Steering Worm and Bearings

[sturmtyger380]

I had to work most of Sat trying to get the Pitman Arm off. So yesterday I took the steering gear box apart to see what I have.

I want your guy’s opinions on how these parts look.

Worm Gear and Sliding Gear:







Bearings and Races- These don’t look so good. How easy are these to find?



Upper Race – This could be a pain to get out.



Lower Race:



Question – can these two cone shaped pieces where the bearings ride be removed and replaced?

[sturmtyger380]

I have been looking around and I think I answered my own question. That area the bearing ride in on the worm, is part of the worm. So can't be replaced.

[vit16]

are you sure that it isn't the bearing cone???

[John Mc]

I have been looking around and I think I answered my own question. That area the bearing ride in on the worm, is part of the worm. So can't be replaced.

I would have figured that was the inner bearing race (a.k.a. the Cone)

[sturmtyger380]

I have replacement parts on the way. Once they are here and checked out I can play with the old one to see if it comes off. But I doubt it.

[sturmtyger380]

Now that I decided the steering box must be rebuilt, it’s time to get it ready. I taped off the bearing surfaces and bead blasted the inside.



Then I hosed the inside and outside down with brake cleaner to get all the oils out. Then sealed the inside with varnish. This will help keep the gear oil inside if the casting is porous.



Using my old trick of welding a washer to a bearing race that needs to come out, but you can’t get an angle on it to use a punch.



It was tricky finding the right sized socket to drive the bushings out and not get stuck in the housing.



The bushings are moving!!



Everything is out, now waiting on replacement parts.

[Murf]

Keep us advised! I am going to need to do this as well, my steering is stiff and "clunky" like the bearing/race has corroded areas and hangs up.

[Cal_Gary]

That is some impressive work, Strurm-keep us posted-thanks!
Gary

[Elwood]

Looks good.

When I did the bushings in my Gemmer box, I discovered that the replacement bushings were too tight after installation and had to be reamed and honed for the correct fit to the shaft.

[sturmtyger380]

Now back to working on the M37 steering box. It took time to collect all the parts due to shipping times and getting a wrong part. Plus, I took time off to attend the MVPA convention in South Bend Indiana.

Driving the upper race I got from Midwest Military into the housing.



I took the bushings I got from Midwest Military and used the same socket I used before to drive them into the housing.

New bushings in the housing. They look really nice!





I took the sector shaft and held it up to the bushings and of course it would not fit inside. I will have to hone it a bit at a time with a brake cylinder hone.

Getting ready to hone the bushings:



I would hone a bit and try fitting the sector shaft, hone some more and fit more until it was tight but would slip in and out of the bushings by pushing hard but not needing a hammer to force it out.

Honing them out:



New Sector shaft from VPW.



On the Web the SFK 4K-13 specs are listed as .45 inch which would match more closely the width of the original Timken at .453 inch. So, I am not sure why the SFK race I received that is marked the same way has a smaller width of .435 inch.

View of Spacers and bearings with descriptions of my problem.



To fix the problem of the loose worm assembly I decided the normal spacers for the lower cap could not be used so I shopped around and found some arbor shims at McMaster-Carr. So, more waiting until all the shims came in.

New shims to help push the lower bearing race up to get the correct preload.



New Worm with bearings on the shaft, all from Midwest Military:



The stack of shims to compensate for the smaller upper race:



Steering box with spacers on top of the shaft:



After tinkering with different sets of shims, going from too tight to too loose, the winning set of shims to get the preload right:



The final stack of shims ready for the bottom plate:



The cap is finally on!! Now on to the Sector Shaft preload

[RCrombie]

Thanks for documenting this Sturm!
I will have to check out my leaky steering box at some point, so it’s nice to see what I’m in for. I like the trick of welding the washer into the race to remove it. I have also heard simply welding a bead on the race can be enough to shrink it to the point it comes out easily. Haven’t had to try that myself yet though.
Rob

[Cal_Gary]

That is some impressive work, Sturm-thanks!
Gary

[vit16]

Excellent job!

What oil are you going to use?

[sturmtyger380]

I rebuilt my winch awhile ago and from what what Nam Vet said I got the - Mobil 600 wt "steam oil".

I plan on using that in the steering box as well.

[vit16]

Sounds good!!
thank you!!