My steering box has a bit too much play. I want to remove it today and it seems pretty straight forward.

There is a bolt just below the rag joint. Loosening the box from the frame, the shaft should come free. The Pitman rod will be removed as one piece and shipped with the box at the rebuilders request.

Am I over simplifying this?

I read a few other posts, but they vary in what they cover.

 

before you remove it have you considered just adjusting it in place?

 

For mine (SBC engine) it was, undo rag joint coupling thru bolts, undo pitman arm, undo three bolts securing box to frame, wiggle box out through gap. If you have headers or a BB engine it may involve more!
I see a lot of advice as to just tightening the adjuster on top of the steering box but after a lot of reading on the subject and doing my own steering box the correct procedure is to set up the box on the bench, set the end float for the input shaft with a pre-load of 6 inch lbs if I remember correctly and then set the top adjustment. The input shaft pre-load makes a difference to the steering feel as well not just the top adjustment IMHO.

 

MY 69 BB with 2-1/8 primary headers, it would be a heck of a fight getting the box out without hurting anything. (like the coating on the tubes!)..
And I hear of lots of guys adjusting the upper adjuster without making sure the end play is correct. Problem is, if the box is not correctly adjusted per the service manual, you run a real good chance of destroying the gears in there. And they ARE getting a little hard to find. To each his own.

 

I did it years ago. It was OK, and now the steering is getting vague again. Too much play. Not good when time trialing the car.

 

Not at all, this is an easy remove and install-- I think the trickiest part is centering the steering wheel and splines when putting it all back together.

 

Great. Hopefully it comes out and I don't have to replace the rag joint.

 

The lube/grease can really dry out over the years...you could remove it and service it (clean/adjust/ re-lube the internals) yourself with good results.....

OR......

 

You guys were right, the headers make for a tight fit. I'm dropping them now.

 

Headers down. Looks like two bolts hold the unit to the frame and the I have to disconnect the pitnam rod. The 12 point bolts that connect to the shaft. Which do I remove?

 

There are three bolts holding the steering box to the frame, plus the rag joint to disconnect and the pitman arm to the steering valve. You can either disconnect the pitman rod from the box or from the valve whichever is easiest for you really. The pitman arm nut on the steering box is very tight and you will need a puller to remove the arm. Releasing the pitman arm from the steering box will need a puller or pickle fork, if you plan on not touching the steering valve I would avoid the pickle fork as it will most likely damage the rubber boot.

 

I will disconnect it at the steering valve and leave the pitman arm on. That is the way Jim Shea said to send it. Guess I'll have to look for that third bolt.

Is there a way to remove it so I can reinstall it properly? A few posts mention the Pitman arm in relation to the rag joint on the shaft.

Any....back to work. Any help or comments....Please post.

 

Take note of everything before you disconnect it! Have the steering at the straight ahead position when you do this. There is a flat on the input shaft of the steering box this should be at the 12 o'clock position when the wheels are pointing straight ahead, the steering wheel spoke should be at the six o'clock and the pitman arm should also be pointing straight ahead. If you don't twiddle anything while the box is out of the car you should have no problem putting it back the same as it was.

 

What's involved in pulling the arm from the steering valve? Need a puller?

 

Yes.

 

Can someone please clearly explain what "set the end float for the input shaft with a pre-load of 6 inch lbs... and then set the top adjustment" mean and how to do it all?

 

You can't just tighten up the top screw and hope that'll fix the problem. I can almost assure you you have at least one of a couple things going on that you should investigate:
1) Worn steering box (either the top bearing [from washing the engine compartment -- rusts the bearing], the bottom bushing, or just out of adjustment.
2) Worn rag joint. Believe it or not just a slight amt of wear translates into a big amt of wear at the steering wheel. If you haven't removed the steering box yet, put a vise grips on the steering box shaft (below the rag joint) and secure the vise grips solid (against the frame or exhaust, etc) using rope or whatever. Then go check your steering wheel for free-play. It's often really difficult to tell if there's wear on the rag joint just by looking.

