Too much play in steering

[jonecin]

Driving around the other day and I'm noticing a lot of play in the steering wheel. Anyone know what might be the problem.

[ringkingpin]

that's about as vague as a question as possible. No way to tell without being there. It could be a multitude of things, tie rod ends, bad U-Joint in steering shaft, etc. I had an old power wagon that had sloppy steering upon buying it. Found out the entire steering box was coming loose!

[insage2001]

get the front wheels off the ground and grab the wheels (tire) and shake it (both sides) to see if anything is loose.
There are adjustment screws on the steering box also.
You'll need a friend to help you determine what is loose if you have severe play in the wheels after you shake them.
I hope this helps.
Stoney

[jonecin]

Thanks guys! Sorry about the Vague question, didn't really know how to explain. I'll check the wheels off the ground today.

[64yellowbird]

Check the rag joint

[wisconsinjimmy]

To check the ball joints raise car so wheels have decent clearance and with a big heavy bar slide the ber under the tire and lift, if there is wear on the ball joints it will be quite evident with the movement. These cars had mush steering unlike today where you have to use some muscle these are designed to just float and very little input is needed.

[RobertZpianoman]

I Took An Open Ended Wrench And Attached It To The (securing (stem) Bolt Nut) And Then A Huge Flat Blade Screwdriver And Turned (as Noted In Steering Section Of S E R V I C E Manual) The (stem Screw In Center Of That Securing Nut Area), At That Steering Box Gently To The Right Just Taunt Tite As To Not Cause It To Bind Freeplay And No More Doing The Driving Miss Daisy Moving The Steering Wheel Left And Right Like In The Earlier Years Movies As Seen On Cable T V These Days.

[ringkingpin]

Interesting... I finally got my new to me old (61) bird on the road. It doesn't feel like there is anything loose but the car does have a hard time finding center and then floats on center. I am going to get it up on a rack this Friday to feel for loose joints, etc but based on the age and thoroughness of the restoration, I don't think it's worn or loose joints. Only one way to tell...
I was thinking that it might be a wheel alignment issue such as not enough positive caster but after reading RobertZPianoMan's post about the steering valve, I'm wondering if it's not just as simple as that!

[ringkingpin]

Originally Posted by RobertZpianoman

I Took An Open Ended Wrench And Attached It To The (securing (stem) Bolt Nut) And Then A Huge Flat Blade Screwdriver And Turned (as Noted In Steering Section Of S E R V I C E Manual) The (stem Screw In Center Of That Securing Nut Area), At That Steering Box Gently To The Right Just Taunt Tite As To Not Cause It To Bind Freeplay And No More Doing The Driving Miss Daisy Moving The Steering Wheel Left And Right Like In The Earlier Years Movies As Seen On Cable T V These Days.

I have a manual at home and haven't looked at this part of it yet.

I'm curious, did you follow a certain procedure? Usually this adjustment has to do with gear lash and you don't want to over tighten that otherwise you'll be grinding gears and you might not know it because of the power steering. I think usually you take off the pitman arm and put a spring gauge on or something to make sure you aren't going too tight and causing irreversible damage. Just a thought.