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my suggestion to remove the pitman arm from the drag link was to trick him into diagnosing the condition of the ball stud at the end of the pitman arm. These often have a groove worn into them. I can tell from the photo the ball stud is original by the way it is peened on. Good experience to see that it is greased otherwise...

But yes, simply pulling the pitman arm off the cross shaft can be done without detaching from the drag link.

Sounds like inspecting the Pitman arm ball stud is worth doing while I’m replacing the seal. I’ll let you know what I find.

Thanks again, everyone!

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Oh, I don’t need trickery! I’m more about shenanigans!! When I started, I was very hesitant to tackle much of anything. But with this group’s help, I’m up for MUCH more. I’m having fun and learning a ton! I’ll definitely take a look at to at least know where I’m at.

Don,
I hear you re 'just getting it running and on the road'. The reason I brought it up was when I bought my '39, there was a lot of play in the steering. I was driving it on the highway (going to a garage to have it looked at) and it locked up! It was slightly off center and 'steering' left, which took me into the oncoming lane. Had anything been coming I would have totalled the car, just a couple of weeks after I bought it! So rebuilding the box wasn't really optional for me. As the Flackmaster clarifies, your '37 setup is different than '39. Again, not sure if your steering box guts are similar to the later '39, but the bearings for mine were all but impossible to find. I took it to a rebuild shop that did nothing but steering boxes and they ended up machinning and adapting some available 1939 Chev bearings and the box was super tight and has stood up well since. We want 'em to go, stop and steer and all three are equally important! LOL Chris

Good points. Thanks for sharing. That had to be very scary. I definitely need to get the steering box worked on.

Part of what I’m doing little by little with getting the car running is also finding out where I am with things and what needs to be done and what needs to move up the priority list.

The steering has moved way up the priority list.

The bearings at the top of the 39 cross shaft are NEARLY unobtainium. Kudos to the shop that adapted to get the job done. any detail info on the bearing and adaptation would be welcome to post....

As for replacement bearings for the 37 cross shaft - absolute unobtainium. If yours turn out to be a mess, lemme know, I "may" have a good used shaft...

DAF

Thanks, Flackmaster! I’ll let you know what I find. It will be more than a week before I can get back at it. Moving my daughter from NC to Nashville next weekend.