Re: 1940 Super 8 160 Model 1803 Project
Posted by Jim On 2012/10/14 20:28:36
Early this summer I went to store the car away. When backing out the driveway, the steering abruptly locked and became totally wedged. I put the car away and decided to tackle when it cooled off a bit. It did, and I realized our Packard Info. Laughlin river Fun Run is in reality, just around the corner. With that, I tore into the steering box.
I found a few of the 1/4 inch ball bearings had sheared in half, causing the rest to spill out. As they spilled out, they ruined the roller and damaged the cross shaft. I thought "Hmm... what an unusual failure." Umm... not true, I've learned it is a rather common failure. Before someone replies "did you have grease / oil in the steering box?" Don't, because I did.
Armed with a serviceable cross shaft, I went about installation. The roller pin in the acquired cross shaft was loose. I re-swaged the pin, taking up some play in the assembly by bringing the bearing races closer together.
Next was shimming the cross shaft so the roller had the correct contact with the worm. I cut a donor cover in half to allow adjustment of the cross shaft jam nut yet allow me to see and feel work and roller contact. There is a procedure in the shop manual that describes pull at the steering wheel rim. That is well and good with brand new no mile parts, not as good with 72 year old parts that have miles and wear.
The modern seals were found to be of thinner width than the old leather seal, so I doubled the seals. Also installed the cross shaft first, and taped the splines to prevent seal damage as they were slid over the cross shaft. Installation was routine. How nice that the steering box will be oil tight.
At the same time, I took the opportunity to replace a couple of shift linkage pins that were fairly worn. Will weld up and re-machine other components another day to tighten up the wobble stick.
Once finished, the steering was tight, with no detectable play in the steering wheel to pitman movement and detectable resistance when on the high spot of the worm. Drove out nicely, with the steering now centered on the high spot and wheel straight up & down. I believe this failure may have been underway for many, many years given the characteristic prior to repair.
Bottom line, be nice to your steering box. Avoid crashing the steering stops. While I'm not totally sure how or why this one failed, I know much more about the function and nature of this box.
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I found a few of the 1/4 inch ball bearings had sheared in half, causing the rest to spill out. As they spilled out, they ruined the roller and damaged the cross shaft. I thought "Hmm... what an unusual failure." Umm... not true, I've learned it is a rather common failure. Before someone replies "did you have grease / oil in the steering box?" Don't, because I did.
Armed with a serviceable cross shaft, I went about installation. The roller pin in the acquired cross shaft was loose. I re-swaged the pin, taking up some play in the assembly by bringing the bearing races closer together.
Next was shimming the cross shaft so the roller had the correct contact with the worm. I cut a donor cover in half to allow adjustment of the cross shaft jam nut yet allow me to see and feel work and roller contact. There is a procedure in the shop manual that describes pull at the steering wheel rim. That is well and good with brand new no mile parts, not as good with 72 year old parts that have miles and wear.
The modern seals were found to be of thinner width than the old leather seal, so I doubled the seals. Also installed the cross shaft first, and taped the splines to prevent seal damage as they were slid over the cross shaft. Installation was routine. How nice that the steering box will be oil tight.
At the same time, I took the opportunity to replace a couple of shift linkage pins that were fairly worn. Will weld up and re-machine other components another day to tighten up the wobble stick.
Once finished, the steering was tight, with no detectable play in the steering wheel to pitman movement and detectable resistance when on the high spot of the worm. Drove out nicely, with the steering now centered on the high spot and wheel straight up & down. I believe this failure may have been underway for many, many years given the characteristic prior to repair.
Bottom line, be nice to your steering box. Avoid crashing the steering stops. While I'm not totally sure how or why this one failed, I know much more about the function and nature of this box.
Attach file:
(60.39 KB)
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