Correcting Out of Alignment Steering Wheel

[Jeff10]

Hi Everyone,

I am working on the '70 build, trying to clean it up for sale. One of the things that I would like to correct is the orientation of the steering wheel. Right now it is too far in the clockwise direction (probably by about 40 degrees).

I removed the Tom's steering wheel from the adapter hoping that I could just rotate it back to the next set of holes. I would have been off by almost as much in the counterclockwise direction.

Just for reference, it is a Tom's Bronco steering wheel, and Ididit tilt column, and a Borgeson lower shaft and joints.

So, I think these are my choices:

1. Remove the adapter from the upper steering shaft and rotate it back clockwise and align it on the splines at that orientation.
2. Remove one of the lower joints (probably at the steering box input) and change the orientation there.
3. Drill and tap new holes in the adapter.

Just wondering if others have found one way to be a better solution.

Thanks for any input.

Take Care,

Jeff

 

[69_Sport]

Go with #1

 

[m_m70]

1. Remove the adapter from the upper steering shaft and rotate it back clockwise and align it on the splines at that orientation.

This^^^

 

[Jeff10]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your input.

 

[Wild horse 75]

I would say #1 will be the easiest. But before you go and do that ensure your steering box is actually centred. If it isn’t you should get an alignment. Making the steering wheel straight on a non centred steering box is just masking an “issue”.

 

[DirtDonk]

What Wild horse (great name by the way ) said.
Does this Bronco have a suspension lift on it?
If so, does it have an adjustable draglink?
Or at the very least I dropped Pitman Arm and trackbar bracket?

The only “correct“ way to center a steering wheel is to make sure the steering gearbox is centered first, and then center the steering wheel on that.
Whether you have to move the steering wheel adapter, or the lower splined joint/yoke you’re trying to match the steering wheel to the correctly mounted and adjusted gearbox.
Not match the steering wheel to an off center gearbox

 

[Jeff10]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all your input.

Nothing has changed in the steering and suspension since some changes were made after first buying the Bronco. I trust the shop that did the work. The major change that took place since was replacing the body which involved removing and reinstalling the steering column.

I have driven it several times the last week. Other than some minor wandering that I mainly attribute to the gearbox (and very similar to our '71) the Bronco drives great around town and on country roads. It's only been driven up to about 60 mph... it doesn't pull or bind.

Jeff

 

[Broncobowsher]

Only if there is an aftermarket adjustable drag link can it be dialed in.
But as stated multiple times, #1 option of taking the hub off the shaft and rotate. I forget how many splines it is. Call it 36, that lets you dial in the steering wheel in 10° increments. You probably have more than 10° of play in the wheel.
I think that steering wheel uses 5 bolts to hold it to the adaptor. Those are 72° spacing. If you really wanted to split hairs you could use that and the splines on the shaft to really dial it in. +70° with splines and -72° with the bolts will yield -2° steering wheel adjustment. (if it really is a 36 spline hub that is). How dialed do you dare try and get it?

 

[Jeff10]

Hi Broncobowsher,

Thanks for the input.

I went through something similar with the '71. I had installed a Borgeson lower shaft and joints and rebuilt the column. The alignment was good it was just a matter of the splines on the upper shaft being off by one or two, or the same condition at the input to the box. In any case, I was able to get it pretty close by rotating the adapter at the wheel.

This build has been a real stop-and-start activity. It really started for me in early 2012. At that time I had a reputable shop rotate the knuckles to increase caster to 7 degrees. Before that it was all over the road, no return to center.... just not fun to even drive around the block. When they did the modification they checked everything else out on the steering. It's been a while since that was done so I really don't remember them specifically mentioning anything about centering the steering box. Maybe I'm not looking at it correctly; but, I wouldn't think that it would drive as well as it does, or have uniform turning from side to side if the box wasn't centered.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[DirtDonk]

That’s pretty much true. I don’t know if you can tell during short jaunts if it’s centered precisely, but it sounds pretty close.
One thing about shops though. They don’t always (in fact rarely!) seem to know all the details and rules about how to make a Bronco work.