Steering box DIY rebuild

[Moseley]

Evening all,

I’ve just embarked on stripping my steering box as it isn’t in a particularly good way with the amount of play in it at the straight-ahead position. I’ve managed to get hold of an OG steering pin, so thought it’d be no harm to chuck this in, however, it seems someone has been in there before and fitted an aftermarket one-piece pin, so I’m not sure on what parts are missing.

Below are photos showing the OG pin loosely fitted in the arm which just is the two pin parts, and the washer. Next to it is the one-piece with a variety of washers and the locking tab.

I know I need the locking tab washer, but should there be any other spacers etc?



As an aside to this, I have found that the steering pin was not adjusted properly - it was far too tight and wasn’t rolling up and down the worm, so at least I know I can sort this. The worm looks ok to me, but then I’m not entirely sure on how ‘bad’ a bad worm would be visually. Will be looking for other sources of wear (and potentially look to have the case machined and bushed) when I do a dry assembly before it gets a lick of paint.

Stay tuned as this thread may turn more extensive…

 

[YellowBay69]

Evening all,

I’ve just embarked on stripping my steering box as it isn’t in a particularly good way with the amount of play in it at the straight-ahead position. I’ve managed to get hold of an OG steering pin, so thought it’d be no harm to chuck this in, however, it seems someone has been in there before and fitted an aftermarket one-piece pin, so I’m not sure on what parts are missing.

Below are photos showing the OG pin loosely fitted in the arm which just is the two pin parts, and the washer. Next to it is the one-piece with a variety of washers and the locking tab.

I know I need the locking tab washer, but should there be any other spacers etc?

View attachment 8133View attachment 8134

As an aside to this, I have found that the steering pin was not adjusted properly - it was far too tight and wasn’t rolling up and down the worm, so at least I know I can sort this. The worm looks ok to me, but then I’m not entirely sure on how ‘bad’ a bad worm would be visually. Will be looking for other sources of wear (and potentially look to have the case machined and bushed) when I do a dry assembly before it gets a lick of paint.

Stay tuned as this thread may turn more extensive…

Will keep watching as this is something I want to do with mine.
Good luck

 

[slowmo]

These are the parts from my steering box rebuild.
My steering pin was the one piece design but I brought a replacement NOS one which was two piece. I replaced all the rollers with new ones on the pin. I also replaced all the ball bearings on the worm gear.
A bad worm gear normally has damage/marks in the bottom of the valleys where the pin had worn such that it sits into the bottom of the worm. Also look for flat spots on the steering pin as they stop spinning and get damaged.

 

[Graham L]

Having rebuilt lots of boxes I've never seen a 2 piece peg as far as I'm aware the 2 piece design was from a split not a bay. looking at the output shaft it has a lot of wear in it which will be creating the play as it will move side to side in the steering box case, the bushes within the case have to be reemed out and new bushes fitted but no one makes those, also the blueing at the top by the peg shows the shaft has been getting hot, seen it a lot where boxes have been over adjusted to try and take the play out.

With regards to washers thats all there should be, the shaped washer that sits on top of the needle bearings, then the plain washer, tab washer and then the nut, not sure what the big washer at the bottom is, never seen that one before.

Wear on the worm shows up as gouges in the outer surface of the helical spiral (i'll try find a picture) if its really been over adjusted chunks come out of it and its case hardened.

 

[Moseley]

These are the parts from my steering box rebuild.
My steering pin was the one piece design but I brought a replacement NOS one which was two piece. I replaced all the rollers with new ones on the pin. I also replaced all the ball bearings on the worm gear.
A bad worm gear normally has damage/marks in the bottom of the valleys where the pin had worn such that it sits into the bottom of the worm. Also look for flat spots on the steering pin as they stop spinning and get damaged.

These are the parts from my steering box rebuild.
My steering pin was the one piece design but I brought a replacement NOS one which was two piece. I replaced all the rollers with new ones on the pin. I also replaced all the ball bearings on the worm gear.
A bad worm gear normally has damage/marks in the bottom of the valleys where the pin had worn such that it sits into the bottom of the worm. Also look for flat spots on the steering pin as they stop spinning and get damaged.

Cheers for the tips, I will pop up some photos in due course of progress so far. Everything is stripped and degreased, and as Graham has alluded to, it seems the 2-piece peg is indeed a split screen part, although they seem to be interchangeable. The only issue I have found is that it is an M10 thread whereas the bay window ones are M12. I can’t see anywhere that sells the locking washer in the smaller size, so I have ordered a couple of similar items and will see if they will be an ok substitute.

Having rebuilt lots of boxes I've never seen a 2 piece peg as far as I'm aware the 2 piece design was from a split not a bay. looking at the output shaft it has a lot of wear in it which will be creating the play as it will move side to side in the steering box case, the bushes within the case have to be reemed out and new bushes fitted but no one makes those, also the blueing at the top by the peg shows the shaft has been getting hot, seen it a lot where boxes have been over adjusted to try and take the play out.

With regards to washers thats all there should be, the shaped washer that sits on top of the needle bearings, then the plain washer, tab washer and then the nut, not sure what the big washer at the bottom is, never seen that one before.

Wear on the worm shows up as gouges in the outer surface of the helical spiral (i'll try find a picture) if its really been over adjusted chunks come out of it and its case hardened.

Thanks Graham for the pointers. The shaft is indeed showing a reasonable amount of wear now that I’ve been able to trial it back in the degreased case. Fortunately, a work colleague has a very good condition steering box from back in the days when he used to manufacture the internals, and he has kindly given me the pitman shaft from his which has removed a lot of slop and saved the need to bush the housing. My worm seems to be in ok condition, certainly dry-fitting the components and it feels a lot better than it was before I had stripped it down. The peg I removed is a bit suspect as it looks to have seen some action with a grinder, albeit I can’t detect any flat spot in it.

 

[Moseley]

Dodgy looking thread on the pitman shaft:



Comparison between OG split screen peg on the left (currently with no washers of any description) and the aftermarket one of unknown origin on the right with the selection of washers / bearing race stacked up as found. Note the peg end looks very short and the bottom appears to have been rounded off mechanically.

 

[matty74]

Great info in this thread, thanks to all for sharing

 

[sparkywig]

Try accu for hardware.