Rough Country Steering Box Repair on the Chevy K10.
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- This week we tackle the broken frame around the steering box area , we use the Rough country repair kit and have really good luck. The repair turned out great!
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I had 4 squarebodies, 1973 GMC 2wd long bed, 1978 Chevrolet 2wd short bed, 1978 Chevrolet 4wd long bed and a 1984 Chevrolet 4wd long bed, boy do I miss that 84.
The Chevy gods must be looking down and saying another one saved good job Steve and Elizabeth. You're videos is like watching horsepower TV good clear pictures
If told myself im not putting headers on my truck… Id definitely install them NOW!
I wonder how many of us keep checking for Steve's Saturday morning video
I wait for Steve every Saturday, better than antenna TV 📺
Just an FYI Steve. he adjustment to get the slop out of the box isn't that screw on top. That is the overcenter adjustment. The adjustment you want is to tighten the ballscrew backlash. That adjustment is on the inputshaft side of the box. Loosen the sheetmetal nut and use a pin wrench to tighten the inner adjustment screw. Tightening the overcenter usually ends up causing binding and rarely needs adjustment even on a worn box. Funny thing is I was just explaining this to a mustang guy the other day as he said he tightened his up and it was still sloppy. (I used to be and ASE master+L1 tech)
The bearing preload adjustment is very easy. Loosen the lock nut, using a pin spanner, tighten the adjuster plug till it stops. Mark the box and the plug at the end of the box, and back off the plug 1/2”. Lock the jam nut keeping the 1/2” counter clockwise position. This eliminates any axial play as the thrust bearing is sandwiched between two coned bearing races that maintain preload on the needle bearing. Then the over center sector gear adjustment is performed. There are in/lb targets to hit when doing the preloads. With the over center adj. backed all the way out and then tightened 1 turn in, the bearings proper preload is 5 to 7 in/lbs ( after the 1/2” back off from tight ) After checking the bearings without any drag from the over center gear contact, then tighten the over center (gears in the middle of their travel ) till there is another 5 to 7 in/lb drag on the input shaft. I have found that a too tight over center adjustment creates a steering wander condition that rivals a worn out steering system. ASE MASTER 40 years with ASE steering suspension Subject Matter Expert award.
the screw he did adjust if over tight the steering box will not turn it may not happen the 1st ten feet might be a mile down the road it will be like you locked your steering in park ,,
Coffee and a video from Steve. A good way to start my Saturday.
about to do this to my 84 diesel and appreciate you taking the time to make the video. subbed
I wrote in a previous video that you inspired me to fix the rust on my 2005 f350 Dually, 6.0 diesel bullet proofed. I started a few weeks ago, working in my spare time, with the truck bed. I removed the bed, flipped it over, and replaced the rotted cross rails on that. Then on to the doors, all four of them required patch panels at the bottom, I just finished welding my last one in last night. I bought some and fabricated some others. All the rot is now gone on the truck. Now it's on to the body work. Mechanically the truck is in great shape and has been well maintained and any time something showed signs of wear, replaced etc. The body is in relatively good shape, no collision damage, just normal dings and scratches and paint chips. I'm gonna be repainting the whole thing, original color, base/clear black. At this point, I'm committed to seeing it thru to the end. Cutting out rust and rot sucks bad. Welding in new solid metal sucked a little less, but it was a lot of work, and a slow process to make it right. The body work should go a lot smoother. I've never been a big fan of body shop dust and sanding in general but I've always done body work on my own vehicles in the past and I've always been happy with the results. At some point I'm gonna have to make a huge temporary spray booth, with poly, in my shop about, 16ft x 30ft to fit the dually into and have room to work around it. My shop is 40x60 but a spray booth that size is gonna take some doing, My shop is pretty full, but if I stack some things up, and move some stuff outside under wraps, I'll have the space. It's a significant investment in time and money, but this truck is worth saving since a new one like it is probably around $80,000. I won't have any payments on this one. My house is paid for, all my vehicles are paid for and that's the way I wanna keep it. Life is good when you don't have payments breathing down your neck all the time!
PS: I give you a lot of credit for putting up these videos every week. I did it for a while and I found it to consume a lot of time and energy. So a big thanks to you and all the others that provide all this free informative content on UA-cam.
