1953 A1 Ross Steering box adjustment

Mike_B · Post by **Mike_B** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:18 pm

This steering box seems to be really testing me...

History...Jeep sat for 17 years under a Army tarp and the steering box had lots of water in it which ruined the bottom half of the worm and the bottom bearing cup.

The only thing I'm reusing is the actual box, top cap and side cover.

Ordered a "Master" rebuild kit from one of the jeep vendors that is made up of reproduction parts (Sector Shaft, Bushings, Bearings with cups, Horn tube/adapter, shims and gaskets).

Ordered a new steering shaft w/ worm and after receiving two different/wrong shafts that vendor was out of options. Found another vendor that had one last NORS shaft that was made years ago (now out of production), so I bit the bullet and bought it.

Put the box together two weeks ago with the reproduction bearings and wasn't happy as there seemed to be a lot of noise/roughness from the bearings, so I found a NOS Bearing Repair Kit with the correct radius bearing cups and I bought it.

Went to assemble everything again today and found that it takes ALL of my original shims plus the (4) .0085" shims that came in the reproduction set, the (4) shims from the NOS set and it's .008"gasket to get it right at no up/down movement...all told I think it came out to about .083" worth of shimming.

Now for your help...Is there any issues with that many shims? And with the up/down just taken away I have a lot of side movement in the steering shaft, is that normal? If I remove shims to take away the side movement I think I'm binding the bearings...with all I've been through I don't want to mess it up now!

Thanks for your help!

Mike B

Post by **wesk** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:20 pm

Mike, Are you following the instructions in the two Ross Gear Box manuals?

The Blue Ross Factory Manual: http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... it&lid=136

The Army TM9-8016 Ross Steering Gears: http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... it&lid=183

Mike_B · Post by **Mike_B** » Wed Jul 01, 2020 9:58 pm

Wes, I was following the TM9-8015-2 Manual pages 228-229, but I just did read both of your linked manuals.

Right now I just have the shaft/worm in the box and am just focusing on the ball bearing adjustment. As I install and remove shims to be right at the "no up/down play and a very slight drag when spinning the shaft by hand (no steering wheel installed) everything turns nice, but there is a lot of movement in the shaft if side pressure is applied to the shaft. If this is normal, then I'm good with this part and will move on to the sector shaft and final assembly.

I will be removing the shaft again and when I do I'm going to measure the length between the bearings to see if the reproduction worm is longer than the original...that may account for the large stack of shims required to get the pre-load right.

Mike B

RonD2 · Post by **RonD2** » Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:16 pm

Hi Mike,
If the lot of movement with side pressure to the shaft is at the top of the steering column where the wheel is mounted, there's a bearing just inside the column jacket near the top that might be shot? It's a rather thin sheet metal collar thing, not a roller or ball bearing. And when you mount the steering wheel with it's spring, I noticed things seem to get better (less slop).

Just my 2 cents. I'm a rookie. Wes will straighten me out. Good luck!

Mike_B · Post by **Mike_B** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 8:59 am

Thanks for the input Ron, my box is currently clamped in a vise with the shaft straight up vertical and without the jacket installed. So maybe any side movement now is a moot point when everything is finally assembled...jacket tight to the box and dash and the shaft held straight with the upper bearing.

Just trying to only do this once...

Thanks,

Mike B

RonD2 · Post by **RonD2** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:25 pm

Mike,
If I remember correctly about final assembly of the gearbox to the frame, the Ross Manual or the TM says to mount the gearbox to the frame just shy of barely snug to allow a little settling movement, then install tight the column jacket clamp to the dash, then do the final torque of the gear box to the frame. And make sure the spacer inside your frame rail is present and good. This all to ensure the steering column shaft and jacket lie naturally with no tweak on it.

When I did mine that way, then installed the steering wheel and did the final adjustment to the adjusting screw on the side of the gearbox cover everything seems to be nice.

I try to do my stuff only once too, but it hardly ever works out that way... so we might want to hear what Wes has to say about this

Mike_B · Post by **Mike_B** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:11 pm

Thanks Ron for the heads up on the frame mounting...

I measured both worms today (original and reproduction) and they are very close...maybe .001-.002" different...the original is heavily pitted and hard to get an exact measurement

So the only thing different that would make me need more than normal amount of shims would be the bearing cups as I also checked the actual ball bearings and all three sets are the same (original, reproduction and NOS).

I'm satisfied with the up/down shim adjustment and the slight resistance when turning the shaft with to fingers...turns nice and smooth.

Now on to the sector shaft.

Mike B