Steering Wheel Play

[Miller205]

I recently purchased a restored 1956 Ford Customline 2 dr sedan. There is considerable play in the steering, but I could not identify a means to correct it after a cursory look under the hood. Is there an adjustment for taking up the sloppy steering?

Thanks, Mike

[Dobie Gillis]

You need to get the front wheels off the ground and work the wheel back and forth while watching the pivot points. There are several places where wear occurs. One spot that is often overlooked is the ball stud inside the drag link where the pitman arm at the bottom of the steering box attaches to it. They get egg shaped after a while and make the steering sloppy when on center. New stud kits are available from most old Ford parts suppliers. Your steering box itself could probably stand a rebuild; it's approaching 60 years old. There is an adjustment screw on it but tightening it will only work for a short time and can actually accelerate the wear. Rebuild kits are available but it's a job best done by a pro since it involves setting bearing preloads.

[Miller205]

Thanks - just as I feared, it is not a simple "just tighten up this bolt" kinda fix.....

[Dobie Gillis]

You're welcome. One of the joys of the hobby, I guess...

[Ole Don]

The strange thing about this design is, when at rest, there is a lot of play. At 70, that same amount of play will move the car from the fog line on the right across two lanes to the fog line on the left.

[Dobie Gillis]

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I think his is the recirulating ball type, Ford went to those from the worm and sector design beginning with the '56 models.

[JeffB2]

Check this out: http://1954ford.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3105 You can get all the parts from www.usapartssupply.com they also have rebuilt steering boxes on an exchange basis if you don't want to tackle the rebuild yourself.If you have a fair amount of cash or a nice tax refund there is this option:http://wurthitdesigns.com/54-56FORD&MERC.html

[Lanny]

Have someone move the steering wheel back and forth (just the freeplay) and you
look at all the moveing componants with a good bright trouble light, and you should
see where the play is at. It is probably more than one steering component that is worn.











.

[Dana Barlow]

Over time many may have adjusted the steering that didn't always know much. You need to check for were the play is,and yes it can be in more then one place.
There maybe some sloopy parts that need replacing or rebuild.
How ever some times I find tire rods are off to one side vs both being even; If tow is right why would that matter? ; That can make your steeringbox run out of center and that in its self with make a good steeringbox feel bad on the road at speed.
So to start with make sure your steeringbox is on the center of its design when car wheels is strait forword. Almost all types of steeringboxs are designed with sloop on ether side of center but on center is very close to zero,is done that way so cars don't wonder going strait= if its not on center as it should be it feels funny an drives poorly,as so if some one trys to adjust it when the box is anyplace other then on center,they screw up the adjustment
What I'm saying is be sure its worked on by a reall front end man,there are very few of us left!!!!!

[Daves55Sedan]

To the best of my knowledge, all of the '50's Fords have worm and roller gear type steering boxes. Remove hex cap at top of gearbox and the starwasher. Have someone move the steering wheel left and right several times while you tighten the mesh at the box with screwdriver (turn clockwise till it stops then backoff enough to allow star washer to be re-installed). Re-install hex cap. Gear mesh is now adjusted.
Inspect lower suspension arm bushings for degradation caused by oil. Idler arm is notoriously crucial. Check it for looseness by grabbing it like a handle and jerk it up and down for free-play. Maximum should not exceed 1/8 inch. Use a 2x4 and plumb bob and strike a mark on the pavement at front tires, then measure those marks from driver side tire to passenger side tire. If measurements at front are not equal to measurements at back of the front tires, it means your toe adjustment is off. This will affect steering.
Inspect drag link assembly. Have someone sit in car and turn wheel left and right several times while you lay under car and watch the sector arm move. If the arm moves more than 1/4" without moving the tie rod, it could mean that you drag link end adjustment is out too far or it could mean that someone who worked on car before left the spring out of the inside of the drag link assembly.
I knew a guy who loved old cars but should never have touched one. He always left important parts off without realizing they were put there for a purpose and that without those parts there would be a negative operational effect, even possibly hazardous. He worked at a shop as a mechanic. Very scary.
I suggest also getting hold of the '56 Ford car shop manual and use it to help educate yourself if you are the least bit mechanically inclined. You can do a lot of your own troubleshooting from the manual and you can see what all the parts are that the factory intended to go into each sub-assembly.