Awesome 👍 glad to hear someone is going to put some effort in . You may work on it for months but if you care for it you will have years of good rust free service in return 👍.
I finally got everything paid for about 8 years ago. Having that extra every month is great !
@@TomokosEnterprize I bet👍. A few hundred extra every month makes a huge difference for all of us.
@@TomokosEnterprize If I told you the payments I had 15 yrs ago, it would make your head spin. Mortgage, child support for 3 kids, car payments, property taxes in the north east...the list goes on. I had to make $6000/mth just to break even. Now, I live in east Tennessee, I make 2/3 of that, and, with no payments, i'm living like a king. 😎
@@SteveSummers At your age and all the talents you truly poses I can see you comfortably well off and able to truly enjoy your retirement years. BUT ! Just make sure you can always create and putter along or retirement will eat you up. I realized that after about a month. 50 years of creating and fixing is like an addiction that just can't be ignored Steve. Now with my eyes failing, missing a leg and battling bladder cancer at 65 I still really enjoy all the phone calls and folks stopping by that need a bit of guidance with this or that and I still have my silver pouring to feed the creative need. I can easily see you just like your dad living to a very comfortable old age. Remember, , , You have to create as that is all you know eh.......Dean...... All the best to you and your wonderful family my FRIEND.
My brother-in-law in law bought a new '76 model square body. Talk about rust; it was a '76. He replaced all the sheet metal except the cab itself. He worked at a Chevy dealer, so got a cut on the parts. Mechanically a good truck.
I liked the WELDING MUSIC nice touch....!
Great Job! You would be a great host of "This old Motor"
When one is ill,,makes one fill much better hanging out watching you in your shop (@@)! Hope get back real soon on our CJ5,, and share. Best to you and yours, and the truck is awesome and be a joy to drive soon (@@)! Bear.
LOL, Chuck Norris never gets old. Crazy to think that a modern 4 cylinder makes more power than that big old motor. When I got my Silverado in 04, I didn't expect dishing out a few hundred dollars every year on a sensor to pass state inspection. This year it was a fuel tank pressure sensor but on the bright side, during the diag. I found out it had a 6 CD changer. Do you know how useful that would have been 18 years ago. LOL
A buddy of mine drove a late '90s Ford F250 company truck with extended cab. The day he was emptying it out to return it, he discovered the side of the cab extension opened up like a suicide back door. He was fit to be tied!
@@eastunder55 LOL
I am sure my 1971 K20 needs that kit too.
i saw a restored numbers matching 1973 chevy blazer go for $87,000.00 dollars. i know numberers matching is a big deal but "WHAT!!??!!". thanks for sharing
Impressive long-term repair!
The last bit of flex after the reinforcement was made is no problem, there is no such resistance in driving as in stand still, so the flex will not occour that much often...
Thx for showing!
:-D
"That thing" is a charcoal cannister. Part of the emission system.
This video series makes me want to go out and get myself a square body!! I had a '79 Jimmy (Blazer), and I LOVED it! Excellent work!
Ya know Steve that steering slop adjustment would be a good thing to show on UA-cam my brother and I done his s10 a year or two ago theirs no real good videos on it on UA-cam we trail and error it till it was right
Yeah, Its pretty simple nylon nut and set screw . 👍 If I get a chance Ill show it
Good job, Steve. That steering box definitely won’t fall off anytime soon!
It is interesting the local terms for things, here in the northwest (Washington state) we call it "welding cardboard" it is used for kneepad, creeper and general spark protectant also paint masking and a critical component of CAD "carboard assisted design"
Great detailed video thank you so much for sharing this 👍👍
When I restored my 80 vette, neighbour bought a new fridge an the box made me a creeper that fit under the whole car!!
Multiple times throughout the week, I just stop and think to myself... I can't wait to see what he's doing on the truck next.
Man I would be taking many pictures so I could look back through them to see what goes where! lol
Loving this rebuild dude. Very enjoyable to see you doing stuff I have no idea, or limited idea to do.
I have a friend that needs this repair.. he has the part I think I may help him preform it .. thanks for the video
Great job great series
Great Repair.
Love it..
