to machine my own bushings but now have them made to my spec and size them to each sector after polishing it. That might not be within reason to do unless you have access to a lathe. There are some other mods I do inside the box but those I don't share anymore due to some using my info for the wrong purposes- another reason I no longer post extensive procedures.

The preload should be smooth and steady, with little change through rotation. Many times, the preload is choppy and new bearings or grease won't resolve it. In that case the ball screw is etched and even polishing it won't make it any better. That's when i start matching new worms and sectors. Some procedures I have read list 3-5 in/lb preload- that is not correct, but the box will work. The preload should be locked at 5 with no more than 1/2 in/lb variance. The relationship between the factory mark, true center, high lash, preload and arm position should be checked.

When done right, the high lash is the reference point, no side play in the bushings, there is no lost motion in the straight position, the car will steer better than new- providing the rag joint and other suspension parts are in good shape. Typically, this takes more than a common rebuild kit but it depends on the condition of the box to start. Mileage doesn't matter, previous service, incorrect lash set, and grease type are what kill these boxes.

Good luck

 

Thanks Gary. Yes, the most likely rotary dial torque wrenches I could find are in the $300 range now. I don’t mind spending money on tools but that one may stymie me unless I come up with more than this one use for it. The box was rebuilt by Bair’s years ago but it’s low mileage and has been pretty precise. It was tight and precise on center but seemed to get loose pretty quickly off-center and I wondered if that might be some looseness in the worm gear adjustment? That was the only reason I messed with it and it did seem to be a little looser than it should be. When I get it back on the car I’ll see if it helped that any. But I think I’ll have to rely on my touch to detect any stiffness or choppiness and error slightly on the loose side.

 

If it feels loose off high lash then it's the bearings and they probably lost the preload on them. $300 beans, they went up a lot- like everything continues to.
Note, I don't go by center since most boxes don't have the high lash on center, even when new. Some do but most don't.