1957 Steering Wheel suddenly not centered

[TbirdFan76]

Yesterday I fixed the horn on my Tbird. After the fix I turned the wheel all the way left and then right to test that the horn didn't randomly blow when turning the wheel. After that I went for a drive and discovered the steering wheel top is now 90° left when the car is moving straight. It doesn't pull left or right.

The only thing I can add is that there was cardboard under the left tire when I turned the wheel left and right and the cardboard moved along with the tire. I felt like the steering wheel turned more than usual to the left.

Any ideas what would cause the steering wheel position to change?

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[1957Birdman]

TBFan, I think something was not correct before you made your repair. I would first be sure the car is on level ground, and the tires are pointed forward. From there check the steering wheel position. The spokes of the steering wheel should form a "Y" and the smooth part of the steering wheel should be at the top. If that is off, you will need to adjust the tie rod ends to correct the issue. See the shop manual for details.
I hope I didn't insult your intelligence; you may have done this already. This is also for someone who might be a new owner and experiences this problem.
Lew Bachman
1957 Colonial White

 

[TbirdFan76]

Hi Lew, I agree the horn fix should not cause this. But I do think something went out of adjustment while turning the wheels back fast left and right when I tested after fixing the horn.

When standing still the wheel looks like the attached photos but when driving the top of the steering wheel is at nine o'clock. I do have the shop manual so it says to loosen 2 bolts on spindle connecting rods (on both sides) and turn a sleeve up or down to adjust the steering wheel position. Have you done this before? How much effort might it take if it hasn't been adjusted for a while?

 

[83ragtop50]

What was required to repair the horn? Any work around the steering column? It surely sounds like there has been a shifting in the steering linkage. I would highly recommend not attempting to adjust the tie rod ends at home except for gross alignment changes. Much better to take it to a shop that knows how to align the frontends of our old birds. Irregular tire wear and compromised steering can result from bad adjustments. And the shop will know how to re-center the steering wheel. Just my two cents. Take it for what it is worth.

Let us know how you solve this problem.

 

[TbirdFan76]

What was required to repair the horn? Any work around the steering column? It surely sounds like there has been a shifting in the steering linkage. I would highly recommend not attempting to adjust the tie rod ends at home except for gross alignment changes. Much better to take it to a shop that knows how to align the frontends of our old birds. Irregular tire wear and compromised steering can result from bad adjustments. And the shop will know how to re-center the steering wheel. Just my two cents. Take it for what it is worth.

Let us know how you solve this problem.

Horn repair was simply to replace the brass end of the wire and reattach the horn ring. Then I turned the steering wheel as far as it would go first left then right to make sure the horn didn't sound during turns.

The actual horn repair didn't involve removing the steering wheel, just the horn ring.

I'm having the front end alignment checked tomorrow. If no failed components are found I've asked them to straighten the steering wheel following the directions in the 1957 Ford and Tbird shop manual.

 

[1957Birdman]

I think you are doing the right thing. As I said in my note to you, your steering wheel is about 80 degrees off from where it should be. The shop doing the work should be able to adjust things and fix the problem. You will know that it is right when the 1/3 of the steering wheel that has no gripping lines is centered at the top of the steering wheel and the Ford Master Guide billboard is centered and readable.
Lew Bachman
1957 Colonial White

 

[Alex]

Kan het zijn dat de stuuras beneden bij het stuurhuis over de spiebanen is geschoten bij het draaien van het stuurwiel,? Succes Alex

 

[TbirdFan76]

Current diagnosis by shop is bad power steering control valve, 2 PS pressure hoses, 1 Pitman arm and bushings. Getting second estimate as this shop is adding over 100% to parts cost from suppliers. Will update when repaired.

 

[TbirdFan76]

Current diagnosis by shop is bad power steering control valve, 2 PS pressure hoses, 1 Pitman arm and bushings. Getting second estimate as this shop is adding over 100% to parts cost from suppliers. Will update when repaired.

The bad power steering control valve, slave valve and hoses have been replaced. Turns out the pitman arm and bushings are fine. I found another shop with more reasonable prices for parts saving about $700. They also did an alignment after the repair, but the steering wheel position is now worse. The mechanic said he had the steering wheel position correct but I took one turn, and it was back to being off center to the left. I will be taking it back to get that fixed.

From what I read in my 1957 Ford Car and Thunderbird Shop Manual section 5 pages 5-2 to 5-4 are likely what needs to be adjusted. It covers Steering Gear Adjustments for the Worm and Roller mesh, and steering wheel spoke position adjustment. I will be sharing that information with the shop. If you know the correct item to adjust it will help me point the shop in the right direction.

And a side note. The power steering makes a lot more moaning and groaning sounds than before the repair of the leaking power steering control valve and hoses. I have read 1957 power steering turning noise but if you have thoughts on the power steering noises, not already mentioned in the referenced post, please let me know here or make an update in the referenced post and mention me @TbirdFan76. Thanks.