Well every vehicle gets designed and built, but it is the consumer that finds the weak areas of the design over time and use. So fixing those weak areas is a great idea. The factories do their risk assessment as to whether they should invest into a different design, or just let it go. But every product released to the public goes through those same issues and either redesigns, or don't worry about the weak areas. I mean after all, they have new ones to sell... Thumbs Up
Just speculating here, but I think owners who put on (way)oversize tires exacerbate a potential frame problem at the steering box mounting area.
Thank you for sharing. Enjoyed.👍🛻👀
I had a 75 2wd that i got from a local used car lot took me about 2 days to figure out that it had a serious problem the frame was so bad around the gearbox the front bumper would move about 2 inches from side to side took it back to the dealer and showed them they gave me a 80 model to keep me happy my guess is they just welded it and sent it.
I then got an 85 w 6.2 diesel in 87 it was 2wd automatic had 17000 kilometers on it or around 11000 miles it was the exact same color as yours i loved that truck i drove it for 23 years had 800000 kilometers 500000 miles on it when I got rid of it It was wore right out still miss the old truck 👍👍🐿?🍻🍻
Thanks!
NICE repair!
Another ace job Steve 👍
I am loving this series. I look forward to each Saturday morning to see what is next.
Good repair
Beat to shape, file to fit, paint to match. .
I like the way you use an old creeper to prevent overspray. Really nice to be able to get every last bit of use out of your tools!
The reason they don't recommend continuous welding is that a continuous HAZ is a excellent path for future cracks to propagate along.
When aircraft used tubular steel space frames ,they never welded all the way around a tubular joint and used gussets to add strength.
Always the best way to spend a Saturday morning hot chocolate and mr summers working on his truck can’t beat it that movement you had after the reinforcements should all but disappear once the front of the trucks put back together what an improvement though all the best
Nice video, loaded with information. Can't wait to see it complete. You are the complete package. One who can do it all. Like myself, I am one to find the problem and fix it, instead of just replacing. I am not a parts replacer, but one who would rather repair than replace parts. Thanks for sharing. You make my Saturday's a great start to the day.
Very skillful and intelligent man well done Steve keep the videos coming. I watch all Im aware of that you post.Thanks
Steve you are doing a great job on your truck keep up the good videos
Nice repair I've had several square bodies myself and never wanted to know if it had a crack lol
That's the normal guy approach😁. If you don't look you can assume its good and drive with confidence.🤞
Nice job. You're really making impressive progress on that truck project.
It gets newer looking with every video. Nice work Steve.
Nice repair Steve!
Dear Steve, I haven't watched your last 3 videos. I know another video is coming today. I'll probably check that one out first. Greetings Jaap.
Man, I REALLY miss having my 84 C10, Nice series Steve!
Hallo, a very good woork and a good truck.
Happy Saturday Steve and Grits! The black container is part of the evaporative emission controls. Thanks for another instructive episode of your journey, I like the skip weld procedure. Thanks for taking the time to share. God Bless.
Charcoal Canister is what it is called ..
@@randytravis3998 JFYI We call them carbon cannisters in Australia, pollution gear crap.
@@MrValhem265 well I am not in Australia they may be junk but depends what year and what state you might need it for inspection of you auto
@@randytravis3998 i agree
I’ve made that frame repair before. If I could figure out how to attach a picture I’d show you how he tide it up. Really funny.
Nice repair. This must be common on many years GM trucks. I had to do this same repair on my 89 GMC when I bought it in 1999, and it is still getting me to work and back every day.
good job steve
Steve just a thought ,,,when your welding and grinding near your parts washer ... Close the lid .. I bought a new too me home came with a 2 car garage and a pole barn 10 feet 6 inch ceiling .. they had old sheet plastic on the ceiling ,, full or junk .. birds nest ,hay tons of dust and dirt .. the barn is 20 years old .. I was grinding and welding last winter .. looked up and about 10 ft area was melted full of holes like someone took a ice pick too the plastic .. since then I got new plastic and put up tin on the ceiling ,, for looks and too hold the insolation when I get the money but as a spark stoper .. but I keep the lid closed on my parts washer if I am welding or grinding anywhere in the shop .. them dam sparks go every where .. truck is looking good ..
I enjoy your videos. Regarding the dimide clamps, if you want more clamping pressure, use a 3/8 impact on the opposite end of the clamping bolt. (Lefty/tight Righty/loose)
Very solid repair Steve and the crack detection really helps.
