steering box

If you don't know how the steering box works and have never been taught how to adjust them, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ADJUST The STEERING BOX!!! If you don't know what your doing, you can create a situation where it locks up! As Lloyd said, you need to check the other components in the steering prior to ever looking at the steering box. When you have a helper turn the steering wheel back and forth, look for lost motion. The Pittman arm is on the steering box, when it moves the drag link and the tie rod and both wheels should move in unison. Once you have eliminated all of the lost motion in these areas, then look to the steering box. The steering box MUST be adjusted with it centered lock to lock. It is possible that may not be without disconnecting the drag link. The center position is where the worm is closest to the gear, adjusting any other position will get it too tight to go past this center closest position!! One other comment, close ratio steering box and smaller steering wheels are great only if you have power steering or have biceps the size of Popeye! MM

The fist thing to check as a cause for excessive play is the drag link. These trucks use the ball & socket type and the springs tend to break. Broken springs will cause the ball stud to get flattened
Bad king pins will add some play but would be more noticeable by the vibration they cause.
These gears are quite simple inside,bearings top and bottom and depending on brand and type bearings on the roller or lever shaft. Ross gears have 1 or 2 "studs" in the lever shaft which are surrounded with small bearings (depending on gear model) and the "pointed" end of the stud ride in the worm gear. Those bearings do go bad but the effect will also cause binding when the wheel is turned.When those go bad it throws the stud(s) out of center and then the pointed end starts to wear which in turn wears on the worm.
The bearings at each end of the worm gear are small loose roller bearings,not a "unitized" bearing,if the cup they ride in fails the balls will fall out. End play for those bearings is usually adjusted with shims where the shaft enters the housing.
The lever shaft rides in 1 or 2 bushings in the housing depending on gear model,worn they can cause play too.
The bad part of it all is parts are not easy to find except the bearings which are common needle & ball and likely the bushings. A new worm or lever shaft would be a crap shoot. A rebuilder may have them but most don't sell just parts.
Like MM said,if you don't know what you're doing...don't do it! It may look easy but without knowing...

Here's a link to the service manual steering section;
http://www.hansenwebdesign.com/truck/fi ... eering.pdf

Not the greatest,no trouble shooting but the adjustment procedure is there.Still an iffy proposition without knowing what the inside parts look like.

Great advice on looking for the cause of play in the steering.

Something I wanted to add to the conversation. Since the one adjustment screw is on the housing cover, I assume taking off the cover to visually look to see there is no crud build-up or other issues in the gear box is ok to do and should not affect steering adjustment. Would that be correct? Knowing how many of the other parts of the truck (Carb, oil pan, Bell housing, Timing cover, etc.) get dirty and have build up of old and dirty oil/grease...I feel better to makes sure things look good in the steering gear box while the truck is apart. What is a good flush fluid to use in gearboxes where you are not disassembling the gearbox and only changing the gear oil?

I think the previous advice about having someone turn the steering wheel and checking for play outside the steering box is pretty sound. There are a lot of other components between the steering box and the wheels that can all get plenty of wear- tie ends, drag link adjustment, king pins, etc. It might not necessarily be your box.

But it could be.

Before I pulled my box, I took off the side cover. It was packed with what looked to be ordinary grease. Since the box is sealed up pretty good, gets a minimal amount if wear (comparatively speaking) and doesn't heat up much, there wasn't much gunk buildup in it. As far as I can see, there wasn't a drain, only a plug in the top for adding lubricant. There was a lot of gunk built up on the outside of the box, no gunk inside.

BUT what I did find when I started digging the grease out with my fingers was a bunch of loose ball bearings and metal shavings. The bottom cup had broken sometime and the nincompoops who owned it at the time just kept on truckin'! There were actually grooves cut in the cast iron when, apparently, some of the ball bearings found their way between the sector and the housing. Probably got stuck and the idiots kept yankin' and crankin' until it freed up again!

So needless to say I rebuilt my box. It took a long time to find some "good enough" parts and if I were faced with the same situation I would probably send it somewhere and have it done for that reason alone.

If you do open it up for an inspection and cleaning, I would think just using parts cleaner and a brush would do the trick, but it would be awkward and messy to do with the box still bolted onto the frame. Blowing the cleaning fluid out with an air compressor is probably a good idea to keep from diluting your lubricant. I've read many posts suggesting Lucas hub oil and that's what I replaced the grease with in my box- supposed to cut down on the leaking. Once the side cover is off, be careful you don't disengage the cam rollers from the worm gear. The side cover is what keeps them together. If you do, it might not be the end of the world, just make sure that neither the wheels or the steering wheel moves while they are apart or you face an entire readjustment/reset process which, while not rocket science, is a bit of a PITA.

