New Project Jeep - Steering Questions

Well the first deal I made for a project jeep was yellow and the guy wanted more when things go serious to me buying it - raised his asking by 1,000 siting he thought it was easily worth it. Long story short good luck and walked away.

I found this one thru a friend and made arrangements to pick it up tomm. He is going thru a divorce soon and is dumping his toys. Offered it to me for $3k no haggling but i have to get in by the weekend .......Deal...!! I will post better close up pictures as soon as i can. Everything works on the jeep, no rust, and all guages and lights work - tires great shape etc -. The only issue the guy told me about that he had was the steering wheel (which i think is out of a Chevy with tilt) has a bit of play in the steering wheel when driving.

It is a project fun thing for son and I to fix up but we will be learning how to work on it as we go ............. A couple questions:::::::::::

I there a Utube or step by step "how to" repair or tighten up the steering wheel ???

Regarding the exhaust - it comes out on the sides - i was thinking about rerouting it straight back past the differential to the back by the tail gate - flowmaster mufflers possibly also..... is it cheaper to buy a kit to do this and do it ourselves or just have a muffler shop do it ?

thanks Dan

 

Would need to see pictures of the entire steering system/linkage before educated diagnosis can be made.
It could be that the tilt column pivot screws have come loose.
That would make the whole upper portion of the column including the wheel go roundy round.

 

Nice looking Jeep. "A bit of play in the steering when driving" sounds like a pretty normal thing for a vintage Jeep. When I bought my 56 the guy told me the same thing. The first time I hit about 40 mph and it went into a death wobble I figured out that "a bit of play" means different things to different people. Two new tie rods ends and she now drives like an old Jeep should - with a bit of play in the steering.

Have your son turn the steering wheel back and forth about a quarter of a turn each way while you watch everything in the steering system move. It is usually pretty easy to spot any worn or loose components.

 

Recommend starting at tie rod ends and work toward the steering wheel, checking for play and replacing as you go. Lots of joints along the way:

Tie rod ends
Drag link ends
Steering gear
Bell coupling
Steering shaft u-joint
Tilt column u-joint
Steering wheel attachment

Your hand is much more sensitive to play in a joint than your eyes so you'll need a helper to work the wheel while you grip each joint.

 

As suggested above, put the front axle on stands and have a helper turn the steering wheel back and forth slowly. Then start at one end and go component by component, watching for where the looseness is. Chilly gave you a good list of where to focus.

Realize that there may be some wear at each component, and that it adds up to looseness. Then your task is to replace what needs replacing and rebuild and adjust what you can.

 

If you still have the original Ross steering box you should consider converting to either manual or power Saginaw steering. This system has too many pivot points and even when rebuilt they are marginal at best. I may catch hell for saying it, but the original design is cr@p and you can spend quite a bit of cash trying to make it do what it cannot do, give you a tight steering feel. My guess is that this conversion may have already been done as you have a tilt column but pics of the steering would be very helpful.

 

I agree with others . a couple of pictures from firewall to box and linkage would help . also so a picture of steering box mounting

 

I agree with all this but would suggest starting at the wheel first and checking for play in the wheel bearings, trunnion bearings/ball joints, spring and shackle bushings, steering box mounts, frame for cracks especially near spring mounts, spring u-bolts, then up the steering system.

 

Sage advise. I would start with this.