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steven in tn 09-02-2012 14:41:11 205.188.117.67 Report to Moderator	51 vac narrow front,has 5 to 6 inches of play in steering wheel? what can be done about this? thanks [Reply]   [No Email]
Christopher Mikesell 09-02-2012 16:03:45 76.226.28.198 Report to Moderator	Re: 51vac steering play help? in reply to steven in tn, 09-02-2012 14:41:11   The major causes of play in the late-style steering system are backlash between the worm and the front shaft gear, and endplay in the worm shaft. You can check for endplay by rotating the steering wheel so that there is no load on it and then pulling and pushing on the universal joint nearest to the front pedistal. There should be no play. If there is no endplay in this shaft, then you probably need to adjust the backlash between the worn amd shaft gear. To make either adjustment, you first need to remove the front cover with the grease-zerk in it(shown in the middle of your picture). You remove shims which are behind the cover to remove endplay, and you rotate the assembly behind the shims to remove backlash. Rotating it clockwise increases clearance and counter-clockwise decreases clearance. You can only rotate it counter-clockwise until the gears start to interfere and bind somewhere in the steering travel. You may have to make a tool to change the backlash out of a plate and some dowels (see the service manual for details). There should be from 1" to 2 1/2" of dead band at the outside of the steering wheel when you are done. [Reply]  [No Email]