TR2/3/3A Before I remove my steering box...

[Lukens]

How much wheel "slop" is excessive?
I can rotate my steering wheel approximately 30 degrees (maybe 2-1/2") before the drop arm moves.
If I rebuild the box, what should I expect?

Russ

 

[mrv8q]

Are you sure it isn't caused by a perished Silentbloc?

 

[Lukens]

I replaced them less than a thousand miles ago.

 

[TR3driver]

I'd still double-check them, especially if there wasn't that much slop then. They sometimes fail quickly.

The box isn't too bad, but the manual is a little short on information and some of the parts are NLA or expensive. You'll also need some special tools (but they aren't too hard to come by). I think you can buy new worms now, but they don't come with the shaft. I got a lot of improvement while keeping the old worm and other NLA parts though, so IMO it's worth doing anyway.

ISTR the book says the bushing needs to be reamed after installation, but mine was a perfect fit without reaming. You'll need a Pitman arm puller to get the drop arm off, but the standard puller I got did not fit properly until I milled the jaws a bit wider. Some threaded rod, nuts & flat washers will work to extract the bushing and seal (together), then to install the bushing. Then you can tap the seal into place the usual way. I left the seal sticking out by 1/8", so the lip would ride on a different place on the shaft and seal better.

After trying other methods, I think a dial indicator is the only way to go when setting the end float. Get a magnetic mount, so you can clamp it onto the tube and have the indicator shaft ride on the steering shaft; then push and pull the drop arm to get the measurement. Add a shim, measure the float, then subtract that thickness (or .001" more if you can't hit it exactly) and reassemble. Of course the adjusting screw has to be backed off completely while making the measurement. Enco usually has a cheap dial indicator and magnetic base on sale for under $25 ($20 right now). https://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT...MKANO=366&PMKBNO=3240&PMPAGE=59&PARTPG=INLMPI
(Side note : Although the prices are similar, IMO Enco has a little more quality control than Harbor Freight. I prefer to get my measuring tools from Enco.)

To set the peg clearance (adjustment screw), turn the shaft with your fingers (no steering wheel or center link attached) and tighten the screw until you can just feel the tight spot where all the clearance is gone. Lock the nut and recheck. On my 3A, the worm was worn badly enough that there were actually two tight spots, one either side of center.

 

[Lukens]

Thanks Randall. I can handle the rebuild. I'd just like to know how much play is in a properly adjusted box. Any? Some? A lot?

 

[TR3driver]

Should be a place on-center where there is no play at all, in the box. Out away from center, there should be maybe an inch or two at the rim of the steering wheel. But that won't matter, because the steering geometry should always be pulling against you (as long as the car is moving).

Of course there are other places where motion accumulates. I'd say I get another inch or two at the rim before I can see the road wheel move (with the car parked of course). But I use metal-on-metal replacements for the Silentblocs, so that may not be typical. They turn freely, so there has to be some clearance in them; but it might be less than the deflection of the stock type Silentblocs.

 

[TexasKnucklehead]

I'd like to mention that I followed Randal's advice, and my TR3 steering is great. I'll guess that at 75mph, I can move the steering wheel 2.5" right and left to pass a car. There is almost no "slop" in my steering wheel. Just as important, is the ease I can rotate the wheel with the car barely moving. I used the TRF uprated parts (HP301) instead of the silent-blocks, and an assortment of used parts from other steering boxes during the rebuild (but new tie rods, ball joints and trunnions as well as the box seal and bushing -reamed to fit). Also (like Randall) I have synthetic gear oil in the box, and no leaks.

One addition I'd suggest to Randal's method when finding the "sweet spot" in the center of worm travel; remove the rubber bushing from the other end of the split column. My worm was not mounted exactly square to the shaft, and with the bushing removed, rotation (at the shaft end where it joins the other half) was elliptical. Once the bushing was removed, it was easy to tell where the tight spot in the worm was. Without knowing where the tight spot is, you can't properly adjust the post. That slight offset doesn't matter once it's all together, but finding the resistance at the center is important.

That bushing has a nylon insert, and two rubber retention posts, but getting it out of the outer shaft is a bear. Plan to replace it because it will probably be in pieces by the time you get it out.

I suppose you expect to be dealing with the stater tube...

 

[sp53]

TexN I am not sure what you mean here and steering is kinda a safety deal.” My worm was not mounted exactly square to the shaft” just curious because the shaft is round with a worm gear on the end and will spin round and round. Did you mean the pitman arm was attached not on the mark, so that one side had more travel than the other?

 

[TR3driver]

I found the same thing with my TR3 solid column : the bearing races on the worm were not perfectly in-line with the full length of the shaft. So with the bearings tight and the upper end free (no bushing), the end would move through a small circle as the shaft turned. Not sure how it happened, I thought maybe the shaft was bent, but it's possible that the worm or shaft wasn't machined just perfect. I actually stuck the shaft in the press and tried to "straighten" it a bit, without much success.

That's a good idea about leaving the bushing out while making the adjustment.

The bushings on the 3A came out pretty easy for me (I did the upper column at the same time). I used one hand to compress the rubber buttons as much as I could, then used the steering shaft in the other hand to bang the bushing out. They could have been reused, but my suggestion is to not remove them unless you plan to replace them.

Alignment of the upper and lower shafts is important too. I spent a fair amount of time with the column clamps loose (all 4 of them, but not the clamps between the two shafts), getting everything lined up for minimum resistance and gradually snugging the clamps in place. It's a lot easier with the one piece column.

 

[Jim_Stevens]

How much wheel "slop" is excessive?
I can rotate my steering wheel approximately 30 degrees (maybe 2-1/2") before the drop arm moves.
If I rebuild the box, what should I expect?

Russ

Check the RevingtonTR site too. He has some add-ons for the steering box that you might want to use.

 

[TR3driver]

Check the RevingtonTR site too. He has some add-ons for the steering box that you might want to use.

Or not. Almost everyone I know that has tried that spring-loaded top cover has been unhappy with the result. It works, kind of, but is no substitute for a rebuild and careful adjustment IMO.

A friend had me drive his TR3A with one installed, and it was awful. Apparently the spring is strong enough to increase friction all the time, but not strong enough to keep the peg from riding up even in just parking lot maneuvering. The worst of both worlds.