M-38A1 Steering Questions

[idiocrates]

I'm the lucky new owner of a '55 M-38A1 jeep. My initial test drive revealed some significantly difficult steering....so I started with a lube job of all moving parts in the steering system and ended with the removal of the steering gear box and the drag link. Inspection of the gear box found a box pumped full of lithium chassis grease to the extent that it was about 3/4 of the way up the steering column. Also there was a pretty healthy presence of water in the gear box (which was probably already there before they pumped in the grease). My questions are:

1. Is the use of chassis grease in the gear box acceptable or should I refill the box with SAE 80/90 oil as the manual indicates?
2. Both ends of the drag link were fully screwed in and there was still considerable slop in the steering. Does this indicate that a new drag link is required or can these be rebuilt with new springs and ball plates?
3. The bakelite horn switch located at the bottom end of the gear box is missing. The screw-in fitting with the small plunger is still there but everything inside the contact enclosure is gone. Can this hole be plugged with a 3/4" brass plug if the horn switch is no longer required?
4. Finally, someone has added an after-market shock absorber between the front axle and the tie-rod. Is this really necessary or desirable or does it just add to an already difficult steering problem?

Any help anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Jim

[Jim]

Re: The shock absorber on the axle: I had to do
this for our M38 to stop the uncontrollable shimmy,
which could probably have been fixed at greater
expense than I wished to enter in to. I see this on
lots of similar vehicles. I know that they didn't
shimmy coming from the factory, but that was a
bit ago, and time takes it's toll. Military Vehicles
magazine some time back addressed this problem
much better than I can.
Jim in Darkest Arkansas

[Bob_C]

If your steering box has grease in it, chances are it leaks oil like a faucet. It's definitally supposed to have gear oil. If you put some in, chances are, its going to leak out.

As for the after-market absorber, that's there to try to control the shimmy. In reality, it is masking a greater problem. In my opinion, that should come off and you should check your entire steering system for slop - including the tie rod ends and steering knuckles.

The steering system is something you want highly maintained in my opinion. Nothing on a car has as much impact on your life as steering and breaks.
_________________
Bob Collins
1954 M38A1 MD79056

[Jim]

The Military Vehicles Magazine with information
on front wheel shimmy was June 2002, Issue #91.

Shimmy is dangerous. You have literally no
control over the vehicle, and any little thing,
such as a gravel on the road, can induce it. It
really really puts a strain on the entire vehicle,
and if you're in traffic.....

Jim in Darkest Arkansas

[OKCM38CDN]

I was having bad shimmy in my M-38CDN...

Found the problem... loose wheel bearings, PO never bent the lock washer against the nut... I tightened it all up and full speed without a bit of shimmy...

No stablizer bar used here...

So in addition to the steering check the wheel bearings...

Hope this helps...

[JustenWilson]

Well i bought a rebuilt steering box from midwest military and its packed plum full of red like grease. Your saying this is probably becuase it leaks? Gosh i hope not, that would anger me more than you know. I paid nearly 400 bucks for that part? Do you think they just packed it full of grease to preserve the part and after its installed remove the grease and use gear oil? Tell me what you think.

[wesk]

A very light weight grease will work ok down south. In cold weather the steering will stiffen up.

You seem to possess some mechanical ability. Now just read the troubleshooting section of the service manual and you should be able to restore the rest of the steering system to factory new (NO SHIMMY) condition. Then throw that steering stabilizer away. Remember the steering system consists of the parts that force the wheels to turn and the parts that allow the front wheels to turn. Either will cause shimmy issues. The steering pivot bearings in the front axle knuckles (often called "king pin bearings) are usually the source of the proverbial "death wobble".

So get into the TM 9-804A or TM 8-8014 contain the troubleshooting charts and TM 9-8015-2 contains the how to for rebuilding all the steering parts.
_________________
Wes K
45 MB, 51 M38, 54 M37, 66 M101A1, 60 CJ5, 76 DJ5D, 47Bantam T3-C & 5? M100

Mjeeps photo album: http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php?set_albumName=Wes-Knettle&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

[idiocrates]

Thanks, gentlemen......for all the answers and comments. I will probably end up going over the entire steering linkage by the time I'm all done....if for no other reason then just to familiarize myself with the vehicle. This jeep will probably never see pavement again as it is now consigned to the ranch.....so I doubt that shimmy will ever be a problem since its top speed will be limited by our rough ranch roads. If the shock absorber provides some degree of dampening against steering wheel jerks induced by rough terrain then it might be worth leaving in-place. If it just makes steering harder then normal then I'm all for loosing it! Okay...so here's the plan.......I'm going to replace the screwed-in horn switch with a brass plug.......make a gasket for the steering gear cover plate.....fill the gear box with SAE 80 oil......and check frequently. Thanks again for y'alls help.