Adjust Steering

[DuWayne Ladner]

Have a lot of play in steering wheel. Manual steering. Car is SS396 L78. Do I loosen the nut on steering box and add to adjustment. Any help would greatly be appreciate. Car was contracted out on the restoration, but I done the cleaning up of steering box and can’t remember if I messed with the adjustment or not. Thanks!

[GMAD_Van Nuys]

Section 9-37 of the GM chassis manual says it is not recommended to try and adjust the steering box when it is installed in the vehicle:

https://www.midweststeering.com/wp-content/uploads/Saginaw-800-PS-Comp.pdf

JohnZ made a prior comment about adjusting the steering box:

http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=3881.0

[R68GTO]

I rebuilt my manual steering box and adjusted it out of the car to get it close then made small final adjustment after re-install.  It's really important to get it "centered" in the travel. 
Out of the car the force required to rotate the input should noticeably get higher when you approach the center of travel, with the highest resistance at dead center of travel.  Once back in the car, I loosed the nut and adjusted the bolt just slightly to stiffen it up to my liking.  Since you're not sure how it got loose, I would pull it and try to reset it on the bench, then re-install and see if it got better. There are some good Youtube videos on rebuilding and setting these Saginaw units.

[DuWayne Ladner]

Thanks, R68GTO. To avoid damage to the unit, and total removal from steering sector, can it be broke loose at the rag joint and drop steer shaft and try to adjust. A little out of my ability, or just return it to my restorer, or my ace mechanic. Appreciate the info.

[boomer632]

I rebuilt my manual steering box and adjusted it out of the car to get it close then made small final adjustment after re-install.  It's really important to get it "centered" in the travel. 
Out of the car the force required to rotate the input should noticeably get higher when you approach the center of travel, with the highest resistance at dead center of travel.  Once back in the car, I loosed the nut and adjusted the bolt just slightly to stiffen it up to my liking.  Since you're not sure how it got loose, I would pull it and try to reset it on the bench, then re-install and see if it got better. There are some good Youtube videos on rebuilding and setting these Saginaw units.

I am in the middle of a manual steering thingy myself and was looking on YT for videos. I came across one for the 5679142 box. Any links you could PM me or post?

[R68GTO]

I can't find the specific one back that I used, but I do recall it wasn't the exact box I had.  Saginaw's design, rebuild, adjustment for manual boxes were similar across multiple applications.

[GMAD_Van Nuys]

A Saginaw manual steering box is also used in early Mustangs and in the Hot Rod article below, it is noted that you can adjust the box by loosening the nut on the box and tightening the bolt (sector screw) until it is snug as R68GTO described:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/steerage-class-september-1987-982-1300-86-1/

If there is no change as a result of the adjustment, it is recommended that the steering box needs to be rebuilt.

[KurtS]

It's more than that.
As JohnZ said: Manual steering gear adjustment is covered in Section 9 of the Chassis Service Manual. You can do serious damage to some very expen$ive steering gear parts by "adjusting" it without following the procedure in the manual.

[Kelley W King]

I did the snug the screw on my manual steering box on my 64 vette years ago. Did not help the situation. Ended up replacing the box.

[DuWayne Ladner]

Thanks, everyone for responding. Now a dummy question, being an old fart, where can I find a chassis service manual to read up on Section 9 for adjusting, and is this some that can be done by dropping the steering sector at rag joint? Just a thought. Thanks.

[David K]

Literally just type it in your browser....everyone sells them.

[68 Ragtop]

Thanks, everyone for responding. Now a dummy question, being an old fart, where can I find a chassis service manual to read up on Section 9 for adjusting, and is this some that can be done by dropping the steering sector at rag joint? Just a thought. Thanks.

Just because I like you, I am going to give you section 9 for free.

All you have to do is click this link that was previously provided:

https://www.midweststeering.com/wp-content/uploads/Saginaw-800-PS-Comp.pdf

You can save it to your computer, print it out, or just know is here to refer too.

[boomer632]

I assume the adjustment in Sect 9 applies to manual boxes too no?

[DuWayne Ladner]

Thank you so much 68 Ragtop, but I’m like boomer632, is this for manual steering? Will wait to hear from you, before I print this! Thanks again.

[68 Ragtop]

If you are talking about the "over center" adjustment, I believe it's the same. I checked my 1968 chassis service manual and the procedure is similar for vehicles with "regular" steering and the diagrams show a manual box. The procedure for adjusting the worm gear actually looks quite simple, unless you have a tilt column or simulated wood wheel. You don't even have to take the box out for this adjustment in 1968. Just disconnect the pitman arm and measure with a torque wrench.