Roy ; STP is good stuff ! won't leak out as fast , have very good EP (Extreme Pressure) characteristics too so stay with it .
Yes , you read what I wrote perfectly and you sound to have a good grasp of it . There's a goodly bit of " feel " to it , if you found a new , American made worm gear (lucky dog) you can set up the lash to zero play or maybe even a tiny bit of preload whist in the dead center . The dead center of thew wheels turning ability is often different from the dead center os the steering box , is why it's wise to disconnect the drag link as that's easier than grappling with a pitman arm puller... I personally like 'em as close as i can get to zero lash without any binding as I drive these oldies like they were made to be driven ~ hard & fast =8-) . -Nate Roy wrote: > > Nate, > This all came about because I rebuilt the steering box and am trying to get it "right". I filled the box with STP oil treatment as I thought I saw that as a recommendation in an earlier post. Am I Ok with that or should I get it out of there and put 90W in? > Second, some of your terminology went over my head. If I got it right, what I think you are saying is to adjust the big screw at the bottom of the shaft for 2# pull with wheels off the ground, then adjust the lash adjuster for zero "slop". I went to great pains to be sure the pitman arm is straight down at the center of wheel travel. That is one of the reasons I don't want to F with it. > > Roy > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: vwnate1 > To: old-chevy-truck@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 5:06 PM > Subject: [old-chevy-truck] Re: Steering gear adjustment > > > Roy ; > > I like to set 'em up a little bit " light " to compensate for the > center wear : > > Wheels off the ground , steering gearbox full to tippy top with 90W > gear oil then grease all the king pins and tie rod ends until the > front wheels easily move side to side with light hand pressure . > > Ajust the worm gear pre-load to 2 # or so , use a fish scale > attached to the outer spoke of the steering wheel and pulled at a > 90° angle (' Tangential Pull ') , then center the steering box and > adjust to barely zero play , if you're lucky it'll actually get > tighter feeling as you turn it off center but *not* be so stiff the > steering won't " unwind" by itself as you come around a right hand > corner , let go the steering wheel and punch the gas . > > It's a trick getting the pre-load & slack adjustments to balance > with the worn spot on the center of the worm gear ~ if you read the > GM steering gearbox rebuild insteructions they tell you to set it up > tight in the dead center as it'll be looser as you turn off center , > this is O.K. as 90 % of the wear occurs in the center position . > > Removing the drag link is usualy easier than popping the pitman arm > off and allows you to ascertain *true* centerpoint , this is _VERY_ > important as these were just slapped to-gether by bored assembly > line workers and are often a few splines off center... this screws > up the front end's geometry and makes the rig less pleasureable to > drive . if the pitman arm isn't pointing straight down when the box > is in true dead center , then you'll need to remove it and properly > position it a few splines . > > As always , the Devil is in the details . > > So to recap : preload on the _worm_ gear , NOT the sector > adjustment , that one gets adjusted best as can between less play > and too much drag . > > I hope this helps ? . > > -Nate > Roy wrote: > > > > I think I have seen some stuff on this before but can't find it. > The Shop manual says to disconnect pitman arm and adjust for 1 to > 1.5 lbs tangential pull on the wheel to maintain motion near the > ends of ravel. Then it says to adjust lash adjuster for no play then > check for 2 to 2.5 max tangential pull through center. I thought I > saw something that essentially said adjust for 10 lb tangential pull > at center then adjust out all play with lash adjuster. That would be > easier than pulling the pitman arm loose. Am I crazy or did someone > provide the latter procedure? Does it sound reasonable? > > > > Roy > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > Ole Chevy and GMC trucks rule! To unsubscribe, send an email (with no subject, no body, just the email), to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/old-chevy-truck/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/old-chevy-truck/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/