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'66 Steering Box

3K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  gjz30075 
#1 ·
The steering box is the last part of the steering and suspension to be replaced. Mine does have some slack and I'm sure is due for replacement. I'm planning to grease her tomorrow, but this is a temporary "fix" I'm sure.

I'm looking at the 16:1 Flaming River box on the SoT and Opentracker sites, as well as one on Summit. I'm a little confused as the local vendors do not show the shaft included but Summit does. Summit is a little more money. Has anyone used these? If so, am I missing something? '66's don't have a rag joint so I'm not clear on the differences and any additional parts I may need
 
#6 ·
Unless your box has been adjusted since the Clinton Administration, it's due for adjustment. This is easy, and requires only a few special tools, and you'll be surprised how much better it gets. You must follow the factory adjustment procedure exactly. If you just start randomly adjusting things, you could cause gearbox failure. This would happen while you were driving, so very ugly things would happen right away.
 
#7 · (Edited)
"....... If you just start randomly adjusting things, you could cause gearbox failure. This would happen while you were driving, so very ugly things would happen right away.
Translated: wrongly adjusted steering boxes can have a and total failure, giving you zero steering input on the direction your car is taking. It will be exactly like one of those newfangled autonomous driverless cars, but without the computers to do the thinking part. That's why it's critical to get an official Ford shop manual and only use the procedure within to do any adjustment to the steering box.

Secondly. Personally I'd rather have a knowledgeable expert restore my steering box than buy a newly manufactured replacement.


Z
 
#18 ·
Zray is right. The ball returns are stamped sheetmetal. If the sector gear binds, the balls back up, split the returns, and escape into the gearbox. Imagine a few of them roaming around in with the sector gears. It would only take one to kill you.

 
#14 ·
There are several deadly scenarios. One would go like this: the adjustment is made too tight, the binding can readily rupture the ball return guide. This lets the balls loose in the box. When one of them gets between the teeth of the rack & sector. Instant jam up and no control on which way the car goes.

Z
 
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