OK the questions and the quest continues to set this coach right! [no pun intended...lol]

Driving the coach back 800 miles from the PO on the east coast last summer i couldn't help but remember how sore my wrist and thumb was from driving 3 days/ 10hrs a day.

So i did some reading here and everywhere about how Alex, Ken, Jim, MatT, Johnny, Bruce etc checked to make sure the steering shaft is aligned properly at the box. Armed with a bit of new found knowledge i jumped in the coach today [bored from working], straightened up the steering wheel, went out and looked at the steering u-joint bolt hoping to see it pointing towards a nice tangent line with the pitman arm. Well boy was i surprised!!! The bolt was pointing towards a nice tangent line with the pitman arm, sure, if the pitman arm was sitting next to the bumper!!

So Off with the u-joint to look at the position of the flat of the steering box shaft...yup you probably guessed it....way off, not even close...like the flat is facing the front of the coach off!!

see pic .... http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/u42842-6cuda6.html

Now the question for you guys.....whats the next step here....do you think pulling the pitman arm and rotating the shaft will get the cross-shaft to the next master spline? Am i better to measure tie-rod lengths and see if they are close to equal and adjust there (that is what my gut and experience is telling me)? Saddest part is im sure its been aligned before as the tires, although weather cracked, are wearing perfectly.

If i had an alignment machine handy i would do it all from Center Line but my driveway is lacking one so a measuring tape, my knowledge and your experience here is gonna be the ticket.

Sir: from here it kinda looks like it is off one of the 6 bolts on the upper joint. Next question is do you have an adjustable link from steering box to relay lever? If you do you can start with the wheels straight ahead and adjust the link till the flat is parallel to the plate then put the shaft back on and take the 6 bolts out and set the steering wheel straight. This will center your box and straighten steering wheel without touching the toe adjustment. However if you don’t have the adjustable shaft you will have to use the tie rod ends to center the box by turning both the same direction the same amount at the same time till the box is on center then set the shaft to lineup the steering wheel.
I am sure someone else will be able to explain it better.





6cuda6 wrote on Wed, 29 April 2020 15:44

OK the questions and the quest continues to set this coach right! [no pun intended...lol]

Driving the coach back 800 miles from the PO on the east coast last summer i couldn't help but remember how sore my wrist and thumb was from driving 3 days/ 10hrs a day.

So i did some reading here and everywhere about how Alex, Ken, Jim, MatT, Johnny, Bruce etc checked to make sure the steering shaft is aligned properly at the box. Armed with a bit of new found knowledge i jumped in the coach today [bored from working], straightened up the steering wheel, went out and looked at the steering u-joint bolt hoping to see it pointing towards a nice tangent line with the pitman arm. Well boy was i surprised!!! The bolt was pointing towards a nice tangent line with the pitman arm, sure, if the pitman arm was sitting next to the bumper!!

So Off with the u-joint to look at the position of the flat of the steering box shaft...yup you probably guessed it....way off, not even close...like the flat is facing the front of the coach off!!

see pic .... http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/u42842-6cuda6.html

Now the question for you guys.....whats the next step here....do you think pulling the pitman arm and rotating the shaft will get the cross-shaft to the next master spline? Am i better to measure tie-rod lengths and see if they are close to equal and adjust there (that is what my gut and experience is telling me)? Saddest part is im sure its been aligned before as the tires, although weather cracked, are wearing perfectly.

If i had an alignment machine handy i would do it all from Center Line but my driveway is lacking one so a measuring tape, my knowledge and your experience here is gonna be the ticket.

Sir: from here it kinda looks like it is off one of the 6 bolts on the upper joint. Next question is do you have an adjustable link from steering box to relay lever? If you do you can start with the wheels straight ahead and adjust the link till the flat is parallel to the plate then put the shaft back on and take the 6 bolts out and set the steering wheel straight. This will center your box and straighten steering wheel without touching the toe adjustment. However if you don’t have the adjustable shaft you will have to use the tie rod ends to center the box by turning both the same direction the same amount at the same time till the box is on center then set the shaft to lineup the steering wheel.
I am sure someone else will be able to explain it better.





