1973 142 steering slop

Hello all
I have a 73 142 with manual steering and the steering wheel has slowly
developed about 2and a half inches of play. I've checked the rubber
bushings and they are good. That leaves the steering box I guess.
Can I adjust the box at all? Can I buy a rebuilt one?
What are your suggestions?

Regards
Russ

 

There is an adjustment on it; there's a hex nut with a slotted threaded
rod through it. Loosen the nut, turn the rod with a screwdriver, and
hold it while tightening the nut. Don't overtighten the rod, though;
bear in mind that most of the wear is in the center of the gear and
if you get it too tight, you'll overstress the box in tight turns.

I ran into this problem last year or the year before on my '72 145.
It is next to impossible to find a new, rebuilt, or good used manual
steering box for 140 series cars. I finally found one that wasn't too
worn, had the mechanic swap it out, and got the car back with the
steering wheel about 45 degrees off (to the left) when the car was
going straight.

I fixed it with these steps:

Adjust the box as needed or as close as you can to get rid of most
of the play;
Pull the car up the driveway so it's rolling straight;
Mark the upper surface of the shaft from the box with a narrow line
of paint;
Turn the steering wheel until it's level;
Mark the upper surface of the clamp on the steering shaft with
another narrow line of paint;
Loosen the clamp on the end of the steering shaft;
Remove the nuts from the two shear bolts at the junction in the
steering shaft near the firewall;
Slide the clamp off the box shaft (towards the firewall);
Rotate it until the paint stripes line up;
Slide the clamp back on, keeping the shear bolts lined up with
their holes and the paint stripes aligned as well as possible;
Reinstall the nuts on the shear bolts and tighten (must do this
first);
Tighten the clamp.

Don't bother taking apart the junction near the steering box, you won't
have enough play to get the stub with the clamp slid off the boxshaft.
(Yes, I tried that first...)

Somewhere, I have email from a person who has rebuild parts for the
steering boxes; if I come across it, I'll post it.

Good luck finding a box, the two worn ones I have are so loose the
shafts have about 1/4 turn of play in them.


Gary