Hi all -

I have a 59 544 with lateral (longitudinal?) slop in the steering box. That is, when moving the tire back and forth, I can see the steering arm move up and down. (not in and out, not side to side).

I bought a rebuild kit from swedish treasures, which was supposed to be self explanatory. Harrumph.

It has two split bronze bushings about .75" ID x 1" long, two lockwashers, two larger flat washers with tabs, a seal, and a gasket.

While I think I could probably figure it out (disassemble, extract old bushings, insert new ones, replace washers/gasket) I a little leery - don't want to miss an important step or accidentally lose a bunch of bearings or springs or pixie dust.

Can anyone help?

I'm guessing the parts are # 11, #12, and a top gasket. Looks like total teardown is the only way to do it? Is this an on-car or off-car repair?

How is the box removed from the car? Looks like the steering shaft is one piece from the wheel to the box.

Many thanks for any guidance.

It is definitely an OFF-CAR repair!
However if the shaft to which the pittman arm is attached moves on its own axis
in and out of the box and does NOT move forward or back or side-to-side, you MIGHT
try a slight adjustment.
Go easy on it because if you go too far it will make the steering stiff in the middle.
(If you notice that, adjust it back.) I would not adjust more than half a turn of the
adjusting screw. Only loosen the locknut as much as you need to to adjust and tighten
it after adjustment.

Thanks! It's definitely slop in the box.

Any tips on getting it out and apart safely? Or is just one of those "dig in and see what happens" jobs?

I just recently rebuilt the box in my '59 Amazon. Though, I didn't replace the bushings. Disassembly isn't too difficult.

With the box removed, place it in a vice. Borrow a pitman arm puller either from an autoparts store or from a neighbor. The pitman nut is torqued to 120 ft/lbs, so you will definitely need a good puller. My neighbor had a snap-on one, that worked great.

Next, remove the coupler from the steering shaft.

Loosen the bolts on the top cover, but don't touch the adjustment screw. Pull the cover a little and drain off the oil; then pull the whole cover with the pitman shaft attached.

You can remove the steering rod, so that you can replace the seals. If there is play in the actual steering rod, then the bearings are most likely worn. That is an expensive job though.

With everything disassembled, I cleaned and inspected everything. Replacing the seals was a trick: they need to be pried out with a chisel.

I didn't replace the bushings, because they would need to be reamed out. This can only be done at a machine shop. Also, my box has no play and I have never adjusted the box.

Head to http://www.volvoamazonpictures.se/ Read the service manual: 6 Front End and Steering Gear. It covers the whole job. I bet the PV had the same box as well.
--
1959 Volvo Amazon 121

I've never pulled the box from a PV. But before you get it out, the hardest part may be
getting the pittman arm off the shaft.

While you have the column out, replace the hidden bushing inside the column near the steering wheel. It's plastic and it's shot. Will take a lot of the uneasy "wiggle" out of the column.

Lo and behold, the pitman arm was loose on the steering shaft. Tightened it up, all better!

Kyle, you have the satisfaction of being the only person that has ever owned a PV that has a loose Pittman bar,everybody complains about that bar when they are trying to renew the bottom seal. Best of luck.
stigansven