The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post - 47-55.1 *Steering Wheel Centering*

dsraven · 11-21-2019, 03:04 PM

just a quickie on steering boxes and why the box needs to be centered in the straight ahead position, aside from turning further one way than the other.

the gears inside the box are not cut symetrically, they have a high spot in the middle, straight ahead position. this is so when you are driving down the road the steering seems tight and you are not constantly fiddling with the play in the gears, because the gears actually are tight. when the vehicle is turned the gears have a little backlash built in so the turn action is easier and also easier for the kingpin inclination angle to return the steering back to center without fighting a tight gear lash (the reason you can let the wheel slip through your hands after the turn and you don't have to actually turn the steering back to center). if you ride with the steering wheel installed just off center then you are defeating the system. if you adjust the box to be tight at your new centered location then it will be really tight when you turn the wheels past the actual tight spot.
;like said, the first part of an alignment is to center the box and tie it off there. then adjust the linkage to achieve the correct specs for the vehicle. if, when done an alignment, the wheel is not centered then have the tech redo some adjustments until it is straight ahead.
for the horn, the contact in the column is the ground circuit. it should be relatively easy to hook up your cool horn to work, through a horn relay, with the horn button on the steering wheel. arelay is required due to current draw and backfeed of current when the button is released (induced current in the horn windings, like an ignition coil, that kills/burns contacts in switches). rather than have the horn circuit powered all the time it is the circuit to the horn relay that does the slave work so the actual horn only gets power when the relay sends it. it is pretty common for the relay to weld the contacts together due to the aforementioned feedback and current draw, so if your truck has the relay disconnected it could be a simple fix.

11-21-2019, 03:04 PM	#23
dsraven Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: calgary alberta Posts: 7,831	Re: Steering Wheel Centering just a quickie on steering boxes and why the box needs to be centered in the straight ahead position, aside from turning further one way than the other. the gears inside the box are not cut symetrically, they have a high spot in the middle, straight ahead position. this is so when you are driving down the road the steering seems tight and you are not constantly fiddling with the play in the gears, because the gears actually are tight. when the vehicle is turned the gears have a little backlash built in so the turn action is easier and also easier for the kingpin inclination angle to return the steering back to center without fighting a tight gear lash (the reason you can let the wheel slip through your hands after the turn and you don't have to actually turn the steering back to center). if you ride with the steering wheel installed just off center then you are defeating the system. if you adjust the box to be tight at your new centered location then it will be really tight when you turn the wheels past the actual tight spot. ;like said, the first part of an alignment is to center the box and tie it off there. then adjust the linkage to achieve the correct specs for the vehicle. if, when done an alignment, the wheel is not centered then have the tech redo some adjustments until it is straight ahead. for the horn, the contact in the column is the ground circuit. it should be relatively easy to hook up your cool horn to work, through a horn relay, with the horn button on the steering wheel. arelay is required due to current draw and backfeed of current when the button is released (induced current in the horn windings, like an ignition coil, that kills/burns contacts in switches). rather than have the horn circuit powered all the time it is the circuit to the horn relay that does the slave work so the actual horn only gets power when the relay sends it. it is pretty common for the relay to weld the contacts together due to the aforementioned feedback and current draw, so if your truck has the relay disconnected it could be a simple fix.