Quote:
Originally Posted by LockDoc
I wish I had taken a picture of mine. There wasn't any grease build up on it at all.
LockDoc
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I wish I had a dollar for every time I wished I had a picture of something I worked on!
First off the photo I didn't post earlier. The green line approximates the material I removed to get the full range of adjustment.
As expected the pressure hose was a pain. Having read all the posts about how none of the current replacement hoses fit I wasn't disappointed when the hose couldn't be installed on the box. It appears to me that GM had special tubing die made to make the first bend that allowed a very short installed height. The replacement hose sold likely is being manufactured with standard tubing bending dies which don't allow the short installed height required.
I decided to straighten and rebend the new hose I had. If I failed and ruined the tubing my back up plan was to take the new hose and have a local hydraulic hose shop make a new hose out of parts from the old one and the new one.
After about two hours of messing about I had reworked the tubing enough to install it. It's not very pretty but it isn't kinked or twisted which was my real concern. Not having the proper bending die when bending tubing kinking the tube is extremely easy. I'm not an expert tubing bender so I am quite pleased I managed to pull this off.
I ended up using 2 different 3/8 benders, an old Ford wrench and my torch to coax the tubing into a usable piece. I didn't get a photo of the before height of the tube but the red lines approximate the height of tubing as purchased.
Every time I had to let the tubing cool down after heating and bending I would put another coat of paint on the brackets and fasteners. It was a bit chilly so I used my parts warmer.
A 500 watt quartz lamp and a piece of sheet metal.
I ended up being another unexpected problem. Once the steering column was all bolted back together it pushed the steering wheel up off the upper bearing about 3/16". I don't know exactly where the problem is or if it is a case of tolerance stacking. In order to get the steering wheel to drop back down where it needed to be I had to pull the shaft down hard. This means the rubber in the rag joint is no longer in its natural shape but is distorted.
The last photo shows how I had to use a clamp and a pair of Vice Grips to force the lower bearing spring lock to compress enough to overcome the shaft being forced up by the rag joint.
I loosened the rag joint on the box input shaft splines and it is down as far as the clamping bolt will allow. I ran out of daylight and gumption so that is where it rests at this point. I will try loosening the box and see if I can gain any additional clearance. Then likely I will have to try the same with the column mounting bolts maybe between the two I can get things to fit better.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I did get the system filled with fuild, air bled out, and test driven. No leaks at present and it sure is nice to go from the 4 3/4 turn box to this 3 1/2 turn box.
At present I don't know it the increased resistance when turning the steering wheel is from the new box or from the shaft length issue. Unfortunately I'm back to work tomorrow so the answer will be a week down the road.