FORD 8N STEERING BOX

[whitehorse]

I have a 50' 8N with a dirt blade on the front. After 40+ years of pushing snow and leveling dirt the steering has become very tough to turn. Is there any adjustment I should try or is it steering box replacement time?
Thanks

 

[Soundguy]

i'd go with some observations first.. before i did any adjustments.

jack the front end up.

is steering still hard?

check for slop in the following locations:

rim to hub, hub to axle, spindle to knee, spindle to steering arm, steering arm to draglink at tie rod end, draglink to sector arm at steering box at draglink end.

turn the steering wheel lock to lock. does it rise or fall any?

look at the sector shafts coming out of the right and left sides of the steering box, when you turn the steering wheel, do the shafts have ane forward or backwards motion before they start rotating.

what decade did you last lube the steering box, and what lube did you use?

is this an early box with round sector side covers, or a late box with oval covers and adjuster studs.

binding generally is caused by bad spindle bushings and bound spindles, also from bad upper thrust bearing inthe box, and/or lack of lube.

post back

soundguy

 

[whitehorse]

Thanks for the quick answer. My N has adjusters on the side of the steering box. Lube sounds like a possibility--but how do you do it? I see no fill port.
Thanks

 

[Soundguy]

first step.. and here's the important one...

BUY A SERVICE MANUAL

then..

BUY A MASTER PARTS CATALOG

then..

BUY AN OWNERS MANUAL

No reason to own a few thousand dollars of iron.. and NOT own a few dozen dollars of paper..

Now that you have the important stuff out of the way, do the tests I told you about and decide where your issues are.

simply waving a wrench over the adjusters if they are not the issue will complicate the problem .. not help it... too tight a sector backlash adjsutment will make it HARDER to steer.. and you don't want that.

once you decide wher ethe play is, and -*IF*- you need to adjust the sector backlash adjustment refer to paragraph 18 in the FO-4 service manual. ( hint.. you loosent he locknut from the sector, and turn the stud in till snug ont he left, leading sector, then tighten lock nut, then do the same on the right side).

lube point is a bolt into the steering box on the upper right side that goes thru some sheet metal.. perhaps a dash support or bat box.. hole is not blind, but is thru at the end. fill with 85-140 oil.. or if the sector seals leak, then take that 7/16 bolt out and get a repalcement from the hardware store.. should be something like 7/16 coarse thread.. and 3/4 inch long.. get a grade 2, drill thru it with a small bit like a 1/8, then drill the head out and tap with threads for a zerk, then pump the box full of a NLGI 00 grease.. or similar, such as JD cornhead grease.. it's a slumping grease that will not leave a void in the sump once extruded from the gears.

soundguy

 

[8NLUGNUT]

what decade did you last lube the steering box, and what lube did you use?

soundguy

decade

 

[Soundguy]

with some of the units I've seen, it's more like: ' does it still have oem oil residue in the bottom of the steering box? '

soundguy

 

[whitehorse]

Again, thank you. I pulled out the fill bolt and filled the box as best I could. It's a 50-50 proposition with the oil going due to the approach the angle and the air escaping! At least that side of the tractor will never rust.

I loosened the side adjustments on the box and jacked the front of the tractor up so the wheels could swing without resistance and spun the steering back and forth a dozen times and it gradually got smoother and looser. I then re-tightened the adjusters the way they were and the steering seems to be cured.

 

[Soundguy]

gears do like oil...bearings even more so.

hopefully you got some to the top bearing.. it's the one that likes to fail.

if it was me I'd take the bolt back out and unscre the tip fromt he hose on the grease gun and just shove the lil 1/8 pipe male end into that 7/16 bolt hole and pump the entire tube of gun grease over the top of that gear lube you put in, then shove the bolt back in.. that way the top bearing will get some lube.

soundguy