Manual steering box rebuild
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 16 11:53 am
This is for RHD cars but the same stuff is used in LHD, you just don't need to do the ball-nut swap for a LHD case if you buy a LHD ball-nut and screw
you also won't need a different column shaft if you avoid Australian 16:1 box
The steering box consists of
Case (RHD Cast iron, chassis mount 1950s style, LHD aluminium alloy K frame mount)
Case top cover (Case specific, you need a RHD case top for a RHD case)
worm screw bearing pre load adjuster (fits LHD and RHD, just a threaded aluminium plug for the worm screw end of the box))
Hex shaped preload adjuster lock ring (All Mopar manual steering boxes and most Saginaw ford and GM)
Sector ( parts book code, standard steering parts-19-19-4. Shares same part number as US boxes but the R series 60,61 valiant uses 2072087 which is a 5 tooth sector) ,
S-VK (62-76), uses 2127104 or the superseded part 3643018 which was made until at least 2004)
Worm screw (AUS 20:1, US 16:1, US 20:1 ,or US 24:1 all the same with different part numbers due to ratio/thread size and handedness.
The AUS 16:1 worm screw is the anomaly (its shorter like a truck part)
All have the same thread orientation for use in mopar cars, in general truck parts screw the other way
Ballnut (matched to thread orientation and pitch)( needs to be put on worm screw the correct way for RHD or LHD)(Mopar Suggest that you are not competent enough to do this and the correct part should be purchased)
Sector bushes or needle rollers x3, suggest you use a steering box case that takes bearings which are Torrington 1812 or get an 1816 for the lower sector position) as of 2018 y-1812 nd y-1816 are obsolete b-1812 and b-1816 available on US amazon
As standard the box usually has 3 1812 imprial drawn cup needle roller bearings, one in the top cover and 2 for ths sectorshaft tunnel.
to make the box heavy duty you can use one or two 1816 bearings and one 1812 use the two longer 1816 bearings in the sector tunnel
worm screw caged ball bearings x2 standard Saginaw 525 seem to fit but ideally Chrysler part 2072060 or 2127097
or just put new hardened steel balls in the cages
Sector shaft seal Chicago Rawhide 11067 or equivalent
Input shaft seal National - Oil Seal NAT | Part # 7214
adjuster bolt and lock nut (standard US and AUS LHD RHD)
adjuster bolt shim to stop sector jumping in the case, 4 shims exist, you are supposed to choose the right one (its a fat washer, fits on adjuster bolt and fits with bolt head in slot in sector)
Ball bearings in your ballnut (don't loose them. 50% in one circuit 50% in the other and NONE in between 27 in each circuit)
Ball guides (guide the balls)
ball guide clip 2 screw or 1 screw clips exist
How to make a RHD 16:1 box using US Parts followed by general assembly
Avoid having to get an Australian 16:1/track/police steering column shaft or Pay for an Australian 16:1 box out of a race car or police car which has been rebuilt many times and is worn out. any hard chrome plaiting on the box interior parts indicates a shoddy rebuild
(based on ebay prices I think aussie 16:1 boxes are made of gold, $500-1k and the only other source is the 67 68 16:1 dodge dart box, I have never seen one anywhere)
1) get a 16:1 ballnut and screw from FirmFeel inc.
2) take off the ball guides
3) take out balls
4) swap ballnut end for end i.e put it on the other way round
5) grease ya balls
6) push 50% into one circuit and 50% in the other
push 21 balls into each circuit well greased
glue the other 6 into each ballguide with grease
press in ballguides making sure not to loose one of your balls the wrong way down the threads out of the circuit.
7) put on ball-guide clip
You don't need to do 1)-7) if just rebuilding a Left hand Drive steering box, this is just to convert a USA worm and ballnut to an Australian one
8)Put the case in a bucket and clean it
the old grease is waterproof and does not melt in boiling water.
