MTFCA Forum

As I was rebuilding the steering box on my 26. I found that the pin that rides in the slot at the bottom of the gearbox was moving. I got a lot of good info as to what to try. This is another area that after thinking about it I wanted to bring to the attention of us newbies. The pin was hitting the cover so much that it wore a grove in it and it made the cover hard to get off. You can imagine what would happen it it got stuck on the cover locking up the wheel. Check your pins!!

You can see the new cover next to the old.

Robert

Good info. to share.

That longer pin and the other two should be a press fit to the steering post flange. That keeps them in place.

Also, the large washer like spacer on the pinion overhangs the edges of those pins, so they shouldn't back up into the case cover.

Plus, the slot for retaining the longer pin sweep, as you turn the wheel, is there to help prevent oversteer That slot must be at the top of the steering case, when fitting the case to the column. Align the steering post flange with that longer pin to the slot when inserting the post into the case and column. A good visual check is the longer pin in the flange is indexed 180 degrees from the woodruff key slot at the end of the post.

You are right that washer does keep them in. I'll have to look at mine again and see how that grove was made in the cover.

I think minor wear like that is common. Mine has a very shallow groove like that but not nearly as deep as yours. That is to the point of being dangerous and worth keeping an eye on. I would clean thoroughly with lacquer thinner and fill with Aluminum Devcon Putty. I have been using it for 40 years and swear by it. It is almost as hard as steel and can be machined. When I worked for the Railcar Shop, we used Alminum Devcon putty extensively in the repairing and smoothing of the inside cylinder bores of our 100 Ton pneumatic jacks to maintain the piston seal. We had an old mechanic/machinist who, with water, his fingers and hand and a lot of skill and experience, could smooth it to a glass smooth surface. Jim Patrick

You are right that washer does keep them in. I'll have to look at mine again and see how that grove was made in the cover.

I used Loctite 640 Sleeve Retainer.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002 ... UTF8&psc=1