If you get her cleaned out and all's good, there is a method to tightening up the adjustment screw outlined in the shop manual (which BTW is an excellent purchase- get it from Binder Books). There is also a neat little device called the Tightsteer available. Basically a spring loaded adjustment screw that keeps the steering adjusted automatically: http://www.siminoffjeeparts.com/TightSteer_FAQ.html

Sorry about the long post, but I've been down this road myself. Hope I answered some of your questions. If I'm wrong about anything, someone with better knowledge please feel free to correct me. I'm still learning and might have made a mistake or two in the way I did things.

I'd use a cleaner that evaporates and better still leaves no cleaner residue like CRC Electric motor cleaner or CRC Brake clean with the green label. I've used both for years to clean just about anything.
There could be small amounts of grease inside that was used to hold the ball bearings to the cup/retainer since there's about 22 of them. That's how I remember a few mechanics to it,can't say if the mfr. did.

Check the manual I posted the link for if you haven't.
To maybe see the adjuster screw better I went to the parts manual and there were 2 possible gears used in both the L & R series,either a Ross or a Gemmer. With the Gemmer it appears to me the screw slides into a slot in the roller shaft(?) so with that gear the adjustment can't be "saved". The Gemmer is quite different from the Ross and it uses tapered roller bearings and races, much better than the Ross IMO.


Parts Manuals;

MT-63 (L-series)
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1759 ... g_Gear.pdf

MT-97 (R-series)
http://www.hansenwebdesign.com/truck/fi ... 20Gear.pdf

Same gears in both,MT-63 has a larger and easier to see illustration though.


No sense in buying a service manual when it can be downloaded free. Then any section can be printed if needed. Parts manual too.

http://www.hansenwebdesign.com/truck/facts_manuals.html

Thanks OhioBoy and Scottso.

I have the steering wheel and gearbox out of the truck...so I can position the gearbox so that the cover is facing up to have gravity help me for the initial inspection so parts don't fall out. I did notice if I held the steering wheel still and moved the steering arm on the side of the gear box that there was a little movement...so there is a little play in the box. How much is acceptable...I don't know at this point. I hope I don't find pieces as OhioBoy did. The CRC Brake clean (Green Label)does sound like a good choice for cleaning it.

I will post a few pics for others to see what they may find in their original Ross steering Gear boxes once I get around to removing it.

Don't lay it cover side up on a bench when you open it, that will cause the sector shaft to disengage from the worm gear. If you put pressure on the end of the sector shaft it will slide in the direction of the side cover when you open it and disengage. You could prop it up so the sector shaft/pitman arm can hang down without the weight of the box resting on it. That would work.

If your box is healthy, there shouldn't be anything to fall out and if stuff falls out, well.......

A better idea still would be to put some vise grips or a hose clamp or something around the sector shaft between the box and pitman arm where it comes out of the housing. That way it can't slide even with the cover off and you can move it around any way you want. If you do, wrap a piece of rubber or something around it and don't crank it down so tight as to ding or nick the sector shaft. If it needs rebuilt that shaft has to be smooth enough to slide through new bushings without marring them. Could even wrap some string or a strip of duct tape in that space and that might work.

PM me and I can email you some pictures if you need an illustration of what I'm talking about. My iPad pictures are too big to post here and I haven't gotten around to figuring out how to resize them. I can also send an exploded diagram of the box from the parts manual that shows what you will be looking at.

Here's a page on rebuilding the Ross box from a J&&p forum. Its pretty similar to the IH box, but instead of those pins that he's pointing to in the 4th and 5th pictures the IH box has "cam rollers" that can rotate in the sector on roller bearings. Supposed to spread the wear around. Those are the pieces that get the most wear and are also the hardest to find.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/how-s ... -a-757027/

Hey All,

Somebody here needed a manual box, and I lost touch with them. If they're still here, I still have it as my plan is to switch to power crossover steering. The BOX has been gone thru by universal hydraulic in Omaha, and I recommend them. It didn't need much, just seals and inspection. I also have a custom drag link with brand new components. It is off a '56 S-120 4X4.

I'm not trying to be difficult, or mess with anybody's program, and of I'm wrong, I'll eat crow, but I have read that to adjust a manual box with a lot of miles, it's better to adjust at the end of the steering travel. The theory is that the knobs on the steering shaft ride in the center of the worm gear most of the time because straight is how the vehicle moves most of the time. If the box is adjusted so it's tight to the worn spot, when the wheel is turned to the far end of its travel where wear is less, it can bind up REALLY tight, and prevent the operator from being able to steer.

Just a thought. If you adjust, make sure you have FULL steering before your maiden voyage.

Flame suit on.

John

The S-120-4X4 steering box is different steering box than the S-100 thru S-120 2WD models. INFO ONLY

Good to know Kevin!

John