I was thinking about getting a Go Pro for my channel but I think I'll pass given your experience with them.
Best wishes, Dean in Oxfordshire, UK.
I have done this repair a number of times but made 1/4 in thick as large a washer/plates I can get into the inside of the frame. Worked well as well. That was 25 years ago. Oh how I wish those patch plates were available or known of them way back when. It is looking like you are getting through the repair and upgrade list pretty quick now. It will be like driving a totally different pickup when you are done. I guess I need to go and have a look at my 1980 SQ body and hope for the best eh, LOL. Thanks Steve. Have a beauty weekend my friend.
Great video! The vapor filter (charcoal filter) is used to extract vapors from the fuel tank and dump them dump it back into the carburetor for burning at certain intervals.
🤣🤣🤣😂 It has zero to do with "preventing an explosion" but it does collect fuel vapors in the charcoal canister from both the carb float bowl and the fuel tank, and during cruising they are pulled into the intake manifold to be burned. This is purely an emissions control device to reduce evaporative emissions that every car and light truck has had for 50 years.
@@wrenchoperator6435 absolutely right
think the round anister behind the grille is a carbon canister , verry likely hooked to the pressure release on the gastank to prevent the truck smelling like gasfumes
seen an adaption to the placement of the gastanks , normally they have saddle tanks but if you want to make understorage boxes you can get a gastank from a blazer that mounts behind the rearaxle in between the framerails and make the filler sit behind the licenceplate
So much nicer doing that steering box repair in a shop. I had to do one on the side of the mountain with nothing but jumper cables and some 7018. The box had ripped completely off the frame. Of course, it didn't help we were running 44" TSL's.
The repairs are lookin good! Keep it up, and you may hesitate on taking it out for wood! lol
Copper underlayment is a great way to get nice welds. It's especially good on thin metals when one doesn't have a tig welder.
You are right on the nose they easy to get parts for plus Chevy had. It you could unbolt all the panels from the box.
That's the squeak catcher...pulling that hose off let some of the squeaks out.
I put a pair of 3/4 ton axles under my k10 this past fall. Once spring comes around I’m going to put a steering box stiffener in. The frame isn’t cracked on mine so I figure I’ll reinforce it before I have issues. Got to love these old trucks.
I plan to use a saginaw steering box on my '63 Land Cruiser, as mine has "armstrong" steering. There are brackets made to do this, so the end result is less bump steering, and better handling.
29$ from the river co. 79 from rough country, I ordered both, they appear nearly identical with the Chinese one having a better nest.
Yes that canister is indeed a vapour filter for for your petrol vapour. It's filled with activated carbon and when your engine is warm it will suck the petrol vapours out of it with underpressure from your manifold.
Thank you for the great content of your video's
You can tell Steve's an oldster when he uses Chuck Norris as his tough-guy reference.
I was referring to old Chuck in his prime ninja days 😁.
Yes you are correct. The mechanism is based on a slug of wax pushing a piston as it expands on heating.
Thanks Steve, I enjoy all your videos. One piece of advice I would offer though, I'd consider a cross over steering conversion. You can do it using a 2 wheel drive box and a kit, although the contents of the kit could be easily made in your shop. The reason the 4x4 frames broke out in that area is due to the additional stress caused by the front to back motion of the pitman arm vs the crossover design of the 2 wd. Crossover steering also can eliminate any bumpsteer you may have if done correctly. I have owned many of these trucks and just suffered along with shitty steering as you have for many years. Just my 2c... Thanks again! Will
Fabricating a crossmember foward of the steering works very well not absolutely necessary but while your there
Hey Steve sorry I’m late to class this weekend. Hey a tip I would highly recommend when refilling your cooling system. If you are not using premix and mixing it yourself get some distilled water (.99¢ at the grocery store) you will get a lot more life out of your coolant this way. Do an experiment with tap water and another with distilled in a small cup and you will see the difference. Tap water will warm up fast as the chemical reaction neutralizing the minerals is occurring. No heat up with distilled. Using distilled puts more of those neutralizing chemicals in the system where you want it! Stay warm! Can’t wait to see footage of you guys cruising again.
