1957 Steering box lubrication

[rponfick]

I am rebuilding my steering control valve on my 1957. After removing the pitman arm from the control valve ball stud, I twisted the pitman arm, and notice it has a bit of play in it. And, the movement did not feel like it is cushioned by lubrication. Is there a way to add lube to the steering box without complete disassembly? I know in old Chevy's the top plate attaching bolt holes were not blind, and extended into the steering box. You could take out a bolt and inject in some grease. Is this possible on the baby birds?
I will plan to adjust the bolt on the top of the box to lessen any movement.
Comments would be appreciated.
Ralph

 

[55blacktie]

There should be a plug that can be removed for the purpose of adding gear oil. However, if there is excessive play in the steering box, adding gear oil won't take up the slack. The box is somewhat adjustable.

While working on the restoration of my 55, I discovered that the steering box was bone dry. More than likely it had been that way for many years. They are prone too leakage. When Redhead Steering gears rebuilt my steering box, they substituted 00 grease for gear oil. Initially, I was concerned, but then discovered that was GM's solution for servicing leaking steering boxes under warranty for early Corvettes. I have no complaints and highly recommend Redhead, if you decide to have your steering box professionally rebuilt. They are located in Washington.

 

[doug7740]

I am rebuilding my steering control valve on my 1957. After removing the pitman arm from the control valve ball stud, I twisted the pitman arm, and notice it has a bit of play in it. And, the movement did not feel like it is cushioned by lubrication. Is there a way to add lube to the steering box without complete disassembly? I know in old Chevy's the top plate attaching bolt holes were not blind, and extended into the steering box. You could take out a bolt and inject in some grease. Is this possible on the baby birds?
I will plan to adjust the bolt on the top of the box to lessen any movement.
Comments would be appreciated.

Ralph,

You can rebuild the Power Steering Control Valve without removing it from the pitman arm. Remove the end cap from the housing and then remove the parts shown in the illustrations below. Next disconnect the four power steering hoses from the control valve body and remove the two bolts from the control valve body. After that you can remove the control valve.







Yes, you can add lubricant to the steering box through the fill plug vent, but if the gear oil hasn’t leaked out of the steering box there is no need to do that. See the illustration below.



Attached is an article I wrote on how to adjust the steering box.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[cokefirst]

Steering boxes need lubrication and after 60 + years, they are likely not at the full level anymore. The lubricant needs to be in a liquid form not chassis grease. the reason for this is because grease will not form back around the wearing part as the gears mesh against each other during steering. It would be similar to using chassis grease in an engine, the grease does not flow. With that being said, the early steering boxes on vehicles used a liquid grease similar to the gear lubricant used in transmissions at the time. It was specified as #4 Cup Grease. You can also use 600W grease used on early cars or a version of 140 W gear oil.

Once the gears are worn there is some adjustment but most steering boxes after this amount of time are worn beyond adjustment.. you can rebuild the boxes yourself and there are some aftermarket gears available for them. I use a company in San Jose, CA called Straight Line Steering to rebuild my boxes and have had good results. At this point. you will likely be better served by having the box rebuilt, resealed and properly lubricated.

 

[Ward 57]

Steering boxes need lubrication and after 60 + years, they are likely not at the full level anymore. The lubricant needs to be in a liquid form not chassis grease. the reason for this is because grease will not form back around the wearing part as the gears mesh against each other during steering. It would be similar to using chassis grease in an engine, the grease does not flow. With that being said, the early steering boxes on vehicles used a liquid grease similar to the gear lubricant used in transmissions at the time. It was specified as #4 Cup Grease. You can also use 600W grease used on early cars or a version of 140 W gear oil.

Once the gears are worn there is some adjustment but most steering boxes after this amount of time are worn beyond adjustment.. you can rebuild the boxes yourself and there are some aftermarket gears available for them. I use a company in San Jose, CA called Straight Line Steering to rebuild my boxes and have had good results. At this point. you will likely be better served by having the box rebuilt, resealed and properly lubricated.

I have never even thought about the grease in the steering box nor adjusting it. Never been touched as far as I know. doesn't seem to want to wander so I never thought of it. I have about 1" freeplay at rest. I'll have to now read Doug's article and see if I need to tighten it up a smidgeon. About 130K on the odometer but I've had it so long 45ys that I may not know a few adjustments should be checked and make it even better.

 

[Ward 57]

Ralph,

You can rebuild the Power Steering Control Valve without removing it from the pitman arm. Remove the end cap from the housing and then remove the parts shown in the illustrations below. Next disconnect the four power steering hoses from the control valve body and remove the two bolts from the control valve body. After that you can remove the control valve.

View attachment 21014

View attachment 21015

View attachment 21017

Yes, you can add lubricant to the steering box through the fill plug vent, but if the gear oil hasn’t leaked out of the steering box there is no need to do that. See the illustration below.

View attachment 21018

Attached is an article I wrote on how to adjust the steering box.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

Doug, I don't know how much play should be in the wheel at rest. I have about 1' before I feel resistance. I don't have the star washer just the adjusting screw & lock nut. Early '57 with some '56 steering parts from the factory. Picture attached.

 

[doug7740]

I have an early 1955 Thunderbird and the Early 1955 Thunderbirds had a two tooth steering box.



