Steering Upgrade

[Gunslinger]

Hey Gents,
I bought one of Carl Walcks Tight steer devices and installed it today.  Boy is that nice, almost all of the side to side play in the sterring wheel went away, the bump went a way and its real smooth all through the steering cycle.  Nice job Carl !!

[aboyandhisdog]

Good to know, Gun.  I've been thinking about one but at $80 plus $15 shipping (for a bolt), it gives a guy pause.  But nice to know they work, thanks.

[Carls_jeep]

I have been pondering a cure for mine for a while now and when I got that notice in some parts I ordered I saw it's value. I'm going to try to make one and see how it does. I had wondered if a spring loaded plunger would work and now I know it will.

[athawk11]

I have the same thoughts.  Would like to try the 'tight steer', but my steering is pretty good after rebuild, and the price is pretty high.

I believe a fella at the 2A designed and built it.  I'm sure there is some R&D recovery built into the price.

Maybe someday.

Tim

[BradleyDP]

I am in the middle of rebuilding my steering. If the price dropped some I would try it too. Is there any other devices out there?  

[Gunslinger]

I struggled with the price as well, but an extra 100 crawled into my britches and you know how that is!!! I did rebuild my steering and thought it was pretty good, at $50.00 this would be a great product, at $95 your right, but the good part is now the wife can drive it without worry.  I was impressed with it.

[Carls_jeep]

Yes, I think it is way over priced. When I make one I will give an idea of the real cost in time to judge by. I'm sure the price was set by the designer and his cost to produce plus profit and since the demand is not very high the cost has to be to recover the R&D and production costs.

I will not be making them for sale, it' not the right thing to do.

[Comanche_County]

I saw a post I think on the 2a site where the guy that designed it first tried to market it.  Said he spent a year or two of trying different materials and spring rates, lots of trial and error went in to those.  

Rebuilding the gear box is the last thing I have to do on the frame but the idea of a Saginaw box is always nagging at me.  I'm thinking of getting it too because I want to stay original and I don't want to do the work to fab up a Saggy box, my frame has been beat on enough.  Guns, so its a lot better than a standard Ross, how would you compare your steering now to a non-power older Saginaw box?  

[Gunslinger]

Hey CC
I don't think I've got the experience to compare the Sag to the Ross, not enough time in the saddle.  What I can say is that before I put the tight steer on I was worried about my wife taking the Jeep for a drive, hard to steer in a couple places and she's not real strong.  Today she took it to get her Manny-peddy and had no problem at all (yeh for real a manny-peddy in a jeep).  Didn't even mention steering.  I would second that, for what ever reason it seems to reduce the drag on the steering throughout the range, and it took out almost all of the waggle in my sterring wheel, I had about 2 inches of waggle before the wheels would move, now that all seems to be gone.   I guess the question is "is a rebuilt Sag cheaper than a tightsteer, and how much is your time worth?

[Comanche_County]

Thanks, that's good info.  I'm not sure myself also.  The oldest non power saginaw was a 72' Chevy truck and my old 74' CJ5.  The CJ would have almost qualified as a "modern" ride except for the 65 mph max speed of the 232 engine and T14.  It steered well, much better than my old 50' 3A.  

Anyway, I think I'll get one of these tight steer doo-dads when I get the steering put back together.  Seems that as long as all the other steering/tie rod ends are good then this add on would make the Ross system as good as it can be.

[F Bill]

The Tight Steer is more than just a bolt.. It is a spring loaded following plunger that keeps a load on the gearbox to keep the lash out.  The designer and marketer is a member here and If he wants to add anything to my description I am sure he is welcome to.

 Walcks, while a reputable supplier with some great stuff they have designed, is only a dealer for the device. At least that is how I understand it.

My only concern with the Tight Steer is whether the constant side loading will accelerate wear on the gearbox , or is it posible that having no lash actually prevents wear?  I'm just an armchair quarterback here, and have never even touched one. It is good to hear the positive reports on it.

[calvinhunt]

 ï¿½I've been watching this post with great interest. �For some time now I've accepted the responsibility to help keep a friend's well worn CJ-2A somewhat trailworthy. �You've seen it im some of my posts.  I drive it some, enough to know that in what I believe was an attempt to keep the steering less sloppy, a mechanic or friend has tightened the steering adjustement screw.  It helps when the steering wheel is centered, or nearly so, but when the steering wheel is turned out of the worn centered position it becomes very stiff.  Is this the type of thing that TightSteer will help with?

[Carls_jeep]

Yes, It's a spring loaded plunger that keeps constant pressure so the pins ride in the worm all the time. F Bill gave a real good description of it. As soon as they sent out a flyer about it I knew exactly how it was made and that it would do the job. Of course, nothing works like new parts and I think it would be a good thing to use on a rebuilt steering box. I believe it would spread the wear evenly over the travel of the sector pins.

That's a mighty fine photo you posted Calvin, it makes me want to be there now.

[TomJ]

Thanks Gun....good to know, I'm just about to do a steering install in our re-build and was wondering about that.


Tom

[Carls_jeep]

Tom, I think it would be wise to use the Tight Steer even on a new rebuild with a new worm and sector. The reason is it would provide constant pressure contact of the sector pins and that should even the wear over the length of the worm.

If money weren't tight from my rebuild I would buy one right now.