Back in the 80's John Greenwood published worked with a Vette magazine and they went through how to improve Corvette handlig. Surprisingly the first thing he advised was to remove and re-tighten the steering box to specs. That was the number one thing he suggested over anything else, b/c in his experience they only lasted about 20k miles before some adjustment needed to be done.

So, check your input bearing. Then set your preload and then the top screw. You have the right idea to do it off the bench.

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You put the steering box in your vise. First rotate the input shaft with a 12-pt socket or pliers ..and check that top input bearing for roughness. They often rust and the bearing and race can get really boogered up b/c people wash off their proud engine compartments and put their car in the garage. Well, water runs down the input shaft and sits there at the lip of the seal. Eventually over time and many washes, corrosion occurs and water gets *under* the seal ...and into the top bearing. The bearing is not robust ...about like a bicycle crank bearing. If your steering box's bearing feels smooth, the proceed. If not, replace it (they're cheap). The better approach would be to wash the engine compartment off first and THEN drive the car to wherever ...the heat will evaporate the water. But nobody's going to do it that way so why even suggest it?? Ha ha.

Then loosen the top screw and the preload adjuster and rotate the shaft. At this point it would be advisable to check the bottom bronze bushing for side-to-side lash (a micro amt of lash goes a long way in the world of steering play).

Once you've confirmed all is good, it's time to tighten the pre-load adjustment. What that does is put's pressure on the shaft bearings (pre load) and removes the 'play' on the main shaft. Tighten to spec and you're looking for a certain amount of rotating 'resistance' as you turn the input shaft *over-center*. So if they say you need 8 in/lbs ...thats the resistance you need while rotating the steering box input shaft ..advisably at the over-center location. Adjust the screw so you have the specified pre-load amt. Re check it after you tighten the lock nut as it may have changed. Remember, the spec is fairly wide and on some other steering boxes it's almost a factor of 2 (e.g. 8-16 in/lbs). Then adjust the top screw accordingly and it's lock nut. I don't remember the spec for that off the top of my head. Get it snug.

BTW, since many people don't have an in/lbs wrench here's a warm tip: If you take a chrome deep-well 9/16" socket (3/8" drive), and attach a standard 3/8" ratchet to it (not long handle ...just regular), hold the socket as tight as you can in one hand (no greasy hands) ....turn the ratchet with the other and that's the torque you need for the pre-load torque ...as you rotate the shaft. I've measured it. The spec they typically give on steering box torques is really wide. A guy would need to be a bozo to over-tighten one (but we all know Bozo's exist!!).

Also another note for the future (doesn't pertain to C3's manual steering) on a power steering box [changing the topic now] you'd never expect to get all the 'lash' out of the input shaft. The input shaft is two shafts (on most power steering boxes) and a little back/fourth is required b/c that 'play' is the valving needed to port 'assist fluid' one direction or the other. I only bring this up b/c many folks mistakenly believe they need to tighten out all the 'play' on a typical saginaw-style p/s box like they would on a manual steering box. Not true. Just a little nugget to keep in the back of the mind for other classic cars guys may own. The beauty of the C3 steering design intent was incorporating the responsiveness of a manual steering box (with no 'lash') ....but also having power assist (the ram) needed most at low speeds, esp with a big block. See Zora had an idea....

Good luck!

.

 

Maybe worth checking our the relay rod condition as well. Not sure if you pwr or not but good to check this area out too as its overlooked.

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/tech...y-rod-rebuild/

 

I doubt your grease is dried out, but you can pull the top plate off to check. They can get warm from driving ...

If your box needs rebuilding, it's a lot of work to clean and replace everything. Esp considering the price of a rebuild these days. If you go the rebuild route you'll probably ask yourself afterwards why you spend the time and money .....but it's good experience and not to difficult to do. And very satisfying.