Next step in getting my new to me 52 GMC 150 ready for daily driver use is getting some of the slop out of the steering system. On a nice smooth level road it has about 10 degrees of movement in the steering wheel before anything serious happens. Ken came buy today and we had at it. Started by dropping the drag link as instructed by the maintenance manual. As long as we had one end of the drag link undone we decided to totally remove the drag link and clean off the 1952 gunk on both ends. Pulled the drag link and disassembled for cleaning BEFORE Ken read the manual and found that some of the parts are not interchangeable from one end to the other. Spent the next half hour understanding the differences between the internal parts on each end and were not helped at all by a drawing in the GMC Master Parts Book that showed backwards assembly of a spring and plug. Meanwhile, back at the steering box ... Loosened the lock nut on the lash adjuster and noted (for future reference) that there was about 1/2 turn of slack before the lash adjuster snugged up. Backed the lash adjuster out about 2 turns per the book. Didn't have a wrench ( 2 3/8" - a big mama - plus there wouldn't be any room to swing it while the steering box was still mounted in the truck) that would fit the lock nut on the worm gear adjuster so we used a punch and a hammer to loosen the nut. The nut has little cut out areas at the end of each flat that seem designed for this use. Did the 1-1.5 lb test and found that the bearing was so loose that the steering wheel would turn itself until the heavy spot (the center spoke) was down with no help. Used Ken's calibrated finger (he's a fisherman and we had no fish scale) to adjust the worm loading to 1-1.5 lbs. Just under a half turn tighter than were it was before adjustment. Tightened the lock nut, again using a hammer and a punch to do the work. Found center on the steering wheel and did the 2-2.5 lb test (again using Ken's calibrated fisherman's finger) for the lash adjuster. Interesting that after doing the worm gear adjustment the lash adjustment screw only needed about 1/2 turn in (it had been moved out 2 turns). Test drive showed MUCH better steering wheel response. It's not like my '95 Acura Legend, but it's a lot better than it was. Only problem remaining is that the lube level is low in the box. You can see where it has been seeping out around the Pitman shaft seal. Looked in the fill hole and lube is down about 1.5" from the top. Now need to decide what to put in it. I'll look through the archives and see what I should use.
I quit using gear oil in steering boxes years ago. I have had the best luck using " Mystic Red" chassis grease in the steering gears. Mystic is the same stuff they use in outdrives for marine/boat applications & it holds up great. Just be careful not to pump too much grease into the steering gear box as it will work it's way up the steering column & ooze out behind the horn button.
Steering Box Service The leaky shaft seal is still available top quality from your local GM Dealer ~ just ask for a 1970 C/10 manual steering box out put shaft seal , it's about $10 The best steering box lubricant flows , this means heavy gear oil or , if you can find it Penrite steering box lubricant , comes in tubes . I'd give this stuff Joe mentions a look ~ if it's true grease , it won't flow and should be avoided but I bet it's a light grease that'll flow slowly and fill all those tiny voids in the recirculating ball and guides ~ this is very critical . As you drive it , expect the steering to loosen up slowly , use a degree wheel to find the boxes true center and adjust it bit by bit but NEVER pre load the adjuster screw ! that causes the worm shaft to snap in half as you're driving .
Use John Deere corn head grease, comes in a tube, is self leveling and will not leak out thru the seals. I have read that 1 tube fills the steering box at the cost of about $3.00 from your local John Deere dealer or Google it on line.
Corn head crease ? What is corn head crease. Do you have a posseble reference of the product ? Thanks Martinius.
Steering Box Lube Here you go Martinus : http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74166&page=2 Some good humor in there too plus Motocraft P/N for steering box lubes that don't leak out . The idea is to get something that flows else you'll get dry spots and grind the delicate recirculating ball system to junk in short order . @ $4 / container , I'd give this stuff a look . If it pours like they claim , it's going to work . Of course , those are all Brand 'F' guys over there so they're HIGHLY suspect .
Corn Head grease is also used in the steering boxes on old tractors. I rebuilt my ferguson TO-30 steering gear since the output seals were leaking. The box was full of corn head grease. I replaced the bronze bushings and output seals which were worn pretty badly to let the grease seep out. I replaced with gear oil but then again if the seals start leaking badly I will go back with the grease.
Picked up a tube of John Deere Corn Head grease this morning. Local JD dealer had 4 tubes on a shelf in the showroom. And it's green. Not John Deere green, but green. $4.19 including tax. Turns out it has a NGLI 0 consistency number. Here is a chart comparing NLGI numbers to common foods to give us laymen a better idea of how the numbers compare to something we are familiar with. Food chart Scroll to the bottom of the page for the chart. Regular chassis grease is NLGI consistency 2. My grease gun had some #2 grease in it so I used most of it to lube my '52. Had to replace one fitting that wouldn't take grease and swap out 2 fittings (one straight, one 90 degree) that were impossible to get on with my gun with a pair of 45 degree fittings. I shot a 1" stream of #2 onto a piece of cardboard, cleaned out the grease gun and inserted the #0 Corn Head Grease. Shot a 1" stream of the #0 onto the same piece of cardboard. The #0 was much more fluid than the #2. After a half hour or so the #0 had "puddled" quite a bit while the #2 was still holding it's shape. Interesting video comparing #0 and #2 grease. Grease video I went ahead and topped off my steering box. Ask Ken to tell you his joke, but not on this family oriented forum.
