play in steering

[mehoff400]

my 66 c10 i feel has excessive play in the steering wheel. when i lowered the truck and put new brakes on it i put all new steering components on. this excessive play is this sign of a bad steering box?

['65 chevy lover]

This sounds like the same thing that was wrong with my truck. There is a bearing in the bottom of the column that supports the steering shaft that the steering wheel connects to. The stock bearing is a piece of **** that doesn't even have grease or seals in it. The replacement bearing has seals that keep the grease in there...it's about 100 times better than the stock bearing. Mine had been in there so long that grooves had been cut into the shaft. I had to weld up the grooves and grind down the excess so the bearing would be tight. Do a search with the words.'replace bearing in bottom of steering column' you will find several threads on this subject. Hope this helps.

[vince1]

On the manual boxes there is an adjustment that can be made by meshing the gears closer together. I am not sure of exactly how much it can be tightened but it involves loosening the nut, screwing in the slotted bolt and tightening the lock nut. I would think that once the bolt has been screwed down it should be retracted a bit to provide some clearance between the gears. I am not sure whether the P.S. boxes have this feature or not.

The lower bearing on my steering column had also cut into the shaft and got replaced by a bushing. The shaft got replaced by a newer collapsible shaft from a 67 P/U.

[theastronaut]

I've never had an older car/truck with a steering box that didn't have some play in the steering box, even after adjusting it. My newer cars with rack and pinion steering are alway tight, even with 160k+ miles.

We built a '68 Chevelle a few years ago and used a CPP 500 series box and it was really nice. No play, good feel/feedback, and quicker ratio than stock.

['65 chevy lover]

mehoff400, did you get your truck fixed?

[BR3W CITY]

My truck had lots of play in the steering. During the course of owning it I've redone the shocks, springs, sway, steering box, steering column etc....now it just has less play lol. Old chevy steering gears tend to "suggest" where your going .

[mehoff400]

Originally Posted by '65 chevy lover

mehoff400, did you get your truck fixed?

i havent yet. i found it to be the steering gear. i have been collecting parts to put power steering on it so that might come sooner than expected.

['65 chevy lover]

Originally Posted by mehoff400

i havent yet. i found it to be the steering gear. i have been collecting parts to put power steering on it so that might come sooner than expected.

Cool, I hope you get it all sorted out. You probably already know this, but Captainfab makes some excellent parts to help get all that done. He makes a plate to mount the steering box to the frame and a bracket for the power booster to the firewall if you also want power brakes.

[mehoff400]

Yep I have his power steering stuff in the garage for probably over a year and have the booster bracket installed.

[G8rN@te61]

Bringing this thread back to life. In my Workshop manual there appears to be a way to adjust the steering box internal bearings to tighten it up? Anyone have luck with this? I have about 4 to 6" of play in my steering and wanted to know where to start first.

[vince1]

You need a 3 to 5 year old to pretend s/he's driving while you go out and see where the play is coming from.

[G8rN@te61]

its in the steering box.

[G8rN@te61]

I guess nobody has done the adjustment procedure?

[The Rocknrod]

The so called adjusting screw on the top of the steering box is NOT an adjuster for steering play ... it is to adjust backlash in the gears on initial setup.
Be careful as this type of adjustment has been known to ruin steering boxes quickly.
You may even notice you have less play at full left and full right steering. The center section of the worm gear gets the most use and therefore the most wear.
So if there is play it usually means the box needs a rebuild.

[G8rN@te61]

Got it thanks for the response. Can you recommend a place to get one or what to avoid? I assume i should replace rag joint as well

[AcampoDave]

I bought a manual box from these guys and it is really sweet. I've never had a zero play manual gearbox before but now, I'd never want anything else. https://redheadsteeringgears.com/abo...SAAEgJmVfD_BwE

[G8rN@te61]

awesome but they don't have one for a 61

[AcampoDave]

Call them, they can rebuild yours.

[G8rN@te61]

what did you pay? Going rate for one on sother websites is about $250.00 for rebuilt box

[AcampoDave]

$270 Including tax, shipping etc...the whole deal. Does the competition do the same kind of precision fittment of the components as Redhead?

[The Rocknrod]

Ya, I'd go with Red Head also before I'd save a couple of bucks somewhere else and possibly have to have it redone.