dangerous 34 steering box

[cas3]

i was taking this box off a junk frame today, and expecting a big fight with the pitman arm as usual, but i thought i noticed it move when i cracked the nut loose. sure enough the arm was loose on the splines. once all the caked grease was off i see they had that big washer under the arm, and it bottomed out on that bushing on the sector shaft which i put a red dot on. hard to see in the photo but the splines are shot. they ran it for a long time like that. this is on the same frame i showed the brake rod had a bolt thru for taking up the slack. good news is the triangle piece on the outside of the frame is new news to me, never seen one and didnt know it should be there. makes sense for sure, but also the bushing with the red dot is new news too. i just looked thru a couple catalogues and i do not see either one for sale or mentioned. now i got one of each, if i can get the bushing off

[cas3]

i was looking in the 37 orange book, and the 48 green book, and that triangle part is not shown. i got it cleaned up a bit, still has black paint on spots, and you can see they cranked that baby tight at the factory as the oval holes in the frame are imprinted in the back, and the lock washers on the front gouged out they're own countersink. the bushing (red dot) is steel backed with Babbitt lining. the books show two bushings on the sector shaft, i guess in this case the outer one wiggled its way out and thru the frame. the hillbillys then must have tried to press it back with the big washer. i think the new bushing i put in was brass for sure, and one piece? cant remember. anyone seen the triangle part before?

[FlatheadTed]

Cas ,I have seen the triangle stamping before it acts as a washer I think with split ones on top ,

[A bones]

Ridden hard and...... Thanks for taking time to share, and for stopping at nothing! to salvage equipment.

[cas3]

thanks for the response. ted, you have the triangle on your 34? i have two 34's and both cars have just bad gouges in the slotted holes on the frame from people using thin washers and not this plate. 32's would be the same i guess, funny nobody makes this plate

[Andy]

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I have taken a few down and have never seen that bushing. I have never seen the plate either. The service manual for a 32 shows neither. The arm bottoming out on that bushing is probably why the arm did not seat on the tapered splines.

[flathead34]

CAS3; I have that triangular plate on my '34 PU. It mounts to the outside of the frame and the three column mounting bolts go thru it. Then the lock washers and bolts are mounted and tightened. I have seen that plate on other '34's. Mike

[DavidG]

As Andy indicates, that bushing with the red dot wasn't original and no doubt led to failure of the splines.


As Ted indicates, the triangular piece served as a washer to cover the exposed portion of the slotted holes in the frame. The original '33-'34 hardware for attaching the sector housing to the chassis frame consisted of three 3/8-24 x 1 1/4" hex head bolts with drilled shanks (part number 22229-S or S2), three flat washers (34747-S2), three 3/3-24 slotted hex nuts (34030-S2), and three cotter pins (72009-S). No lock washers were used.

As a running change during the '34 model year the triangular piece was substituted for the three flat washers. (The change saved a few seconds of assembly effort and likely the triangular piece was made from scrap sheet metal which may have saved a penny or two versus the three washers; seconds and pennies become hours and dollars when multiplied by 2-3 hundred thousands.)

[cas3]

well, i coundnt stand the suspense so i took the sector housing off to see if that red dot bushing belonged inside...drum role...it did not! i thought it had slid out, but no they added that for what we dont know. David is correct as usual, there are no lock washers, just cotter pins and castle nuts. heres some exciting pics to show how tight they had it, the "counter sink" under the nuts is .020 deep. glad i have the right hardware now for my good car!