# Ford 3000 manual steering rebuild



## Bob Smith (Aug 28, 2017)

Hello All,
I have a recently acquired 1970 Ford 3000 with manual steering that has a steering problem. The steering wheel started rising and falling (screwing in and out) and I can no longer steer left at all. From information I've seen on this site and others, I think the problem is a broken upper thrust bearing. I ordered the parts that I think I'll need and will rebuild the gear assembly. I don't think it'll be too hard.

I have a couple of manuals that outline the procedure, but I am not entirely sure that I understand setting the gear timing during reassembly. There's a drawing in one of the manuals that shows the the relationship of the gears in the box, but it doesn't mention exactly how you do it. Are there timing marks on the gears? Does the ball nut on the shaft need to be centered on the shaft worm gear? Do the front wheels need to be straight when the assembly is installed? Also, there doesn't seem to be a gasket between the gearbox and the transmission bell housing. The New Holland site shows a gasket, but only for 10 speed transmissions. Mine is an 8 speed. It seems kind of wrong to not have a gasket of any kind. 

I'm hoping to get the rebuild and re-installation of the steering gearbox right on the first try because the tractor is in a plot in a somewhat difficult location to access, and I don't want to have to pull it again and drag it back home to redo if at all possible.

I will really appreciate any good information I can get. Thanks.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy Bob, welcome to the tractor forum.

I checked the I&T shop manual for my Ford 3600, and it does not address the gear timing during reassembly or any of the questions that you pose that I can see. Guess I'll need a proper service manual if I ever get deeper into the gearbox. I have power steering, and I've been into the PS control valve, but not into the steering gears. BTW, the steering gearbox has a filler plug on the side to maintain lubrication (gear oil) in the gearbox.

Sorry I cannot help you, but my response will bump your post back to the top, where others may see it and help out.


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## Bob Smith (Aug 28, 2017)

Thanks sixbales. I actually got a Ford manual reprint that helped somewhat. It described the gear timing better than the IT. Between the IT manual and the Ford manual, I figured it out. Neither manual mentions that when you remove the sector shafts from the steering gear housing, you have to knock out the large bushings on the adjustment screw side of the housing. I thought this was strange. It's a little scary if you've never been in one of these boxes. If you screw the bushings up, you have to replace the housing since the bushings are supposedly not replaceable. Since I could find no mention of the bushing removal or installation, I thought at first I was about to do something wrong by removing them.

Timing the gears isn't bad once you see how they're made and understand how it works. I installed the driveshaft with new bearings, centered the ball nut in the center of travel by counting turns, installed the rear double sector shaft with the center tooth in the center valley of the ball nut gear, then installed the front single sector shaft and timed it to the double sector shaft. Then I made the end play adjustment on the sector shafts and was pretty much done. The worst part of the rebuild was cleaning out the old cornhead grease (or something similar). Man, nothing seems to dissolve that stuff very well, even straight gasoline. I put gear oil in it even though a lot of experienced gentlemen recommend 0 or 00 grease. Everyone was out of grease and I was in a hurry. If the box starts to leak oil, I may replace it with grease. I replaced all the seals so hopefully it'll hold for a good while. Thanks again for your response.


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## Snw 270 (Oct 15, 2019)

Bob Smith said:


> Thanks sixbales. I actually got a Ford manual reprint that helped somewhat. It described the gear timing better than the IT. Between the IT manual and the Ford manual, I figured it out. Neither manual mentions that when you remove the sector shafts from the steering gear housing, you have to knock out the large bushings on the adjustment screw side of the housing. I thought this was strange. It's a little scary if you've never been in one of these boxes. If you screw the bushings up, you have to replace the housing since the bushings are supposedly not replaceable. Since I could find no mention of the bushing removal or installation, I thought at first I was about to do something wrong by removing them.
> 
> Timing the gears isn't bad once you see how they're made and understand how it works. I installed the driveshaft with new bearings, centered the ball nut in the center of travel by counting turns, installed the rear double sector shaft with the center tooth in the center valley of the ball nut gear, then installed the front single sector shaft and timed it to the double sector shaft. Then I made the end play adjustment on the sector shafts and was pretty much done. The worst part of the rebuild was cleaning out the old cornhead grease (or something similar). Man, nothing seems to dissolve that stuff very well, even straight gasoline. I put gear oil in it even though a lot of experienced gentlemen recommend 0 or 00 grease. Everyone was out of grease and I was in a hurry. If the box starts to leak oil, I may replace it with grease. I replaced all the seals so hopefully it'll hold for a good while. Thanks again for your response.


I seen you was working on a steering gear box on a 3000 ford I am working on mine as well just wondering how did you get the large bushing out so you could remove the sector gears with out damage? Thanks


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## rozkoe6 (4 mo ago)

Snw 270 said:


> I seen you was working on a steering gear box on a 3000 ford I am working on mine as well just wondering how did you get the large bushing out so you could remove the sector gears with out damage? Thanks


im wondering the same.........could u let me know what you found out....im stuck........thanks RR


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

You may want to start your own thread, the member Snw 270 hasn't been around for for some time.


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