Steering Wheel Play

[1stSgtUSMC]

Fellas,

Silly question, how much play should I EXPECT to have in my steering wheel? I have replaced hub cups and bearings along with knuckle hubs and bearing along with all new seals etc. If I have too much play in the wheel, how do I correct it? Thanks in advance!

S/F

Kevin

[mdainsd]

Do you have the manuals? this is covered in them.

Two places to check are for play in the bell crank where it mounts to the frame, and the drag link that connects the steering box to the bell crank. There is also an adjustment on the side of the steering box that effects steering wheel slop.

[Joe Gopan]

If you remove the side cover you will note the worm is thicker at the mid point. These steering gears a=have a "variable Ratio" of 15.4-13.515.4. The sector shaft is in the "twin pins" are centered on the worm' I cheat in locating the straight ahead ( after the pitman arm center) location is determined. It saves a few steps over the procedure in the manual.

Jack up the front wheels to take the weight off the wheels.
Eyeball the centering of the twin pins on the worm.
Back off the Lock Nut n the housing side cover and loosen the pitman arm adjusting screw
With the twin pins centered on the Worm , turn the adjusting screw in with your fingers just enough to remove any in and out play of the steering sector shaft.
Hold the adjusting screw with a screw driver and secure the lock nut
Don't forget to order a new M-38 Cover Gasket from Ron. If the sector shaft is putting too much load on the adjusting screw, you can tweak it.
If your gear has a lot of weer on the twin pins, it may not give you that new steering gear feel.

NOTE
the MB/CJ-2A, CJ-38 have the same Side Cover
The M-38 uses a sligtly larger cover.
The M-38A1 has a larger cover than the other two. The same goes for the gaskets.

[1stSgtUSMC]

I am going to rebuild my steering box and bell crank and pitman arm.