You can burn it out with a torch but it stinks.
better to use brake cleaner to stop it clinging and Bananarama! out in lumps
9) prize out seals
10 Using your long extension and a socket that passes through the mid sector bearing Knock out the bottom bearing
11) use same method to knock out the top bearing from the other end
use a small screw driver style hex socket and small socket extension through the adjuster hole to bare on the inner lip of the cover bearing with rollers removed and tap it out
12) if new the grease on the bearings will be good, if shop soiled clean all new bearings in brake cleaner and gently blow dry, do not blow the needles out
13) use your sector to start the bottom and mid sector bearings into case. use a socket of similar diameter on your extension to knock them in fully
14) use wood block to put the cover bearing in
15) put worm screw adjuster seal in
16) mount the worm and ballnut in the case with a smear of grease
17) do up the adjuster plug to 20 inch lb
18) back it off so that it takes 3-5 in lb to turn the screw (one of the AF or Imperial sockets in your socket set fits the spline)
19) put in sector seal with Hylomar round the side and in the corner of the seal well in the case (knock it in with a block of wood)
20) pack worm screw and ballnut area with NLGI II red grease
this will move grease over into sector section as well when you move the ballnut
21) Put ballnut in middle of travel hold teeth parallel with sector teeth and insert sector
22) check that sector teeth and ballnut teeth mesh thus, middle tooth in middle slot
23) pump it full of grease and close it up
24) the adjuster button and shim need to be fitted into the sector slot and then the case top wound onto the adjuster stud
25) set it so that when you adjust the sector adjuster that it is stiff in the middle
Use service manual or Firmfeel 16:1 Mopar action article on firmfeel site for precise setting info.
26) centre the box using the master spline on the sector and the case casting seam
27) grind new master spline into wormscrew shaft.
once in car pump in as much grease as possible.
drive it to settle the grease and move the air about
top it off with 90 weight gear oil
With new everything, you have a brand new steering box. no slop, precise, rock steady on the move, and just damn good.
Sector
sector shaft teeth should be trapezoid in shape. look at pics below, see how bad my old sector was the teeth were so worn the trapezium shape was practically inverted
i.e looking from the side, wider at one end than the other. The teeth face is not parallel with shaft, wider teeth at top than bottom of teeth
looking from the front direct into the teeth wider at the top than the bottom. they should match similar contour to ballnut face.
worn teeth just mean you will have less adjustment from the adjuster, provided they clean up with a file they won't adversely effect the workings of the box unless so worn that you can not achieve stiffness in the middle of the box.
Dave
you also won't need a different column shaft if you avoid Australian 16:1 box
The steering box consists of
Case (RHD Cast iron, chassis mount 1950s style, LHD aluminium alloy K frame mount)
Case top cover (Case specific, you need a RHD case top for a RHD case)
worm screw bearing pre load adjuster (fits LHD and RHD, just a threaded aluminium plug for the worm screw end of the box))
Hex shaped preload adjuster lock ring (All Mopar manual steering boxes and most Saginaw ford and GM)
Sector ( parts book code, standard steering parts-19-19-4. Shares same part number as US boxes but the R series 60,61 valiant uses 2072087 which is a 5 tooth sector) ,
S-VK (62-76), uses 2127104 or the superseded part 3643018 which was made until at least 2004)
Worm screw (AUS 20:1, US 16:1, US 20:1 ,or US 24:1 all the same with different part numbers due to ratio/thread size and handedness.
The AUS 16:1 worm screw is the anomaly (its shorter like a truck part)
All have the same thread orientation for use in mopar cars, in general truck parts screw the other way
Ballnut (matched to thread orientation and pitch)( needs to be put on worm screw the correct way for RHD or LHD)(Mopar Suggest that you are not competent enough to do this and the correct part should be purchased)
Sector bushes or needle rollers x3, suggest you use a steering box case that takes bearings which are Torrington 1812 or get an 1816 for the lower sector position) as of 2018 y-1812 nd y-1816 are obsolete b-1812 and b-1816 available on US amazon
As standard the box usually has 3 1812 imprial drawn cup needle roller bearings, one in the top cover and 2 for ths sectorshaft tunnel.
