I have a 47 Merc 2ton I'm working on. There's quite a bit of play in the steering box. It doesn't really bother me but I'm thinking I'm going to have to get this truck certified down the road. I does anyone know the criteria for when they certify historic vehicles? Would they fail it based on that?
Any vintage cars that I have ever had certified had to pass the same standards as any car or truck .The only difference is what was origional equip for the year ,one or two taillights ,turn signals stuff like that if it didn't have it origionally it doesn't need it to pass a safety.Faulty steering box definatly a problem in many ways. Ed
Is the box loose or is it a combination of all the steering joints being worn?....Probably need to tighten the box and replace some parts in steering...it shouldnt feel loose
Ya need to have someone turn the wheel and see if the pitmanarm turns at the same time as the wheel or if there is a lag befor it moves .Some boxes have agustments on them check your manual or maybe on line. Ed
I,m a Truck and Coach Tech and you definitely have a problem. You will have to fix it before it can be certified. Check to see that the input and output shafts turn together when the steering wheel is turned aggressively back and forth If they don,t there are adjustments on the box but you will have to find out the specs. If they do move together check your steering column, There may be wear in the collapsible shaft section or in the u-joint at the input shaft. If you don,t want to tackle the job yourself there are truck shops out there that will do it for you.
We get boxes from Steer Tech all the time, good people but I don't know if they service older stuff. 1/10th to an 1/8 of a turn is not that bad considering the design of those old boxes. If there is no play in the drag link ends then adjust the box on center. Center the box in it's travel loosen the jamb nut and turn the adjuster down until it bottoms. Back it out a 1/4 turn then tighten the jamb nut. Run it back and forth over center to make sure it is not tight over center. If it is tight back it out another 1/4 turn max. There is no steering column in those trucks, the sector shaft is the steering column with no u joints, rag joint or collapsible sections.
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