I bet you’re enjoying that new air compressor and being able to run your air tools pretty much indefinitely. Looking good, keep up the good work Steve!
Yep, It doesn't have trouble keeping up with everything I've done so far.
👍. That is a big plus. Thanks for watching
same problem shows up on 1st generation Dodge Diesel 4x4's. Probably due to the extra weight of that engine. Frame above the forward pin on the spring is another problem area. I welded it all, ground it back only where the frame was stamped out around the bolt holes so the mounting plate would sit correctly. That mounting plate was broken also. It still flexes some, I keep an eye on it. If I'm going on a long haul for a machine, I usually get underneath, get comfortable, and really give those area's the "stink eye" ... sometime you don't notice some things until you have stared at them for a while ... one of these days I'll thing of a practical way to stop that flexing.
I've yet to hear an owner of a gas engine model having that problem.
What's next Steve? Pull the motor? Loving this series as much as the shop rebuild. Regards from Ireland man
Still got a crack there where that frame rail is by the front spring attachment, you can just see the red dye there under the corner.
Long live the square body! Heaven knows GM wasn’t intending them too.
Steve: Watching you through this rebuild series has inspired me to do the same to my 2002 Ram 1500 since It has been a good and reliable truck for these 20Years. New Dodge 1500 trucks are $$$$$ out of site! and I am 75/76 in April so this is the best choice for me also. Love the way you approach working on your shop also.
There is no reason you can't keep that truck going as long as you want👍. The good thing about repairing one over replacing is you already know most the things it needs. Buying used can be a gamble and everyone knows what happens when you buy one new . The new truck may not be broke but the old wallet is.😁
@@SteveSummers Yes sir!
classic steve! do a discount 327 - you have the know how! - get an efi kit - my only advice
327 isn't correct. Why would he do that?
Hiya Steve
Steve, for those viewers that don't know, the best way to tell if a good quality bolt is metric or sae is to look at the bolt head. If it has a two digit number without a decimal point, it's sae. If it has a decimal point, like 4.8, 10.9, etc, it's metric. The higher the number, the harder the bolt. A series of letters has to do with the length of the bolt, and the size, like ego, ard, etc.
I like that you’re taking the time to fix up this old square body it needs to be saved. New trucks are overpriced absolute garbage. 👍🏻
Hey, Steve I Like your channel a lot... the welding & machining content especially.
BTW is there another crack in the frame, right on top of the brakeline bracket visible @23m37s
Yes, That gets taken care of after the motor gets removed 👍
Good job on the repair, and Steve it wasn't moving, the entire truck was moving.
That was a charcoal canister purge for the gas tank. An emissions device.
It sucks up the gas fumes
Gm knew with stock sized tires it would not break the frames. Letting people break them with oversized tires probably led to more truck sales. 😎
I remember my friend had a brand new 1965 F100 long wheel base. Randomly while driving it would get the death wobble. I think it had something to do with the twin I beam front axles, and the frame flexing where the steering box mounted. I never found out if there was a official tech bulletin about it or not? This was in 1965 just before going to Vietnam so my mind was on other things at the time,
Regarding the GoPro frustrations - it may be the SD cards. They have very limited write endurance - some barely last one write, others can last hundreds, but all have a finite life. Write speed can be another issue, particularly if you're recording HD - and they can get slower with age. Look for high-speed, high endurance cards from a brand with a reasonable reputation (ha!) and if you have a corrupt recording, retire the card and get a new one. The cards can be somewhat sensitive to the device they're in too (heat, voltage, etc).
Awesome repair work to the chassis 👍 that repair patch kit worked well 👍 great work and another awesome video 😎
Really makes me miss my K5 Blazer. Though, it would have needed more work than this to keep it on the road.
That $15 rag joint is going make a big difference. Be sure to replace it.
MM77 Approved 👍🏼👍🏼
The steering box on my dads van had broken loose, so he held it in place with vice grips. He drove around with this solution for weeks.
Steve, I owned a 75 3/4 ton long bed, it was a fine truck except for the Chinese steel they had in them.
I didn't consider reinforcing the frame to help with the steering. My K20 frame didn't have any cracks, but it has awful steering, so I will give this a try.
Fabricate a new creeper: Had me spitting out my coffee
Charcoal cannister to absorb fumes from tank