manual steering?

[e6ugg]

this is my first experience with manual steering.
i expected it to be harder to turn, but holy smokes.
it takes me 2 or 3 mins just to back out of my driveway. once i get moving its not so bad, but it does have a lot of play.

without converting to power steering, is there anything i can do to improve my driving experience?

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

if you don't have the original steering wheel on it. get one of similar diameter. a bigger steering wheel gives you more advantage

you could also air up the front tires more, but thats about it.

i've been driving manual steering trucks since i got my license 5 years ago. i can turn them lock to lock in the parking lot at great speed. after driving like this for a while you'll have nice strong arms

how much play are you talking about? these trucks don't have rack and pinion steering like you might be used to. rack and pinion steering has virtually no steering slack while recirculating ball steering boxes have a bit of free play.

i'll admit i've driven a couple trucks with recirculating ball steering that was out of adjustment and was very hard to control with the excessive free play. your steering box is adjustable though

[onetuford]

Before I converted to power steering, my truck was very hard to steer. When I took it apart it seemed the kingpins had some rust in them. Just replacing kinpins made the truck a bunch easier to steer. Check them out, and grease them. Then hit the gym

[1972hiboy]

My 4x4 is manual steering and was a real pain to steer when i first got it. however some things mentioned made big improvements for me. one was the steering wheel. the truck had a dent side small steering wheel. I put a 69 wheel on. boy what a differance. Make sure the kingpins arent worn and make sure everything is greased up. if you have larger wider tires in the front you may want to consider a more stock skinnier tire.Also check to see if you have proper tire pressure in the ones you do have. I changed the oil in the gearbox with some kendall 50wt and THAT made a huge differance......now the truck turns with realitive ease. I used to dread parking lots...

[fordman]

steering slop can be several things. check these out and replace what is bad.
the steering coupler(rag joint)
tie rods and drag link joints.
king pins
steering box slack
air in the tires
steering wheel size matters also. larger is easyier to turn than a smaller one. i think a manual steering truck uses a 16 1/2 or 17 inch wheel.

[Mancar1]

When I got the 65 CS years back. It was a Big Bear to steer. The PO had a small cutsie wheel on it, I installed the original size wheel, replaced the king pins, and installed a steering stabalizer. As has been mentioned it sure steered a lot easier. (But of course nothing like power steering.)

[survivorman]

I have the manual too. The trick to them is the big steering wheel, and keep it moving as you do any manuvering.

Or just keep going till your arms get bigger, and it will no longer matter.

[Montana71-F100]

The other posts have some good points. One thing I found that helps is, rather than having both hands on the outside of the steering wheel on the left and right side, grab it on one side like you would a rope and pull hand over hand. Keep the truck moving a little while you're doing it.