4x4x2 box reassembly

[Gunnibronco]

I finished reassembling my 4x4x2 box and now there is a tight spot when rotating the input shaft (using vice grips on input shaft). I can push through it, but it doesn't seem right. After about 1/2 a turn it loosens up and rotates freely to stop, left or right.

Its like the sector shaft is bent or something. The worm gear spins freely & the sector shaft spins freely. But put them together and something seems wrong.

I only replaced the input shaft seal on the valve assembly/worm gear, sector shaft seals & spacers, and the orings where the valve assembly & sector shaft seal to the box. I didn't break into the worm gear or do the teflon seals.

[Gunnibronco]

I put the original 78/79 F150 worm gear & valve body back into the box & it turns through it's whole range with no tight spot. I guess I need to find another 4x2 box and see if a different worm gear will work better.

[Gunnibronco]

Or, should I attempt to adjust the sector shaft adjustment screw?

[pgilbeau]

Haven't built one myself but I would guess if it works fine with the original worm gear then the donor probably has something wrong with it. Are you using the West Coast Broncos tech info? They seem to have a lot of good info including the manual for the 4x4 box in their tech library.

[Gunnibronco]

Actually, I should have done more reading before posting up. It's not unusual to have to adjust the sector shaft after reassembly. You are meshing 2 'gears' that weren't ever adjusted for each other. The box should be tighter near the center of the steering range, but not as tight as mine ended up. The correct way to adjust the box is listed in the WCB stuff. I had it all printed out, just had to find the right info. I made a small adjustment, and after the steering shaft is all hooked up, I'll fine tune it based on the specs in the WCB stuff.

The proper adjustment is listed at the bottom of page 1 here:
http://www.wcb4x4.com/tech/rcshopman1.pdf

[pgilbeau]

Good to know, didn't think about the adjustment

[EFI Guy]

Is there an easy kit to buy to build these? Mine is locked up tight and I need to dig into it.

[Gunnibronco]

There is a $15 seal kit, I got from Oreilies. Casadejohnson recommended it. He done a few himself. I didn't mess with the teflon seals or the worm gear, just the input & sector seals & basic orings. The kit is listed for the 79 Bronco. There is also a 'Master kit' closer to $50 but Casadejohnson didn't think it was needed.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/searc ... rect=02885

If you need the 4x4 & 4x2 boxes WCB4x4 has a good page with the donor boxes here:
http://www.wcb4x4.com/tech/diyrockcrawler.shtml