Steering Play
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 805
Likes: 5
From: Naperville Illinois
Steering Play
Greetings all; just got my first Corvette, and have been enjoying this forum. My car has about 1" to 1.5" of play in the steering, measured at the rim of the steering wheel. From my quick examination, it seems like the rag joint is solid, and the play is in the box. A couple of the 50 or so books I bought before I got the car said to go ahead and take the play out with the adjustment screw on the box. I have not attempted it yet, nor have I checked the fluid level in the box. The car tracks/drives very well, but the steering play bugs me. Should I just "get over it" and accept an inch of play in a 40-year old car, or should I try this adjustment?
Thanks
Thanks
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
Greetings all; just got my first Corvette, and have been enjoying this forum. My car has about 1" to 1.5" of play in the steering, measured at the rim of the steering wheel. From my quick examination, it seems like the rag joint is solid, and the play is in the box. A couple of the 50 or so books I bought before I got the car said to go ahead and take the play out with the adjustment screw on the box. I have not attempted it yet, nor have I checked the fluid level in the box. The car tracks/drives very well, but the steering play bugs me. Should I just "get over it" and accept an inch of play in a 40-year old car, or should I try this adjustment?
Thanks
Thanks
Okay, first, adjusting it yourself is not smart unless you have extremely specific instructions and the proper tools to do it right. The gears are worn, and you're essentially removing the play. If done wrong, you will cause the wear of the gears to continue even faster in which case a rebuild will be needed and you won't be able to re-use your old gears assuming they might still be good at this point.
Now, you might not even be able to adjust the box you have. To check, clean off the top of the box where you will find a port with a small threaded stud. If there are 3 - 4 threads on that stud then you have some adjustment left. If there are no threads then someone has adjusted it before and the gears are trash and the box needs to be rebuilt.
To be honest, when it comes to something as precise as adjusting the steering box...I would suggest pulling the box and sending it off to be rebuilt by one of our members. I can give you that information via PM if you're going to go that route.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,838
Likes: 13
From: Kingman AZ
Hmm...hope I dont have any problems in the future. I loosened it and turned it to put just a slight amount of pressure. (actually stopping at the resistence point). Took out the slop
Last edited by rayluka; Oct 1, 2008 at 04:39 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 6,335
Likes: 416
From: Seattle Area WA
The overcenter adjustment on the box needs to be done using an inch-pound dial torque wrench, I believe that value should be 11-13 inch-pounds. Your steering box is probably due for an overhaul, it should be nice and tight when that is completed. You could also have a worn idler arm or tie rods. If you aren't interested in rebuilding it yourself, hit up Gary "GTR1999" for a "blueprinted" box.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 805
Likes: 5
From: Naperville Illinois
Steering Play
Thanks for the replies. I should've mentioned I have had the front end worked on, new idler arm, and tie rods etc are good. there are at least 3 or 4 threads showing on the adjustment screw. Also, I have power steering, could that be a factor? Any sense how much it cost to have the box rebuilt? Thanks again for the help