[Dobie Gillis]

The shop manual highly suggests removing the pitman arm from the gear box before adjusting the worm and sector mesh. Then, with the steering wheel on center, use a straight spring scale (an accurate fish scale will do) to measure the amount of pull needed to turn the wheel. The scale needs to be hooked to the wheel where a spoke intersects the rim and the pull needs to be at right angles to the spoke. If the mesh is adjusted properly it should take between 1 and 1 5/8lbs to move the wheel. If adjustment is needed turn the screw in very small increments until the proper preload is achieved. Getting it too tight will accelerate wear to the worm and sector.

[Daves55Sedan]

Dobie; the procedure you mentioned with the fish scale is for testing the worm gear bearing pre-load. The purpose of it is to find out if you have enough or too many shim gaskets at the back of the gearbox. Turning the screw down at the top of the box will not correct an improper bearing pre-load condition. The only way to adjust the bearing preload is to manipulate the number of gasket shims at the back of the box. It is highly unlikely that a great deal of steering free-play would be caused by maladjusted bearing pre-load, but it would have everything to do with a steering wheel that feels too tight or too loose.

[Dobie Gillis]

Bearing preload is checked with an inch pound torque wrench and end play, a function of preload, is adjusted by adding/removing shims between the upper cap (where the shaft goes into the gear box) and housing according to the manual. This is usually done on the bench. The worm and sector mesh is checked with the spring scale. The reason the pitman arm should be pulled is to isolate the gear box from any drag inherent in the linkage. Unless I'm misinterpreting the manual...

[s55mercury66]

Originally Posted by Dana Barlow

Over time many may have adjusted the steering that didn't always know much. You need to check for were the play is,and yes it can be in more then one place.
There maybe some sloopy parts that need replacing or rebuild.
How ever some times I find tire rods are off to one side vs both being even; If tow is right why would that matter? ; That can make your steeringbox run out of center and that in its self with make a good steeringbox feel bad on the road at speed.
So to start with make sure your steeringbox is on the center of its design when car wheels is strait forword. Almost all types of steeringboxs are designed with sloop on ether side of center but on center is very close to zero,is done that way so cars don't wonder going strait= if its not on center as it should be it feels funny an drives poorly,as so if some one trys to adjust it when the box is anyplace other then on center,they screw up the adjustment
What I'm saying is be sure its worked on by a reall front end man,there are very few of us left!!!!!

Boy, have I seen some messed up alignment jobs like this. If the pitman arm is off center, the idler arm is to, and you will get some scary bump steer when this happens. I did a light frame pull on a car for a Buick dealer once, and their alignment tech replaced all the steering linkage and did this. The dealer called me up and were gonna sue me over it. I pointed out the problem to the "tech", I wonder what they told the customer.

[54FordYBlockGuy]

My "54" Ford Customline: Well, I took the Ford to our local, "last of the season" Canfield, Ohio Fair Grounds (Dave & Eds) Swap Meet, just to see the interest and if a fair offer would be made; some offers, but I still have her.

Going to keep her over the winter (unless I get a late acceptable offer), do some "tweaking" out, and go over her.

BUT!

She drives, starts, runs, and stops well but there is a little "play" in the steering wheel; now she will run "straight", even at "Highway Speeds" (60 mph+) you can let go of the wheel and she will stay "straight", but some "play" in the wheel.

My "Old Guy" memory suggests that I possibly need to open that "steering box" up and do a little "adjusting", but I thought I'd jump on the site and see what others suggest.

Some great suggestions, but then followed up with "No don't do that, do this"... hmm, I think I'll simply open that box first and turn the adjustment screw and see what happens, unless......" hate to ask this";

What else should I look at before the "box" itself?

I know all the other "front-end components" need to be looked at, but right now, running straight, with no pull to the left or right, I'm thinking just the "box"?

[Dobie Gillis]

Sounds like a minor box adjustment may be in order, but I would still check the linkage downstream of the box first. Pay attention especially to the the ball stud that connects the Pitman arm to the drag link. They're often neglected and the stud can become egg shaped, causing play. Ball stud kits are available from the usual suspects. There is a procedure to be followed when adjusting the box. The 1st step is to make sure the wheels are pointed straight ahead, then, with the wheels off the ground, adjust the screw in small increments until some drag is felt, then back off until the drag is just eliminated.