[Jezza86]

Hi All
this morning it was windy and i have decided its time to take the play out of my steering box. sick of the car wandering on off camber roads. and wind.
i know i need SAE 90 for the box, because it looks like there's a bit of oil on top of the box.
apparently i need to measure the starting torque on the worm shaft and keep it between 50-100 n-cm (.4-.7lb-ft)

then if its no good i need to loosen the lock nut/ jam nut, adjust the pre load to that spec then re tighten the lock nut to 30 n-m
this may seam silly, but i cant see which bolt to turn...
am i just a retard or something???

tanshi wrote:

there is an adjustment nut on top of the steeringbox. i would advise getting a mech to look at it.

smithy- wrote:

wlin88 wrote:

Quote:

have you tried adjusting the steering box ?
- i adjusted this and the steering was more firm and direct.

how do u adjust the steering box ??

there is a bolt with a screw driver slot and lock nut - its located close to the radiator ( drivers side)
loosen of the lock nut and screw in the ajusting bolt a few turns -

Gwagensteve wrote:

Likewise, steering box preload is generally checked by starting torque on the steering shaft, so again it requires some amount of dissasembly to confirm, it can't really be done to spec with the drag link or steering shaft installed.
Steve.

[royce]

by that pic the adjuster is hidden.

dont adjust it unless you can see the input moving and the output not moving, even then thats caused by wear so you wont really fix much

if it wanders, give it some toe in

[Gwagensteve]

The adjuster is hidden by the radiator support in your pic. You can just see the boss that it will be in the centre of above the two bolts that hold the sector shaft in.

I sort of agree with Royce - the boxes always wear around straight ahead. If the box really is worn enough that it's the cause of the wander around straight ahead, if you adjust the preload up straight the box will go tight off of centre.

Steve.

[Jezza86]

thanks guys.
the wander/ play is equal (ie within 1-2 mm) all the way through the turning circle without the pit man arm moving. your comments about the wear typically developing in the straight ahead position leads me to believe its just out of adjustment.

currently has 40-50mm play measured at the top of the steering wheel as the FSM shows. should be 10-30mm in the FSM.
with 30K km on the clock i wouldn't have expected it to be worn out as jimnys with 300K km are still tighter then this.
will pull the rad mount and give it a spin this arvey to see if i can get it back in tolerance the full way through the travel.