I refurbished the ZF steering box in my 59A several months ago and just go the car back on the road a few weeks ago. Peg and worm gear in the box showed no visible wear, other than normal shiney tracks. One of the ball bearing cages showed some wear, so I sourced excellent used ones with their races from Chris Tanner in Switzerland. Box was reassembled with correct shims to eliminate end play in the worm gear and new oil seals. High point was set per the shop manual. All other parts of the front steering system and suspension have been restored or replaced - i.e. new tie rod ends, new Koni steering dampener, new king/ling pins properly adjusted etc.

I now find when driving that there is a very small amount of "slop" in the steering - in the straight ahead position the wheel can be turned a little (~1/4" of wheel circumference) before the steering input takes hold. This does not happen on my 64C - I also rebuilt the steering box on that car. I have double checked the steering coupler and other parts up front and find no obvious slop downstream of the steering box.

Any thoughts from the experts out there? Or am I being too picky? I have one of the ZF rebuild kits with the new worm, peg and bearings purchased 15+ years ago from Stoddard in my stash, but would prefer not to use it.

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Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Sounds like the adjuster needs a touch more tightening.

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Bill,

You need to adjust the box to near Zero just enough to pass the high point w/o binding.

Dick

Thanks guys, I will try adjusting the hi point again later this week. Over in Valdez this week for meetings and a little salmon fishing. I set the high point with the box off the car so that I felt some drag when turned by hand. No drag felt with the steering wheel.

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab