1956 Power Steering -- Technical Question

Jon B

A Hudson friend owns a nice '56 Hornet with power steering. In recent years it has (shall we say) "loosened up", and the car wanders a bit. The fellow had his local mechanic check out the steering linkages and they seemed tight. So he removed the power cylinder and sent it to Lares Corp. for rebuilding. When it had been re-installed, the car still wandered, so he sent it back. After they'd checked it again and replaced a seal, the steering did tighten up a bit...but was still a bit loose.

There appears to be one last component that he hasn't checked, and that is the gearbox at the bottom of the steering shaft, with the pitman arm coming out the side. This appears to be very difficult to remove for servicing, so he's somewhat hesitant to do so.

My question is: from what I have said so far, is there a reasonable possibility that the problem may lie in this gearbox, or could there be yet another component that would need to be checked? If someone is familiar with these power steering systems, can they make any educated guesses about what's wrong?

Jon B

Ken, thank you for all this information! I will pass it along to my friend. You've listed a number of things that he can check. Would you then agree that -- if rebuilding the power cylinder didn't cure the problem -- the steering box gear (or metal fatigue on the body where it is mounted) may indeed account for the continuing looseness in the steering? Or is there some other possible cause that my friend can look at?

Jon B

Wow! Thanks for all these great suggestions, Ken! I'll add the latest ideas to your earlier ones, and give them to my fellow Hudsonite!

Jon B

Ken, I just wanted to follow up on this thread.

A big "thank you" from one of our local Hudsonites who has a beautiful '56 Hornet Hollywood.  We spoke over the weekend at a Hudson meet, and he was very appreciative.  He said he replaced the bushing -- and I think he meant the Trunnion Ring that you mentioned -- and that it improved the handling greatly! 

When he obtained the new rubber ring and gave it to his mechanic, it produced much eye-rolling on the part of the mechanic, who told him that this certainly would NOT help his loose steering.  Once the mechanic removed the old rubber part, he found it was hard as a rock.  When he replaced it with a new one, he told my friend that he owed him an apology; he rubber ring was exactly what was needed.  My friend says there is still a wee bit of looseness in the steering but that the trunnion ring made an amazing improvement.  And he's no longer scared to drive the car.  In fact, he drove the car to the Hudson meet on Saturday, where he told me all of this!

Jon B

Yes, you mentioned the rear Panhard bushing in your reply last November, I'll make sure he understands that this, too, should be replaced.

Jon B

I'm baaaack!

After acting on all of these good ideas (thanks especially to Ken Ufheil for his thoughts!), my friend still has a bit of play in his steering wheel (1956 Hornet with power steering).  Not as bad as before, but he reports that the steering wheel turns about 3" before the front wheels begin to turn at all.

Here is what he's done:

1. had the alignment checked and adjusted by a reputable shop.

2. New rubber trunnion rings installed (and the old ones WERE hard!)

3. Steering box rebuilt by Lares Corp.  The part of the body to which the steering box is bolted, is NOT rusted out.

4. Power cylinder rebuilt by Lares Corp.

5. Rear Panhard bushings checked.

(He DOES have bias ply tires, if this makes a difference.)

He took it to a truck alignment place and they got under the car and checked it out (the car was sitting on its tires at this point, the tires were not suspended in the air.  He and the shop personnel went over every bit of the car's steering system and found nothing loose.  The steering seemed to be tight.  But when he got the car back on the road, the steering still seemed to be slightly loose.  Not so bad that it was unsafe to drive, and my friend says that neither he nor his daughter have any trouble maneuvering it, but there is still some sloppiness there.

Maybe he's gone about as fur as he can go, but can anyone suggest any other reasons why he might be getting this looseness?  I'd be grateful for thoughts....

bob ward

65 year old steering mechanisms even in as new condition are sloppier than the steering in modern cars. Today's steering designs are better - mainly rack and pinion, manufacturing tolerances are tighter.  

Jon B

It turns out the rear Panhard bushings had not been checked thoroughly, so my friend ordered four new ones and had them installed.  He said there was a definite improvement in the steering!  He still has a bit of sloppiness in steering, but that could simply be "the way things were" in the mid-1950's.  Anyway, thank you very much for the information on where to get those bushings, Ken!