The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

I have a 1962 SM. The steering is very heavy so I will renew the bearings and bushes in the spindles. Can anyone tell me how to rectify a lot of play in the steering box please? Thanks in advance.

Hello,

You can take out the play of the steeringbox by removing shims between the cover and the box.

When you open the cover, oil will come out.

These are the shims:


I used a thicker gasket, so I didn't need a lot of shims.

There's also a possibility of taking out the vertical play, but this will need you to take off the fuel tank.

Thanks @mathias1. I already have the tank off as I envisaged a bigger job than just adding shims under the cover as the steering arm is quite sloppy. Is there anything in the box that will alter the sloppy movement ? I am also struggling to remove the drag link from the steering arm, perhaps just a bigger hammer !

did it have oil in it? I gave mine a good clean, fresh oil and new seals and bushes. Definitely check the worm shaft is alright, and all the balls are still in place.

As for the drag link: try using a impact driver. Is the joint still alright?

Yes it has oil in it. I shall renew the bottom bearing and anything else that it needs, removing shims already there might improve things. Not sure about the drag link linkage, might have to have a new drag link if it's very worn/loose.

If you find slop in the splines it might be worth trying one of the gap filling Loctite type compounds, if you try this do not skimp on solvent degreasing both components, of course you know how I know....................

Never had ours apart but if the output shaft housing is bushed these may need renewal

Hi oehric, thanks for your input. I shall be having the whole steering box off in the near future. It appears that the main drag link swivels are very worn and probably needs a new drag link. And so it goes on...! I shall not touch the engine as it seems ok, have a few oil leaks where the clutch and brake pedals pivot so shall do that and then enjoy it!

OK hazzard, when I say loctite I meant one of the lower strength varieties, Retainer or Studlock grade would have a terrible grip even when heated, on the area of those splines against the day tou need to remove again. I have seen them with little slivers of shim inserted to take up slack when the pinch bolt is tightened. Scissor cut up stainless beer / pop tins are my favourite source of this at a sensible price, also been known to uses spirals of the stuff to gap fill where a spinning bearing outer race has worn it's housing, application of a strong Loctite makes a bearing lifetime job of it

I've moved on to the drag link now and am having extreme difficulty getting the joint out of the steering arm...heated it and thumped it but it will not budge. Any clues as to how to proceed please?
Also, how do I remove the bushes from inside the front king pin spindles? Any advice will be most welcome thanks!

Have you taken the pinch bolt right out rather than just slackened it ? if not there may be a groove turned through the spines so if the bolt comes loose it doesn't allow the arm to slide off,

Of course you may well already know how to suck eggs

hazzard wrote:I've moved on to the drag link now and am having extreme difficulty getting the joint out of the steering arm...heated it and thumped it but it will not budge. Any clues as to how to proceed please?
Also, how do I remove the bushes from inside the front king pin spindles? Any advice will be most welcome thanks!

Did you already get the nut off the drag link?

For the bushes inside the front spindles: use an arc welder and weld around the inside of the bush. It will heat up the bush and the weld will crimp a little bit. Normally the will fall out easily. For the new ones: 1 night in the freezer before installing.

oehrick wrote:Have you taken the pinch bolt right out rather than just slackened it ? if not there may be a groove turned through the spines so if the bolt comes loose it doesn't allow the arm to slide off,

Of course you may well already know how to suck eggs

The drag link I am working on is the main one to the front axle. After very much thumping I had to remove the steering arm, take that with the drag link to the vice and hit it with a small sledge hammer....it finally gave up and fell out! My problem now is how to get the steering box, worm drive and bearings apart. with the steering column bolted tight the steering is almost immovable, with the bolts slack it's much better. Any offers?

mathias1 wrote:

hazzard wrote:I've moved on to the drag link now and am having extreme difficulty getting the joint out of the steering arm...heated it and thumped it but it will not budge. Any clues as to how to proceed please?
Also, how do I remove the bushes from inside the front king pin spindles? Any advice will be most welcome thanks!

Did you already get the nut off the drag link?

For the bushes inside the front spindles: use an arc welder and weld around the inside of the bush. It will heat up the bush and the weld will crimp a little bit. Normally the will fall out easily. For the new ones: 1 night in the freezer before installing.

Thanks mathias1, I now have the drag link off. I'll try the welder tomorrow for the bushes...they seem to be very tight in there !

I can remove rotational play from the steering box by removing shims between the cover and the steering box ?
Shims meaning what looks like gaskets between the box and the cover ?
Thanks for posting this question.
I was about to tackle the same job !

Livewire84 wrote:I can remove rotational play from the steering box by removing shims between the cover and the steering box ?
Shims meaning what looks like gaskets between the box and the cover ?
Thanks for posting this question.
I was about to tackle the same job !

These shims are the small metal plates between the gaskets.

Thank you. I will give it a shot.

hazzard wrote:

mathias1 wrote:

hazzard wrote:I've moved on to the drag link now and am having extreme difficulty getting the joint out of the steering arm...heated it and thumped it but it will not budge. Any clues as to how to proceed please?
Also, how do I remove the bushes from inside the front king pin spindles? Any advice will be most welcome thanks!

Did you already get the nut off the drag link?

For the bushes inside the front spindles: use an arc welder and weld around the inside of the bush. It will heat up the bush and the weld will crimp a little bit. Normally the will fall out easily. For the new ones: 1 night in the freezer before installing.

Thanks mathias1, I now have the drag link off. I'll try the welder tomorrow for the bushes...they seem to be very tight in there !

Both flexible ends of the drag link u/s so will need a new one.Got the steering box off and apart and need a new shaft in there.
Gearbox oil is very dirty...any ideas what to use to clean things up in there after draining the oil please?