to make the box heavy duty you can use one or two 1816 bearings and one 1812 use the two longer 1816 bearings in the sector tunnel
worm screw caged ball bearings x2 standard Saginaw 525 seem to fit but ideally Chrysler part 2072060 or 2127097
or just put new hardened steel balls in the cages
Sector shaft seal Chicago Rawhide 11067 or equivalent
Input shaft seal National - Oil Seal NAT | Part # 7214
adjuster bolt and lock nut (standard US and AUS LHD RHD)
adjuster bolt shim to stop sector jumping in the case, 4 shims exist, you are supposed to choose the right one (its a fat washer, fits on adjuster bolt and fits with bolt head in slot in sector)
Ball bearings in your ballnut (don't loose them. 50% in one circuit 50% in the other and NONE in between 27 in each circuit)
Ball guides (guide the balls)
ball guide clip 2 screw or 1 screw clips exist
How to make a RHD 16:1 box using US Parts followed by general assembly
Avoid having to get an Australian 16:1/track/police steering column shaft or Pay for an Australian 16:1 box out of a race car or police car which has been rebuilt many times and is worn out. any hard chrome plaiting on the box interior parts indicates a shoddy rebuild
(based on ebay prices I think aussie 16:1 boxes are made of gold, $500-1k and the only other source is the 67 68 16:1 dodge dart box, I have never seen one anywhere)
1) get a 16:1 ballnut and screw from FirmFeel inc.
2) take off the ball guides
3) take out balls
4) swap ballnut end for end i.e put it on the other way round
5) grease ya balls
6) push 50% into one circuit and 50% in the other
push 21 balls into each circuit well greased
glue the other 6 into each ballguide with grease
press in ballguides making sure not to loose one of your balls the wrong way down the threads out of the circuit.
7) put on ball-guide clip
You don't need to do 1)-7) if just rebuilding a Left hand Drive steering box, this is just to convert a USA worm and ballnut to an Australian one
8)Put the case in a bucket and clean it
the old grease is waterproof and does not melt in boiling water.
You can burn it out with a torch but it stinks.
better to use brake cleaner to stop it clinging and Bananarama! out in lumps
9) prize out seals
10 Using your long extension and a socket that passes through the mid sector bearing Knock out the bottom bearing
11) use same method to knock out the top bearing from the other end
use a small screw driver style hex socket and small socket extension through the adjuster hole to bare on the inner lip of the cover bearing with rollers removed and tap it out
12) if new the grease on the bearings will be good, if shop soiled clean all new bearings in brake cleaner and gently blow dry, do not blow the needles out
13) use your sector to start the bottom and mid sector bearings into case. use a socket of similar diameter on your extension to knock them in fully
14) use wood block to put the cover bearing in
15) put worm screw adjuster seal in
16) mount the worm and ballnut in the case with a smear of grease
17) do up the adjuster plug to 20 inch lb
18) back it off so that it takes 3-5 in lb to turn the screw (one of the AF or Imperial sockets in your socket set fits the spline)
19) put in sector seal with Hylomar round the side and in the corner of the seal well in the case (knock it in with a block of wood)
20) pack worm screw and ballnut area with NLGI II red grease
this will move grease over into sector section as well when you move the ballnut
21) Put ballnut in middle of travel hold teeth parallel with sector teeth and insert sector
22) check that sector teeth and ballnut teeth mesh thus, middle tooth in middle slot
23) pump it full of grease and close it up
24) the adjuster button and shim need to be fitted into the sector slot and then the case top wound onto the adjuster stud
25) set it so that when you adjust the sector adjuster that it is stiff in the middle
Use service manual or Firmfeel 16:1 Mopar action article on firmfeel site for precise setting info.
26) centre the box using the master spline on the sector and the case casting seam
27) grind new master spline into wormscrew shaft.
once in car pump in as much grease as possible.
drive it to settle the grease and move the air about
top it off with 90 weight gear oil
With new everything, you have a brand new steering box. no slop, precise, rock steady on the move, and just damn good.
Sector
sector shaft teeth should be trapezoid in shape. look at pics below, see how bad my old sector was the teeth were so worn the trapezium shape was practically inverted
i.e looking from the side, wider at one end than the other. The teeth face is not parallel with shaft, wider teeth at top than bottom of teeth
looking from the front direct into the teeth wider at the top than the bottom. they should match similar contour to ballnut face.
worn teeth just mean you will have less adjustment from the adjuster, provided they clean up with a file they won't adversely effect the workings of the box unless so worn that you can not achieve stiffness in the middle of the box.
Dave
the workbench had been used for some cylinder head work, and had the drill press and bench grinder bolted to it, hence at the time the wall outside and a big cardboard lid seemed a much better bet. The garage was infected with loads of slightly magnetic iron dust and abrasive grit... i could never properly got rid of that mess.. i now do anything with a grinder or rotary tool outside.... lesson learned. when your screw drivers grow whiskers...deep clean is necessary.