 

[1957Birdman]

The place to start is with Steering Wheel Spoke Position Adjustment is section 5-4. If things aren't too far off, the mechanic should be able to straighten the steering wheel following those instructions.
My power steering pump does make some noise but only when turned fully in either direction. Yours may need to be rebuilt.
Lew Bachman
1957 Colonial White

 

[Tom Alpers]

None of this makes any sense to me. For the steering wheel to suddenly be so far off center after turning the wheels it would seem to me some significant part would have to have slipped. If the front wheels are both pointing in the same direction after this happened that would suggest it's not due to tie rod ends slipping on the threads. If it happened again after someone worked on the front end parts the two placed I would focus on are the internals of the steering box. Perhaps a bearing in there failed creating way too much gear clearance or the amount of wear on the gear teeth is so great the teeth are slipping. The other place is the steering wheel where it bolts to the steering shaft, perhaps the nut has backed off or someone forgot to put the nut on and the steering wheel is now slipping on the splines on the steering shaft.

 

[1957Birdman]

I agree that something seems to be slipping and it is almost certainly from the Pittman arm back to the steering wheel. I am making the assumption that everything is stock and wasn't modified somewhere along the way by a mechanic in the past. I have had the steering wheel out of my car several times for various repairs, and I know that everything is splined in such a way that is should not be shifting one way or the other. That fact is what needs to be correct for the procedure in the shop manual to fix the problem.
I hope I can describe this properly so that you can get the shop to do it right when resetting the steering wheel. When the car is pointed straight ahead one of the steering wheel spokes should be at the 6 o'clock position and the other two spokes at roughly the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock position. There is one other thing that is key. The part of the steering wheel between the 10 and 2 o'clock positions should not have the gripping grooves that are evident in the other two sections.
You can remove the horn ring and see if the bolt on the steering shaft is tightened. Most likely it is and the problem is in the steering box, or at least it is a good place to look.
Lew Bachman

 

[doug7740]

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[TbirdFan76]

View attachment 34563

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

@doug7740 what component is that a picture of?

 

[doug7740]

When 1957 Birdman stated, "There is one other thing that is key. The part of the steering wheel between the 10 and 2 o'clock positions should not have the gripping grooves that are evident in the other two sections". Unless I was mistaken, I interpreted that as the keyed splines on the steering wheel itself. The picture is of the keyed splines on the steering wheel of my 1955 Thunderbird.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[TbirdFan76]

When 1957 Birdman stated, "There is one other thing that is key. The part of the steering wheel between the 10 and 2 o'clock positions should not have the gripping grooves that are evident in the other two sections". Unless I was mistaken, I interpreted that as the keyed splines on the steering wheel itself. The picture is of the keyed splines on the steering wheel of my 1955 Thunderbird.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

Ah, I see. I think he was referring to the groves on the front of there steering wheel itself. I do appreciate your picture of the back, it may come in handy as well.

 

[1957Birdman]

This is the way the steering wheel should be oriented when the wheels are pointed straight, with the horn ring also oriented correctly. In the picture at the beginning of this posting the horn ring is not oriented correctly to the wheel. This car has the correct orientation of both.
I would check the Pitman arm to be sure it is oriented correctly. If it isn't oriented correctly that can cause all kinds of problems with the steering.
Lew Bachman
1957 Colonial White

 

[TbirdFan76]

View attachment 34613
This is the way the steering wheel should be oriented when the wheels are pointed straight, with the horn ring also oriented correctly. In the picture at the beginning of this posting the horn ring is not oriented correctly to the wheel. This car has the correct orientation of both.
I would check the Pitman arm to be sure it is oriented correctly. If it isn't oriented correctly that can cause all kinds of problems with the steering.
Lew Bachman
1957 Colonial White

Hi @1957Birdman , yes where it should be is not the question. It's how to get it back to this position permanently.

After driving it about 100 miles over the past weekend the steering wheel was off even further to the left. When I returned home I drove in the garage with the steering wheel in the correct upright position like your picture. Funny thing when i drove it back to the repair shop the steering wheel was in the correct position!

I'm thinking the steering gear box is loose. I'll find out when the shop has a chance to look it over. I left him my shop manual and pointed out chapter 5 and the sections on the steering gear box and steering wheel position. I'll let you know what actually fixes this.

 

[TbirdFan76]

Hi @1957Birdman , yes where it should be is not the question. It's how to get it back to this position permanently.

After driving it about 100 miles over the past weekend the steering wheel was off even further to the left. When I returned home I drove in the garage with the steering wheel in the correct upright position like your picture. Funny thing when i drove it back to the repair shop the steering wheel was in the correct position!

I'm thinking the steering gear box is loose. I'll find out when the shop has a chance to look it over. I left him my shop manual and pointed out chapter 5 and the sections on the steering gear box and steering wheel position. I'll let you know what actually fixes this.

Well, the good news is the steering wheel is still in the correct centered position. However it feels like there is more slop in the steering. They did check that the gear box is tightly secured so that shouldn't be the issue.. They also checked the nut at they bottom of the steering column and it is sufficiently tight.

The bad news is the shop isn't sure what to do next. They declined to try further as they felt they'd be just be replacing parts without any certainty it would fix the issue. Their recommendation is too find someone with specific knowledge of the Tbird steering setup for further investigation.

I live in the Minneapolis and St Paul twin cities metro. If anyone knows a shop in this area please direct message me on this forum.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Bethbetty]

I recently had horn repair work done (it was honking when I turned the wheel) and later realized the steering wheel is positioned at 2:00 while I'm driving straight ahead. I haven't been able to get the mechanic back over here, so I'm following with interest. Best of luck with your solution!