6cuda6 wrote on Wed, 29 April 2020 15:44

OK the questions and the quest continues to set this coach right! [no pun intended...lol]

Driving the coach back 800 miles from the PO on the east coast last summer i couldn't help but remember how sore my wrist and thumb was from driving 3 days/ 10hrs a day.

So i did some reading here and everywhere about how Alex, Ken, Jim, MatT, Johnny, Bruce etc checked to make sure the steering shaft is aligned properly at the box. Armed with a bit of new found knowledge i jumped in the coach today [bored from working], straightened up the steering wheel, went out and looked at the steering u-joint bolt hoping to see it pointing towards a nice tangent line with the pitman arm. Well boy was i surprised!!! The bolt was pointing towards a nice tangent line with the pitman arm, sure, if the pitman arm was sitting next to the bumper!!

So Off with the u-joint to look at the position of the flat of the steering box shaft...yup you probably guessed it....way off, not even close...like the flat is facing the front of the coach off!!

see pic .... http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/u42842-6cuda6.html

Now the question for you guys.....whats the next step here....do you think pulling the pitman arm and rotating the shaft will get the cross-shaft to the next master spline? Am i better to measure tie-rod lengths and see if they are close to equal and adjust there (that is what my gut and experience is telling me)? Saddest part is im sure its been aligned before as the tires, although weather cracked, are wearing perfectly.

If i had an alignment machine handy i would do it all from Center Line but my driveway is lacking one so a measuring tape, my knowledge and your experience here is gonna be the ticket.

Here is a link to KenH's write up of Alex's instructions. There are also photos of the procedures in that gallery.
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/steering-box/p55592-steering.html
The key is to get the box setting on the center and everything else gets adjusted from there.

Yes, the absolute best fix is to install an adjustable drag link. It goes
from the pitman arm to the relay arm. Then, disassemble the constant
velocity joint on the intermediate steering column shaft.
Micro adjustments can then be made without changing the centerline of the
steering box.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Oregon

On Wed, Apr 29, 2020, 1:29 PM Charles Boyd via Gmclist <
gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:

> PS: the pitman arm is splined to fit one way only so removing it is not
> only hard it won’t help.
>
>
>
>
>
> C Boyd wrote on Wed, 29 April 2020 16:26
>> Sir: from here it kinda looks like it is off one of the 6 bolts on the
> upper joint. Next question is do you have an adjustable link from
>> steering box to relay lever? If you do you can start with the wheels
> straight ahead and adjust the link till the flat is parallel to the plate
> then
>> put the shaft back on and take the 6 bolts out and set the steering
> wheel straight. This will center your box and straighten steering wheel
> without
>> touching the toe adjustment. However if you don’t have the adjustable
> shaft you will have to use the tie rod ends to center the box by turning
>> both the same direction the same amount at the same time till the box is
> on center then set the shaft to lineup the steering wheel.
>> I am sure someone else will be able to explain it better.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 6cuda6 wrote on Wed, 29 April 2020 15:44
>>> OK the questions and the quest continues to set this coach right! [no
> pun intended...lol]
>>>
>>> Driving the coach back 800 miles from the PO on the east coast last
> summer i couldn't help but remember how sore my wrist and thumb was from
>>> driving 3 days/ 10hrs a day.
>>>
>>> So i did some reading here and everywhere about how Alex, Ken, Jim,
> MatT, Johnny, Bruce etc checked to make sure the steering shaft is aligned
>>> properly at the box. Armed with a bit of new found knowledge i jumped
> in the coach today [bored from working], straightened up the steering wheel,
>>> went out and looked at the steering u-joint bolt hoping to see it
> pointing towards a nice tangent line with the pitman arm. Well boy was i
>>> surprised!!! The bolt was pointing towards a nice tangent line with
> the pitman arm, sure, if the pitman arm was sitting next to the bumper!!
>
>>>
>>>
>>> So Off with the u-joint to look at the position of the flat of the
> steering box shaft...yup you probably guessed it....way off, not even
>>> close...like the flat is facing the front of the coach off!!
>>>
>>> see pic .... http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/u42842-6cuda6.html
>>>
>>> Now the question for you guys.....whats the next step here....do you
> think pulling the pitman arm and rotating the shaft will get the
>>> cross-shaft to the next master spline? Am i better to measure tie-rod
> lengths and see if they are close to equal and adjust there (that is what
>>> my gut and experience is telling me)? Saddest part is im sure its been
> aligned before as the tires, although weather cracked, are wearing
>>> perfectly.
>>>
>>> If i had an alignment machine handy i would do it all from Center Line
> but my driveway is lacking one so a measuring tape, my knowledge and
>>> your experience here is gonna be the ticket.
>
>
> --
> C. Boyd
> 76 Crestmont
> East Tennessee
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
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Caution on the adj drag link. It gives one more place to screw things up. Then the turn signal cancel is out of whack