A three tooth steering box was used on later Thunderbirds.



doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[jack-in-sac]

I have an early 1955 Thunderbird and the Early 1955 Thunderbirds had a two tooth steering box.

View attachment 21021

A three tooth steering box was used on later Thunderbirds.

View attachment 21022

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

One caveat for adjusting the gear box is: have the front end off the ground so that there is no load on the steering box when you adjust it.

 

[rponfick]

One caveat for adjusting the gear box is: have the front end off the ground so that there is no load on the steering box when you adjust it.

I guess having the Putnam arm disconnected would accomplish the same purpose?

 

[55blacktie]

I have never even thought about the grease in the steering box nor adjusting it. Never been touched as far as I know. doesn't seem to want to wander so I never thought of it. I have about 1" freeplay at rest. I'll have to now read Doug's article and see if I need to tighten it up a smidgeon. About 130K on the odometer but I've had it so long 45ys that I may not know a few adjustments should be checked and make it even better.

Ward, if you have only 1" of play at the steering wheel, it's in good shape. If your steering box leaks, there will be obvious signs on/around the box.

 

[paul5456]

There are definite procedures to be followed when adjusting the steering box. Failure to follow these could result in bad steering. I believe the shop manual shows the procedures. With 1 inch at the wheel, just check the lube in the box.

 

[Ward 57]

Ward, if you have only 1" of play at the steering wheel, it's in good shape. If your steering box leaks, there will be obvious signs on/around the box.

Thanks, that's all the information I needed. No leaks. Replaced the bushings in the steering gear many years ago after running it up over 100mph ( yah young & dumb ) wanted to wander a bit and that tightened it up a lot. Not sure if I was precise but it works.

 

[55blacktie]

Thanks, that's all the information I needed. No leaks. Replaced the bushings in the steering gear many years ago after running it up over 100mph ( yah young & dumb ) wanted to wander a bit and that tightened it up a lot. Not sure if I was precise but it works.

Wandering at 100+ is no surprise, especially/w bias-ply tires.

 

[Ward 57]

Wandering at 100+ is no surprise, especially/w bias-ply tires.

I think I had on one of the first generation radial tires at the time. Poly-glass, a polyester & fiberglass core before steel belted radials came around. Man, those tires would flat spot after sitting a bit and took a few miles of driving to get them warmed up enough to roll smoothly.
Back when I was young & dumb but I was in my 20s running from Tacoma to Pullman WA to visit my dad's Frat house across the state on flat wide open roads and decided to see what it could do. I mean the speedometer goes to 140 Afterall... LOL

 

[knuckle47]

I haven’t the word “polyglas” in a very long long time. And I remember the flat spotting so vividly. I had just finished a brake job on my firebird and it sat for a week… I thought I had done something wrong

 

[jack-in-sac]

I guess having the Putnam arm disconnected would accomplish the same purpose?

YEP!

 

[rponfick]

Update on steering box lube. In taking the vent plug out, it was dry as a bone and actually had rust on the bottom of the cap. I could not see any fluid or grease through the vent hole, so suspect it had all leaked out, or someone forget to put any in after rebuild. Made up a mixture of STP and 140 gear lube and filled about 1/2 way up. Then got my grease gun and filled up the rest of the way. Will check after some usage to see where the level is.
Since there were a lot of conflicting comments as to the proper lube, I decided to use both.
Filled up system with PS fluid and then had a massive leak around the reservoir covering cap. I had changed the reservoir filter and evidently didn't get the cover gasket on properly. Nothing fired up yet, so not sure of any other leaks.
Are we having fun yet?
Ralph

 

[paul5456]

Update on steering box lube. In taking the vent plug out, it was dry as a bone and actually had rust on the bottom of the cap. I could not see any fluid or grease through the vent hole, so suspect it had all leaked out, or someone forget to put any in after rebuild. Made up a mixture of STP and 140 gear lube and filled about 1/2 way up. Then got my grease gun and filled up the rest of the way. Will check after some usage to see where the level is.
Since there were a lot of conflicting comments as to the proper lube, I decided to use both.
Filled up system with PS fluid and then had a massive leak around the reservoir covering cap. I had changed the reservoir filter and evidently didn't get the cover gasket on properly. Nothing fired up yet, so not sure of any other leaks.
Are we having fun yet?
Ralph

There has bee a problem in the past about steering reservoirs leaking after changing the filter. Over the years, there has been at least two different size filters. The larger of the two was used in the early birds. Some sell a replacement that is a smaller size so the fluid splashes around causing the reservoir to leak. Got the old filter ? - check the size against the new one.

 

[Ward 57]

There has bee a problem in the past about steering reservoirs leaking after changing the filter. Over the years, there has been at least two different size filters. The larger of the two was used in the early birds. Some sell a replacement that is a smaller size so the fluid splashes around causing the reservoir to leak. Got the old filter ? - check the size against the new one.

This tells me I don't want to touch mine. Don't fix it if it Ai'nt broken seems to fit here.

 

[doug7740]

Ward,

Replacing the power steering filter is not difficult at all. Even though the power steering filter is not a maintenance item, I replaced mine when I replaced the power steering hoses. Paul 5456 mentioned something about larger filters being used on the early Thunderbirds. Since I have an early Thunderbird, built 12/20/1954, here is a picture of the power steering filter that I purchased from CASCO and my power steering reservoir.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue