Ross power assist steering gear.

[bevans6]

It says to unstake it, not to break it!  I have never actually worked on this box (like I said, I found out that I had upgraded steering when I rolled in to inspect my setup), but it sure sounds and looks to me that  there is a plug that covers up and protects the adjuster., and the big nut locks it all down.

Brian

[gus]

Maybe MCI did this a lot different but GM made it stone simple.

You just loosen the 11/16? lock nut and turn the small slotted pin CW to tighten the steering play. This requires very little turning of the screw for a lot of change.

There are no plastic parts to break or any shafts to move!!

[rgrauto]

Thanks ,I'm looking for a metric yard stick and a BFH as we speak! Glen

[artvonne]

  The big jam nut locks the retainer, and it appears there is no need to even loosen the nut. It says to break the stake holding the plug, and screw the plug in to take up play. I gotta clean it better and get my nose up in there with a light, but im not seeing how its staked.

  Im gonna need a helper to watch or steer, but I think ive got the same problem Glen is talking about, ie the cam is walking up and down.

[aussiesmg]

nice thread, this is exactly what I needed

[HB of CJ]

FWIW, my old 1974 Crown Supercoach had TRW/Ross power assisted steering and all it took to make a lane change on the freeway/interstate was a half inch wheel twitch.  The steering had NO detectable slop at all.  None.  Once we found and hung the proper power steering pump, the steering was heavy until the power assist took over; then it was very light indeed.  Nice.  HB of CJ (old coot) (now busless)

[thomasinnv]

FYI, the book is very specific about how to adjust this particular gearbox. If you just center it and take all the slop out you stand a good chance of breaking something. On these boxes center is the loosest spot, and the clearance between the gears decreases away from center.

[bevans6]

Actually the opposite when the box is new, Derrick, per the manual pages I copied and pasted the groove is cut shallower and narrower in the center to allow for fine adjustment on center and looser at the limits.  But your point is still right - with wear, it's very probably that the center will become looser than the limits and you need to watch out for binding.

Brian

[thomasinnv]

Brian, I distinctly remembered the manual being very specific about not making adjustments at the center position. What I failed to do was go back and re-read the instructions to jog my memory as to why. Had it backwards. Open mouth, insert foot. I hate seeing people post inacurate information, even if it is corrected later in the thread. Someone might come along later and only read part of the thread, and end up with the wrong information.

[artvonne]

  I would surmise that both scenarios are true. Its unlikely anyone would make up the idea of breaking a gear box. After these parts have been in service for several decades and untold millions of miles, the parts could be worn in such a way that snugging up the adjustment on center, after its ground out the middle section, could lead to breakage.

  Best approach would be to jack the axle off the ground, and carefully reduce the play while checking the steering through its full range. Ive had worm and sector gears that wore like that, if you took up the adjustment on center they got tight as you swung away. Only fix for that is to overhaul the gear, replace it, or upgrade to a newer type. It may be possible a good machinist could re-cut the groove.

[buswarrior]

Do not discount the power assist as being benign in these matters.

If it is out of adjustment, you are rowing your coach down the highway with a shot of power assist throwing you this way and that.

And, to complete the class for the readers, we are assuming that the rest of the mechanical bits have been inspected for play, all the u-joints in the steering column, the various joints and tie rod ends underneath.

And alignment can wreak havoc on straight ahead driving on the highway.

Nothing wrong with Ross, when it is all adjusted.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[thomasinnv]

I totally agree with BW. If all the parts and pieces are in good working order, the ross system is just fine. I had a little play in my box, made the adjustment, and now it tracks almost as good as my car.

[artvonne]

  I have read a lot of stuff on the various forums, including this one, going back years. Somewhere along the way everyone began replacing parts rather than fixing things. Mechanics dont fix anymore, they replace. That, and the assist is seen as some antiquated steering and so many with worn or never adjusted/maintained steering and alignments complaining of all the slop.

  So of course if you remove an old un-adjusted gear and replace with a a fresh well adjusted gear its going to "fix" the problem. Better yet if while they are in there they restore all the other bits BW mentioned, anyone would sing high praise.

  But if we read a bit deeper, go back in time, we read that not all these old power assists were as sloppy as seen today, and a few today have some as tight or tighter as anything on the road. That the originals lasted millions of miles, if we solve a few of the issues and tighten them up, they will likely serve us for the rest of our lives.

[gus]

My 4104 steering box has a slotted stud on top of the box with a lock nut holding it. All I had to do was loosen the nut, turn the stud 1/8 turn with a large stubby slot screwdriver, lock the nut and drive it.

After about two times doing this I had 1" play at the wheel rim, very nice and no fuss.

Maybe I was lucky but my guess is these things were never adjusted in their first service because they weren't worn enough and never after that because maintenance went downhill very fast after that. What I'm saying is I doubt if many of them are worn too much to adjust.

There is also a backlash adjustment at the shaft gearbox at the bottom end of the steering column. If your whole column moves this may be loose but more likely is that one of the brackets holding itto the body is loose.

[aussiesmg]

Keep them coming guys, so far adjusted the drag link and the power ram adjusters, lubed the system and fixed a major PS leak, she steers so much more smmooooth but still wanders, albeit much less, so a little steering box adjustment is next.

All the linkages appear to be strong and healthy