Oh yah....good point!

JohnL455 wrote on Wed, 29 April 2020 20:53

Caution on the adj drag link. It gives one more place to screw things up. Then the turn signal cancel is out of whack

Alright most of your suggestions were correct....I straightened the steering box up first then installed the 29/64 drill bit through the steering ujoint to make sure it was correct before putting the bolt through and securing it. Then i went inside to the coach to see were the steering wheel was clocked; ended up about a quarter turn to the right [which is suspected it would by the original position of the flat]. So now i had to make a choice, go outside and start taking things apart higher up or work inside.....well i thought the simplest would be to at least check to make sure the steering wheel was in the center and then work outside from there. Well i got lucky, steering wheel was off from the center punch mark, so off it came. Now has anyone tried to re-install the lock steering lock late snap ring without the GM tool....yup you guessed it.....i dont have it either.....lol. So i made one and put the whole thing back together.

Next will be a road test and then re-positioning of the tie-rods because if i'm correct the steering will be offset to the left now about an 1/8th of a turn.

6cuda6 wrote on Sat, 02 May 2020 14:48

Alright most of your suggestions were correct....I straightened the steering box up first then installed the 29/64 drill bit through the steering ujoint to make sure it was correct before putting the bolt through and securing it. Then i went inside to the coach to see were the steering wheel was clocked; ended up about a quarter turn to the right [which is suspected it would by the original position of the flat]. So now i had to make a choice, go outside and start taking things apart higher up or work inside.....well i thought the simplest would be to at least check to make sure the steering wheel was in the center and then work outside from there. Well i got lucky, steering wheel was off from the center punch mark, so off it came. Now has anyone tried to re-install the lock steering lock late snap ring without the GM tool....yup you guessed it.....i dont have it either.....lol. So i made one and put the whole thing back together.

Next will be a road test and then re-positioning of the tie-rods because if i'm correct the steering will be offset to the left now about an 1/8th of a turn.

Rich,

Hang on here a bit.... So, the chisel mark straight with the wheel? And the box is centered. If yes, don't touch anything yet.

Did you ever take a mechanical drawing class?
Do you remember the exercise of making different angles with the 45 & 60 triangles??
Same game. The slip joint can go together any of 4 ways and the CV joint any of 6 ways. So, you have 60° and 90° increments to reindex. So, make a solid guess how many degrees you need. An 1/8 of a turn is 45°. Then start adding and subtracting 60s and 90s until you hit close enough. Easy to hit a 30° index. Both that and 60° are easy to hit. Getting that last 15°out may take some serious thinking.

Remember, I had to be right before it left Pontiac.

Nice time to tell you, but in the states you can often borrow that tool from a store-front parts place.

Good Luck

Matt