Passenger tie rod end replacement and Ross Steering box rebuild.
The steering on this jeep was horrendous. There was about 1/4 turn of play in the steering wheel before the tires started moving and, for lack of a better way to describe it, felt really chunky in some spots.
Tie rod end:
So I started with the most obvious, easily visible issues while researching the steering box (more on that later). I used my phone to record video of the linkages while I turned the steering wheel back and forth. Video revealed a lot of play in the passenger tie rod end, so I ordered from that same large supplier. I was actually quite pleased with the new rod end (which also came with a replacement clamp). The wheel was again removed, and the old tie rod end popped right out with minimal convincing. I've been very lucky with this jeep to not have to deal with rusty, stuck parts. The new rod end went into the tie rod, then into the knuckle. An alignment was performed by twisting the tie rod, which pushes either end out, or pulls them in, depending on the adjustment desired. I greased it with some NLGI No. 1 I'd found via Amazon.
Steering Box Rebuild:
After one of those previously mentioned joy rides, a large oily spot presented on the frame at the back of the drivers fender. Looking at the top of the box, I saw a grease zerk, and I pretty much knew the box would need rebuilding. To be sure though, I removed the fender, and opened the Ross Box. Only about a quarter of a gasket existed when I pulled the front cover. My assumptions were confirmed, it was slathered in grease. Two cans of brake clean later, and I could see two very large gouges in the worm gear. My heart sank. I won't lie, I went through a serious moment of "should I attempt to do the Saginaw conversion?" I even took a long, serious look at Herm's bolt on kit. In the end, I wanted the jeep to stay true, and any modification of that type would be a serious endeavor not only to complete (and I have no prior experience), but also to undo. It was time to rebuild the Ross Box.
I went to work collecting parts and watching videos. I admit to some naivete as I started with the big vendors first. Serendipitously, they were all out of re-pops, and I'm glad, because it probably saved me. Down the rabbit hole I went when I came to Pete DeBella, whom had a NOS worm shaft in stock. I snatched it up before I could even explain to my wife why that's important
I had him throw in the sector shaft kit as well. I picked up gasket and bearing kits, and everything else I thought I needed. I came across MetalShaper's youtube videos on the subject (can't recommend these enough). I picked up gasket makers, sealers, loc-tite...I've got a mini auto store going now...I purchased a 7/8" spiral flute hand reamer from Amazon. I removed the steering wheel...
Fortunately, my wheel came right off by hand. I've read horror stories about spraying for days and using pullers, but as previously mentioned, this jeep is in remarkable shape. I removed the three frame bolts, which have shims between the box and the frame. It's important to keep track of which shims were where, so I did this slowly and carefully. These are set from the factory and need to go back the same way, I'm told. The horn wire was cut, leaving enough room for re-connecting later. The drag link was disconnected using a Drag Link socket hollow ground bit (that I bought too big and ground the edges down some) from the pitman arm. With everything disconnected, I flipped the box over and pulled the whole assembly out through the floor (as is shown in the Kaiser Willys how-to video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTEHyIJmnkE).
I broke down the box into its component parts. I kept EVERYTHING until I was sure I wouldn't need it (and even then, I plan on keeping everything but the worm as emergency spares).
The outer column sleeve was cleaned/sanded/primed/painted.
The front cover (the big one on the box) was removed and set aside, being careful to keep track of which hardware goes where. The brass (or in my case, copper) washers belong to the bottom two bolts.
The pitman arm was popped off of the sector shaft (again, came right off) and the sector shaft pulled out. The nubs on the sector shaft were worn enough for me to consider it unsalvageable.
The outer oil seal was popped out, and the sector shaft bushings were "pressed" out using a hammer and a deep socket just smaller than the OD of the bushing. In hindsight, I probably could've saved the sector shaft bushings (might've been able to leave them in?), but they got a little banged up on the way out. Might still be salvageable, but I'll investigate that later.
With the top cover removed and the the shims and hardware carefully cleaned and set aside, the worm shaft required a tiny bit of convincing to come out with races and ball bearings attached. This was all done very carefully so as not to scatter ball bearings all over the shop. There were snap rings outside the races, so everything held together until I could break them down, though I'm not sure that's standard, so be careful.
The horn wire tube was popped out by very carefully using a hammer on the tube to pop it forward.
I used an entire can of brake clean and half a roll of shop towels on the inside of the box to get the grease out.
The box and covers surfaces were wire brushed, cleaned, then masked and painted (rattle can primer and wheel paint).
With everything cleaned and all parts sourced, the box was reassembled.
First came the sector shaft bushings. I carefully pressed in the new outer (long) bushing, then attempted the inner (short) bushing. As I've come to find is typical, the re-pop inner (short) sector shaft bushing would not stay in the box. I could slide it in and out with my finger. This would make it impossible to ream, so I went to Ebay, where I very luckily found a NOS bushing. It was as advertised. New, never used, required pressing into the box and needed reaming.
The scariest part was the reaming. As someone who has never done it before, this seemed like the most likely place for a screw up. I was concerned about the reamer not going through straight or wobbling/boring and taking off too much material. In the end, having the box in a vice so that the reamer was vertically oriented, going slow, and applying even turning force via a large tap wrench style tool assuaged any fears I had. Let the tool do the work!
