'62 steering wheel alignment

[William F.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

John and Richard,
Thanks, but hard, at least for me, to understand procedure for diagnosing and correcting problem. As I said, the chisel marks are about 3 o'clock position as is what is supposed to be the top of the horn button emblem when car wheels are straight ahead. If I turn steering wheel, as in driving, not detached from shaft, to left to get chisel marks marks at 12 o'clock, wheels will be turned to the left. I do have the manual and I will read it but could you give me step wise procedure for getting things centered/wheel in proper neutral position.
Thanks again

[Richard M.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

William, I have a busy day ahead on the road but here goes....I won't be ably to check in until very late. Others will.

1- Turn the steering wheel so the shaft/hub index mark is 12:00

2- Ensure that the horn contact button hole is 1:00

3- If this is not possible, stop. Go to step 3X.

4- Steering wheel centered, car is raised in front to get front wheels off of the ground. Road wheels will be off center.

5- Locate Drag Link connected between steering box Pitman Arm and Third Arm. If you notice excessive play of the Drag Link at the ends to the arms ball ends, follow the ST-12 to snug it up. You'll need a big slotted screwdriver or Drag Link tool to adjust. Then go back and re-check your road wheels.

6- Loosen 2 Drag Link clamp bolts near center of Drag Link rod. Clean and spray penetrant on the slots of the short tube to ease adjustment.

Drag Link
P5230030.jpg

Order of assembly
P5240040.jpg

6- Using the appropriate tool(big pliers, etc) turn the tube in a direction to begin to straighten the road wheel toward center. Ensure the steering wheel is still centered.

7- Done, but follow John's advice to get your Toe-In corrected if it's off. Alignment shop can help you there.

3X- Go back to the previous posts to find out why your hub is offset. Remove the steering wheel and/or other methods described to observe and/or correct the problem.

Rich

[Bill M.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

If you have to go to 3X, these pictures will help you figure out what is out of whack. (Excuse the schmutz, the old lady has been sitting for 34 years.)
Everything on this car is oriented in factory position. Steering shaft at 12, turn signals cancel, horn button and spokes in proper alignment.

[William F.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Richard and Bill, Thanks very much for the info and photos. Chisel mark on my shaft is at about 3'oclock with road wheels straight ahead; so, I'll check rest of things out, too and see what needs to be done. Why would my chisel mark be 90* off. Could shaft have been put in wrong sometime in the past? Seems strange that turn signals work correctly with mark and wheel 90* off. Is there enough adjustment in the drag link to correct or do you suspect something else?

[Richard M.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Okay, I'm going to take a new shot at it. You still haven't told us if your wheel and hub are aligned. Look at my pics, and Bills pics with the horn button off. With one spoke straight down, is your orientation the same as ours? That will tell you where else to look.

The sector shaft/sector roller to the shaft/worm gear is self-centering. When the sector shaft goes into the box, it finds the center of the worm. The worm center is marked at the end of the shaft with the notch.

So what could cause a problem like yours? Here are ALL of the possibilites...........

1- It is possible that someone in the past, REMOVED the worm from the shaft, and rotated it a notch or two when reinstalled.

2- You may have a bent 3rd arm assembly.

3- Your Drag Link is way out of adjustment spec or bent.

4- Your wheel/hub alignment is still questionable as you're still keeping it a secret to us.

Sorry, but I don't have any other thoughts on what could cause your problem. I've run out of ideas.

Rich

[Bruce B.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Rich,
Good information.
I vote for #4, as I have seen it happen many times when I was selling steering wheels & hubs.
Bruce B

[William F.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Richard, Bruce, et al
Thanks again for info and all the suggestions and photos which help a lot.. I will check wheel/hub alignment and other things as suggested and get back to you, but it may be a week or so

[Mike E.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Is there any chance the draglink was replaced by a passenger car one? Corvettes had the two main bodies being unequal length, while passenger cars were equal length (both the same length as the shorter of the two Corvette ones.) Don't know if you could even make one of those fit, but as long as we're grasping at straws, we can add another straw to the mix.

[William F.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Richard and Bruce,
I popped the horn button off, remove 3 screws that hold cup to wheel and took a look, all with car wheels straight ahead.
Findings:
1. emblems on horn button point to right 3 o'clock.
2. chisel mark on shaft points to 3-4 o'clock.
3. hole for spring loaded horn contact is further around clockwise at about 5 o'clock.
4, third member straight ahead, not detectably bent. Tie rods equally adjusted.
Will try to send photos of all this but having some trouble getting them to send.
To me, seems like wheel and its hub are on shaft correctly but problem down stream-drag link out of adjustment or somebody did something strange in past, but what do you think? Hope this info makes things easier to sort out.
Thanks.

[William F.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

These are photos of wheel, shaft, 3rd member, tie rods.- didn't send pic of tie rods but hope this doesn't matter

[Richard M.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Okay, Those look like original rivets holding the wheel to the hub.

Your 3rd arm picture is really the "3rd arm bracket", which bolts to the frame. The arm that may be suspect of being bent, is that part that looks like a arm coming off the big bearing end and connecting to the drag link.(background in the pic, but only showing part of it)

I just thought of something......... From center, a C1 steering box turns 2 1/4 turns(apx) to either side of center. With the Pitman Arm removed from the drag link, set the wheel with the notch pointing up, then turn it in both directions counting the number of turns. What do you get?

If = 2 1/4 turns each way, your shaft and worm and sector shaft is correctly aligned. Problem must be down below related to the drag link or 3rd arm or other steering piece(s).

If it's off by 1/4+ turn(like the way it's off 90*+ in your pic), I suspect someone played with the shaft & worm spline alignment. But I haven't had a worm off in many years so I'm not sure if there's a flat spot for alignment or not. I have a worm/shaft out of a car I'll take a look when I get a chance.

Rich

[William F.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Would take a hell of a lick to bend what you call the 3rd arm-massive. Too much sugar for the nickel as we say down South to disconnect the pittman arm. Any other suggestions?-I've showed everyone the pertinent photos. Bottom line is that wheel and chisel marks are 90* to right but wheel/hub installed correctly on shaft with car wheels straight ahead. Surely there's there's an answer.

[Richard M.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Is there a reason you didn't count the turns as suggested?

.....And there are some that have had bent 3rd arms.

I think I've exhausted my brain. I think I cannot assist any longer.

Good Luck.

Rich

[Bill M.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Your steering wheel is clocked 120* clockwise from where it should be with the road wheels straight ahead.

You need to lengthen the drag link to get the wheel back to on-center. I figure about 3/4 of an inch,

It doesn't make sense that your turn signals cancel with the steering wheel 120* off. Something is not factory original, so.....

Because the drag link is a major safety item, I would suggest you get a professional to sort this out. I would look for a frame shop mechanic with gray hair.

[William F.]

Re: '62 steering wheel alignment

Bill, Thanks, I'll check, but the wheel is 90*, not 120* off-the chisel mark, which is the reference, points 90* to the right. The horn button is farther around, but still 90* off since it should be at 1-2 o'clock position-it's not supposed to be at 12 o'clock.