| New steering gear/steering wheel not straight [message #128775] |
Sun, 05 June 2011 15:57  |
Rickmo
Messages: 105
Registered: January 2011
Location: Gladwin, Michigan
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I installed a new steering gear box and now my steering wheel is off by about a half turn. How can I get the wheel back centered?
Rick Seebeck
Gladwin Michigan
1973 Canyon Lands
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| Re: New steering gear/steering wheel not straight [message #128788 is a reply to message #128775] |
Sun, 05 June 2011 17:55  |
zhagrieb
Messages: 676
Registered: August 2009
Location: Portland Oregon
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The "drag link", the rod connecting the "pitman arm" to the "relay lever", is adjustable for just that reason. There is a threaded section on the link held by two clamps. Loosen the clamps and turn the section one way or the other until the wheel is where you want it. Make sure your wheels are straight ahead before you start and unlock the steering column with the key so it can turn freely.
Glenn Giere
Glenn Giere, Portland OR, K7GAG
'73 "Moby the Motorhome" 26'
[Updated on: Sun, 05 June 2011 18:01] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: New steering gear/steering wheel not straight [message #128790 is a reply to message #128788] |
Sun, 05 June 2011 18:07 |
fred v
Messages: 999
Registered: April 2006
Location: pensacola, fl.
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| Glenn Giere wrote on Sun, 05 June 2011 17:55 |
The "drag link", the rod connecting the "pitman arm" to the "relay lever", is adjustable for just that reason. There is a threaded section on the link held by two clamps. Loosen the clamps and turn the section one way or the other until the wheel is where you want it. If you are unfamiliar with the terminology, the pitman arm is the arm attached to the side of the steering box, the drag link is attached to it. Make sure your wheels are straight ahead before you start and unlock the steering column with the key so it can turn freely.
Glenn Giere
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it's a lot more complicated than that. the box has a high spot that has to be found and then the steering wheel centered to that spot then the wheels have to brought into line with all that. if you don't have the box on the high spot there will be slack in the wheel and you will be right back where you started.
http://www.gmcmotorhome.info/steering.htm
scroll down to "centering steering wheel".
on the GMCES website there is a good article by Don Wirth on "Steering box adjustment".
obtain some knowledge before doing this or having someone do it.
Fred V
'77 Royale RB 455
P'cola, Fl
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| Re: New steering gear/steering wheel not straight [message #128806 is a reply to message #128775] |
Sun, 05 June 2011 19:46 |
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Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
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| Rickmo wrote on Sun, 05 June 2011 16:57 |
I installed a new steering gear box and now my steering wheel is off by about a half turn. How can I get the wheel back centered?
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I hate to say it, but Been There - Done That (didn't buy the picture or the T-shirt)
I am getting to the point that I don't think anybody can have an original problem that some here has not already managed. I had not installed any new parts, but the result was fantastic.
| gbarrow wrote on Thu, 27 May 2010 09:49 |
Matt,
Can you please describe what all you had to do to "center your steering gear all the way through"
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| mcolie wrote on Thu, 27 May 2010 11:15 |
When I took the coach to Harold's Frame Shop for and alignment (it had some pull), they jacked it up on their rack and called me out to show me how loose everything was and the worst was the idler arm that allowed the left wheel to move. If they though they were going to sell a lot of work, they lost. They lost more than they know.
I had been basing a lot on the fact that the steering wheel was off center and there was a constant pull - even on flat pavement and it was difficult to keep the coach in a lane. The there were no loose ball joints or rod ends.
I went home and was still believing I needed parts, so I did the only intelligent thing - I called Dave Lenzi. The first thing Dave said was "They all do that because they don't understand the GMC frontend and they jack it up so everything is out of line."
Dave could have sold me 500$ worth of parts, but insisted that I reset the steering gear so it is all centered before I buy any parts at all. The following is all per Dave's suggestion and the GMC service manual. If you don't have the manuals, get them.
Start by centering the steering box by counting turns - full left - full right and split the difference. The steering wheel may not come back at straight ahead. Mine did not.
Get the slip coupler and cardin joint out of the way but try not to turn the (now centered) steering box. Find figure 9-64 and line up flat on the steering box per that. This is easier if you clamp something long and straight to the flat. The pitman arm should be square to the frame and the drag link at this point.
I used clamps and steel stock to lock the drag link so I could re-assemble the cardin/slip/cv joint group so the wheel would be straight ahead both as reference and to be a handle.
Then the drag link needs to be adjusted so that both the relay lever (bell crank) and the idler arm are square to the frame or intermediate rod (relay rod). (Parentheses indicate other common names of these parts.)
Now, adjust the tie rods as required to get toe and ahead correct.
The change this made was amazing. It took me a few tries to get the wheel centered and the toe correct at the same time. During the highway portion of our recent excursion, my wife went just over an half a mile without touching the wheel at all - I'll buy that. I owe Dave Lenzi a debt for his telephone time to get me (and the coach) pointed in the right direction (literally).
It did replace the stabilizer links at the same time, but that can't have been much but the rattle.
In operational stuff, we call this a cascade-misalignment. When something is not adjusted right, someone adjusts it were it is convenient but does not adjust the thing that is actually wrong. Then things seem centered, but really are not and other things get have to get adjusted to compensate for what now mis-adjusted. . . .
Matt
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I later realized that I left out two things one I know and the other I was told.
-There should be a mark on the top of the steering shaft (under the horn button) that was straight ahead when she was built.
-Do not disassemble the CV joint as it it s bear to get back together so it does not bind.
If the wheel is not dead ahead when the steering box is centered, then you need to play the mix and match game with the cardin/slip/CV joint stack like you did in mechanical draqwing class to get the strange angles using only standard triangles.
While you are at it, put new - good boots on all that stuff.
Good Luck - I though you were working on an engine......
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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| Re: [GMCnet] New steering gear/steering wheel not straight [message #128818 is a reply to message #128775] |
Sun, 05 June 2011 20:50 |
Ken Henderson
Messages: 8726
Registered: March 2004
Location: Americus, GA
Karma: 9
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Rick,
What a bucket of worms you've potentially opened!
First off, everyone who's answered has given you good information.
And you may be totally confused by it all. And you may or may not
need all of it.
Let's see if we can go back to the very beginning. First, why did you
replace the gear box? What condition were you trying to correct?
Regardless of that, which we'll discuss after you answer, EXACTLY how
did you go about disconnecting the gear box from the steering column?
What all did you disconnect? Did you mark EVERY pair of disconnected
parts so they could be reconnected precisely as disconnected? Did you
"adjust" ANYTHING during dis/assembly?
With those answers, we may be able to identify the exact source of
your wheel misalignment and correct it pretty simply if only one or
two connections were disturbed. Or, we may find that you need to go
through the entire rigamarole of resetting everything.
Ken H.
Americus, GA
'76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI+ & EBL
www.gmcwipersetc.com
On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 4:57 PM, Rick <mrseebeck@gcsnet.org> wrote:
>
>
> I installed a new steering gear box and now my steering wheel is off by about a half turn. How can I get the wheel back centered?
> --
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Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
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