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New owner from Germany

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
Sorry. Did not see where you already said you tried the adjuster screw.
Oh well...;D

Paul
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
Not being an expert on steering boxes, I'd say that yes, those are too far gone.
They are at least beyond the point where the box is ever going to be happy doing it's job.

And if you haven't already seen them, read the discussions closely about putting it back together, and how the balls are varied in size and what order they go in.
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
that is all good info, thank you.

my plan of attack:
remove the box again, and test it on a bench. open it if anything obvious can be found.
if at all possible, slap it back together.

second, find a replacement.
i did look into the borgeson unit. it seems that this may also be a route.
new box, hoses to connect it to a ford pump and a coupler to connect it to the stock shaft.
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
that is all good info, thank you.

my plan of attack:
remove the box again, and test it on a bench. open it if anything obvious can be found.
if at all possible, slap it back together.

second, find a replacement.
i did look into the borgeson unit. it seems that this may also be a route.
new box, hoses to connect it to a ford pump and a coupler to connect it to the stock shaft.

he's best in his oh and moments.. Lots of great knowledge
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
thought some more about it last night.
it boils down to the steering shaft being the culprit.
the previous owner did not only put a coupler in there, but also shortened it in the process to make room for the power steering box.
so i now have a column that cannot be shortened anymore with a coupler to the steering box that doesn't really fit.

so currently, my best bet would be a custom set:
any new box
hoses to a ford pump
complete new upper and lower shaft

so the only place where i can find a new upper shaft seems to be TBP.
maybe i can get a custom set there...
 

BwoncoHowie

C-4 Wizard
Joined
Nov 11, 2002
Messages
3,571
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
woah! i think i found it.
got home from work early and went to the garage to take out the steering box.
went surprisingly easy, as well as tearing it down. i guess if you have done it a couple of times, it's no real challenge...

i swear i measured all the recirculating balls the last time.
they were slightly, but measurably different, 1 thousandth of a mm difference between the two sizes.
but there was one ball with noticeable pitting. i remember it from the last time, but must not have measured it. i think i remember it was the one i saved for last and automatically put it in the stash of larger balls, as this was where one was missing.
but this time i measured it. it's 15 thousandth of a mm larger than the larger sized balls!

no wonder something was binding and locking up. i think the previous owner screwed this one up spectacularly. and that's why he left the box so loose...
so where can i get the balls? i'd like to get a complete set, if at all possible.
thus i could slap the box back together. it's worn out, as you can see from the pictures and will never do really well. but at least this could get me back on the road before i bite the bullet and buy new parts.

current plan for new parts:
get a borgeson box
get the borgeson hoses for a ford pump
get two new couplers, cut off the old upper coupler, weld in a new one.
make a new lower shaft and mate it to the borgeson coupler on the lower end.
 

BwoncoHowie

C-4 Wizard
Joined
Nov 11, 2002
Messages
3,571
...i swear i measured all the recirculating balls the last time.
they were slightly, but measurably different, 1 thousandth of a mm difference between the two sizes.
but there was one ball with noticeable pitting. i remember it from the last time, but must not have measured it. i think i remember it was the one i saved for last and automatically put it in the stash of larger balls, as this was where one was missing.
but this time i measured it. it's 15 thousandth of a mm larger than the larger sized balls!

no wonder something was binding and locking up. i think the previous owner screwed this one up spectacularly. and that's why he left the box so loose...
so where can i get the balls? i'd like to get a complete set, if at all possible.
thus i could slap the box back together. it's worn out, as you can see from the pictures and will never do really well. but at least this could get me back on the road before i bite the bullet and buy new parts...

When you are shopping for ball-bearings or other parts, everything in the early Bronco steering gear is measured in inches". Also if you would read the thread to the link I posted, it will give you some insight on needed materials because of my parts shopping experience explained there.

The pictures of your sector gear tooth faces look like rust caused by sitting in water and not necessarily wear through the case-hardness.
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
Thanks, I wrote them an E-Mail and also contacted Lares, that's the company Rockauto uses for a rebuild service.

No complaints at all I've see with folks on here that have used them
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
another update: the bronco is back on the road.

IMG_3749.jpeg


the steering is as sloppy as before, though.

here's what went wrong:
i went through measuring the recirculating balls again.
the measurements were not as consistent as i had hoped for, but i believe i sorted them out.
the odd ball i thought was too large was actually too small. i had missed that the scale on the micrometer only went to .50 - it was half a rotation off, so smaller than the other ones.

so i decided to slap the box back together. setting the input shaft preload was actually easy, readings were consistent.
BUT: as soon as i put the sector shaft in, things got out of whack. there was actually no way to lower the sector shaft to get that tighter spot in the middle as needed.
it started to get a higher torque reading on the left and right, not in the middle. so i came to the conclusion that the box really is too worn to properly adjust. i think this is where i went wrong the last time. i aimed for that tight spot in the middle, but failed to see it was binding on the outsides.
i am very much aware of the warnings to not set a box too tight, as it can bind - but still, this happened.

i put the box in, just to drive it around - as the mustang, as mentioned above, had problems that came back. so it's not the coil, and i now suspect a failing pertronix unit. will put the points back in tomorrow.

i ordered parts at summitracing for the bronco, parts will arrive next friday.
new borgeson steering box
hoses to connect it to the ford pump
coupler from the borgeson box to a 3/4 dd shaft
24" 3/4 dd shaft
coupler 3/4 dd to 3/4 dd

i will have to grind off the old coupler from the upper shaft and will have a friend mill it down to a dd shape.
i hope this will be a weekend project.
 
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tody

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Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
major improvement as far as ride quality is concerned.

my old driveshaft war worn out. the splines had play in them, and during a previous rebuild some kind of blue plastic liner had been applied. that was nearly gone, though.
i got a replacement driveshaft through rockauto and put it in today. driveline vibration gone.

i also added another half bottle of friction modifier to the rear differential. that seemed to have helped, too. was behaving like a spool before.

and i welded a crack on the passenger side door. i also put in all new window felts. that took away A LOT of rattling noise.
IMG_3766.jpeg


i now can almost hear the noise of the tires on the road!
will do the driver side door tomorrow.
 
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tody

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Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
still waiting to do the borgeson swap. parts are here, there's a public holiday coming up in two weeks. so i guess i'll do it on that long weekend.

a new parcel from tbp arrived on friday. new tach is installed, looks awesome.

IMG_3772.jpeg
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
first half of the borgeson swap is done. pulled the steering shaft and the old steering box.
borgeson box dropped right in, the conversion hoses to the ford pump fit perfectly.

i know that every once in a while people will complain about the strange looks of the double drilled holes on the borgeson box. but they lined up perfectly with the frame. i re-used the old bolts and did not drill the fourth hole.

cut the coupler on the old shaft, will have the upper half milled to the proper DD shape by a friend. will probably complete the swap next thursday, when the long weekend starts.
 
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