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Discussion Topic:
Hard steering for a 1936 Ford
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zoopie36 |
01-30-2014 @ 8:08 AM
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Member
Posts: 42
Joined: Jun 2010
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I own a 1936 Ford coupe and the steering is quite difficult. Would appreciate any helpful suggestions. Thanks, zoopie
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40fordor |
01-30-2014 @ 7:13 PM
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New Member
Posts: 116
Joined: Oct 2009
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Zoopie36, The first thing to check is the lubricant in the steering box. I purchased my 36 from a well known collector and he employed someone full time to service his cars and the steering box was dry! It still leaks but I monitor the level. I yield to the experts for other problems in steering. Don
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CharlieStephens |
01-30-2014 @ 8:51 PM
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Senior
Posts: 893
Joined: Oct 2009
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Drive another '36 ford to be sure you know what they should feel like. Don't drive a '37 as they were improved (in fact some people put them into their '36's). Charlie Stephens
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supereal |
01-30-2014 @ 8:59 PM
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Senior
Posts: 6819
Joined: Oct 2009
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Lift the front end, place stands under the axle. Disconnect the drag link from the pitman arm, and see if the steering wheel is still hard to turn. That will isolate problem to either the front end parts or the steering box. If it turns out to be the front end, suspect the king pins. They may not have been greased, or were assembled incorrectly with the bearing on the wrong side of the spindles. I have seen that more than once. If it turns out to be the steering box, and adding lube doesn't change it, it is likely it will need to be disassembled and the bearings replaced. The location of the box to the left exhaust manifold can mean the lube was baked nearly solid.
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supereal |
01-30-2014 @ 9:00 PM
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Senior
Posts: 6819
Joined: Oct 2009
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Lift the front end, place stands under the axle. Disconnect the drag link from the pitman arm, and see if the steering wheel is still hard to turn. That will isolate problem to either the front end parts or the steering box. If it turns out to be the front end, suspect the king pins. They may not have been greased, or were assembled incorrectly with the bearing on the wrong side of the spindles. I have seen that more than once. If it turns out to be the steering box, and adding lube doesn't change it, it is likely it will need to be disassembled and the bearings replaced. The location of the box to the left exhaust manifold can mean the lube was baked nearly solid.
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alanwoodieman |
01-31-2014 @ 8:21 AM
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Senior
Posts: 868
Joined: Oct 2009
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1936 is the only year that Ford tried needle bearings (think universal joint) in the steering box in place of the bushings, these bearings have a very bad habit of freezing up . As i said they only tried it one year. I have helped change these out for bushings, but you cannot use standard ford-they need to be a lot thicker. We got some from a McMaster-Carr catalog, don't know the numbers
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woodiewagon46 |
01-31-2014 @ 8:53 AM
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Senior
Posts: 704
Joined: Nov 2012
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I had two ball joints, at different times freeze up. Listen to supereal and you will be ok.
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keith oh |
02-02-2014 @ 8:17 AM
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New Member
Posts: 116
Joined: May 2010
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My hard steering 1935 was greatly improved by removing the old steering box oil and replaceing it with 100% STP. Some use John Deere Corn head grease but STP is more available and econmical.
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alanwoodieman |
02-02-2014 @ 9:06 AM
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Senior
Posts: 868
Joined: Oct 2009
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lots of help to fix your problem-be sure to let us know what the problem and the cure were, txs
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zoopie36 |
02-02-2014 @ 10:39 AM
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Member
Posts: 42
Joined: Jun 2010
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Hi, I really appreciate all of the help from the Early Ford V/8 members. It will come in handy when I am able to work on my 1936 3 Window Coupe in the spring as we are experiencing a very harsh winter in Northern Wisconsin. These discussions are like catalogs as the bring hope of the spring season after one's car has been sitting idle all winter. Thanks again to everyone. I will definitely post what the problem was! Take care, zoopie
This message was edited by zoopie36 on 2-2-14 @ 12:35 PM
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