When reaming was complete, an air compressor blew out the metal shavings (wear eye protection). I dry fitted the sector shaft. A perfect fit! Just enough room for oil, but not enough to be sloppy.
The horn wire tube was pressed back in (after a very small bead of right stuff was applied on the inside edge) and a LOT was applied to the outside.
I carefully reassembled the bearings on the NOS worm shaft. I ended up reusing the bearing cups/races (after some cleaning/polishing with emory cloth) with the new ball bearings from a kit (there were 11 per bearing). The new races just didn't sit right, and the originals weren't bad off, so I made the decision to keep them. At this point, the horn wire went through the worm, and was carefully threaded through the horn wire tube while putting the worm assembly in.
Getting the shims just right was a process! I followed Metalshapers videos and did a lot of assembly/disassembly/reassembly to get it right. I even went a step further and tested with one less 1/1000th and one extra, just to be sure I had the load on the inner bearings right. You should be able to turn it easily by hand, but there should be ZERO up and down movement! I took notes on paper of how many shims I used and their individual specs (thank goodness for micrometers!). I applied some aviation gasket maker on both sides of each shim once I was sure they were arranged to a correct tolerance before snugging the top cover down for good. Aviation gasket maker produces about 1/1000th thickness, so I did my best to account for that. I reused quite a few of the original shims since the repop kit only came with one thickness(I recall 1/7000th).
The front cover was put back on after applying some Permatex #2 on the gasket surfaces and anaerobic gasket maker applied to the two lower bolts' threads before sending them in with the copper washers . I let the gasket makers and sealants cure for 24 hours, then went overboard and applied some Right Stuff around all potential leak spots (hornwire tube, upper cover, front cover), just to be sure. I haven't seen a leak yet.
I sourced a 1/8" NPT plug from amazon for the fill hole (good riddance, grease zerk!).
While I had the drag link down, I decided to clean up the parts. I kept track of which end was which by punching an arrow into the drag link near the front denoting "forward" (this is important). I cleaned the springs and spacers, and polished all of the cups. I went ahead and polished the bell crank ball (which looked to be in pretty good shape). I bought a repop kit, but used only the dust covers and one nut. For some reason, the old nut wouldn't turn down enough to fit the cotter pin with the new pitman arm I'd bought (the old ball was worn out) but the new one did, since the grooves were cut deeper.
I put the outer column clamp over the worm and installed the assembly back in the way it came out, but without the outer column sleeve. This gave me a little more wiggle room and made reassembly a little easier. I slid the outer column sleeve down from the top ('inside' the jeep) and cinched the clamp with the bolt and sleeve groove correctly oriented (clamp bolt up, sleeve groove down).
The column was reattached to the dash via the brackets using the original welt.
The Pitman arm was put on loosely with a large grade 8 washer, lock washer, and 5/8" nut.
The drag link was reattached at both ends.
Steering wheel was put back on.
I filled the box with the new oil.
With the vehicle on jackstands, I backed out the the axle wheel stops and tested the steering lock to lock.
The sector tension screw was set so that the wheel drags just a little through center. Plan on noodling on this a bit and readjusting after test drives.
After some test drives, the pitman arm was adjusted one tooth to the right, then put back on, loc-tite red 271 applied, and tightened down until it couldn't be anymore.
The axle stops were adjusted to hit just before the box hit full lock.
I put the fender back on.
I'd like to say that everything went as smoothly as I'm portraying it here, but truthfully, there was way more back and forth. I had to drain the box while chasing leaks, apply sealants and gasket makers repeatedly and wait for them to cure, and had to re-disassemble parts that had been loc-tited together...I thought I had the shims right, but after mulling it and thinking on it for a day, knew it couldn't be. So I pulled it apart until it was. I got very frustrated when some of the 'new' parts didn't want to fit right, or the shims got bent while cleaning them (some of those are paper thin!) What I've written up here is the most ideal process and assumes no issues encountered. I hope it helps someone to avoid the hassles and mistakes I ran into.
Rebuilding the box was quite an undertaking, even with all of the videos, reading material, and questions I asked over various channels. There are some things I would recommend for anyone who plans to take it on:
- Take your time! Don't rush any of the rebuild in your want to get driving again.
- Don't throw away any of your original parts until you can inspect them and be sure they need replacing. Much of the old stuff is still likely in good shape, is the best fit, and is of superior quality.
- Before you put the front cover on, center the sector shaft on the worm, then use a punch or paint marker to make reference points for their alignment. Once you've got the cover on and the box full of lube, this will be near impossible. I cannot over stress the importance of this.
- Reuse your old shims if possible. New shims come in one size, which might take you farther away from the desired load than when you started. Seal these with Permatex Aviation Form-A-Gasket (#80019). For good measure, I used some Perm right stuff around the outside as well.
- I used Permatex No. 2 sealant between the front cover gasket and metal parts to prevent leaks (ask me about learning this the hard way)
- If you're not doing a body off resto, don't fill the box and do the sector shaft tension screw until the assembly is back in the jeep.
- Make sure all of your gasket sealants and gasket makers are cured before adding lube.
- Add some gasket sealer around any bolts that go through the box into oil. And be sure the copper or brass washers are on the two bottom most bolts on the front cover.
