Steering box repair kit - tight top fitting/internal thread

[wfillingham]

I purchased one of these repair kits that consists of the ball race upper and lower, as well as the top screw thread fitting.

Basically, the problem is, the machined internals of the thread appear to have "rounded" edges, the original has clean square edges.

Upon trying to screw the new fitting on, its okay for a few threads then gets very tight. when putting the steering wheel on and trying to turn it down, it gets tighter and tighter.

To me, it looks like the new pattern part top fitting is machined incorrectly.

Unfortunately, this part I purchased over a year ago so cannot take it back. Plus, i should have checked the part when i purchased it.

Only thing is, the images of the same part on the web also seem to show this "rounded" internal thread, not a clean square thread.

Any thoughts?

I have refitted the origanl top thread fitting for now as I would rather have steering that is a a little slack than far too tight.

Have I just obtained an badly machined part, or are they all still this badly made?

Note, the actual thread on my existing one is perfect, but it is the ball race area that is worn.

I think, this pattern part may have been made to take into account a worn screw thread (ie to take up the slack), but unfortunately, when fitted to a perfect thread on the steering shaft it is far too tight.

[Tubal Cain]

The thread on the steering column is square, which as the name inplies has square corners, it sounds as if you have an incorrectly machined component.

To date I have bought two of these repair kits, the first one was a perfect fit, the second had been incorrectly machined as the splines for the steering wheel had not been cut properly and I was unable to fit the steering wheel! Obviously the quality of these kits varies.

I would complain to the supplier in the first instance to see if it can be changed. Failing that you could fit the new balls and thrust collars with the original nut, which may eliminate some of the play. The other option is to see if you can ease the threads by smearing them with grinding paste and working the nut on the shaft a long and tediuos process.

Just out of interest which web site are you referring to? ( Email if you wish).

Gerald

[wfillingham]

in the text I referred to an image on the web, but that was not where I purchased it from. it was just that I happened to come across an image showing part of the internal thread, and that happened to also appear very "rounded".

Basically, what I was getting at was that there must have been a batch of these at some point in time that were all machine faulty.

As you mention, I have already fitted the new bearing races, and that has made it a bit better for the time being.

[wfillingham]

Okay, have got it sorted.

applied a little course grinding paste and after literally 2 to 3 minutes it is freed up.

After cleaning the grinding paste all out, and oiling, it's now perfect.