78 Spider - steering

[MrBlimp]

My Spider has a slight bit of play in the steering.

Is there an adjustment that can be made to the steering box to tighten this up or should I be looking at tie rod ends, etc...?

[baltobernie]

Yes, the steering box can be adjusted. Loosen the big nut and turn the slotted shaft clockwise to tighten. It's important not to overdo this, or the steering will jam at the extremes. An inch or more of total play in the wheel is within spec.

[brackie1]

If it only has a slight amount of play I wouldn't mess with it.

[DieselSpider]

There should be two adjustments on a recirculating ball and sector steering box. One is the lock nut and screw on the cross shaft already mentioned and the other is the end play on the worm shaft. It you ignore the end play in the worm shaft and only adjust the cross/sector shaft you will egg out the cone on the end of the worm shaft which will require its replacement.

Here is a video on a simple box from an International tractor that uses shims to adjust the worm shaft end play instead of an adjustable collar and does not have the recirculating balls however the principles are basically the same. Adjust the worm shaft end play first after loosening the sector shaft adjuster and then adjust the sector shaft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjUDRWeNCfE

I have had over the years needed to replace the worm shaft on too many boxes because folks kept adjusting just the cross shaft and never bothered to check the end play on the worm shaft. Its a bit more work to check and adjust both the worm and then the sector shafts but can save you the expense of having to needlessly replace the entire box a little further down the road.