Loose Mini Truck PS question (1 Viewer)

[JDNs78FJ40]

I did this mod and overall it’s great. However there is quite a bit of play in the steering wheel from left to right and curious what I could do to tighten it up? Has a new rag joint, rebuilt center arm and the gear box was taken apart and resealed and 4* steel shims on the front. Would tightening up the drag link help? Any suggestions would be great.

 

[bhsdriller]

Have someone look at the components while you turn the wheel and you can usually see where it's coming from

 

[77mustard40]

X2 ^^^. Start by watching the pitman arm, if the input shaft to the PS box is turning and you are not seeing movement in the pitman arm then you’re looking at a box rebuild. Also pay attention to the pitman arm and drag link connection, ie pitman arm moves without moving the drag link. Another likely culprit with be the center steering joint on the front of the crossmember behind the bumper, check for rotational play with steering input. If both those ckeck out then it’s on to tie rods and steering arms on the knuckles. Slop with mini box PS pretty much follows manual box slop since only the box has changed and all the other components are still in play.

 

[wngrog]

I’d bet the Mini Box is whooped

 

[SteveH]

I have never seen a minitruck box (and I have seen many) that didn't benefit from very judicious adjusting of the box itself. Since boxes wear in the center position (since that's where 99% of your driving takes place), it's tempting to try to adjust ALL the slop out of the middle, which then causes the box to bind at extreme (full lock) steering angles. When you adjust the box, do it very gradually until you get it 'nice' in the middle, and 'not sticking' at full lock (left or right). At that point, you're done adjusting the box for slop.

I have an old, high-miles minitruck box in my '40 (for 20 years), which I adjusted, and it has been slop-free and fairly precise for many years. I converted 2 other trucks, adjusted the boxes, and neither had excessive play.

@bhsdriller advice was very sound - it takes 2 to study and debug. This is why we get married - someone to jiggle the steering wheel and help bleed the brakes!

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

I have never seen a minitruck box (and I have seen many) that didn't benefit from very judicious adjusting of the box itself. Since boxes wear in the center position (since that's where 99% of your driving takes place), it's tempting to try to adjust ALL the slop out of the middle, which then causes the box to bind at extreme (full lock) steering angles. When you adjust the box, do it very gradually until you get it 'nice' in the middle, and 'not sticking' at full lock (left or right). At that point, you're done adjusting the box for slop.

I have an old, high-miles minitruck box in my '40 (for 20 years), which I adjusted, and it has been slop-free and fairly precise for many years. I converted 2 other trucks, adjusted the boxes, and neither had excessive play.

@bhsdriller advice was very sound - it takes 2 to study and debug. This is why we get married - someone to jiggle the steering wheel and help bleed the brakes!

When you say "adjusting the box itself" do you mean its position on the pedestal or the nut on the side cover? Sorry if that is silly question..... It does seem like there is more slop when turning to the right. I might be expecting it should be tighter than it really can be considering. Just hard to compare it to something unless I someone I knew had the same setup installed.

 

[SteveH]

The nut on the side cover is what I was referring to. If you slightly overtighten it and feel binding at full lock turns, then you know you've overtightened it. At that point, back it off a bit and test again.