Here are some photos of the worm gear steering box on the 23 centerdoor. It appears to be without much wear. The housing was coated with so much oil curd that there is no rust.

That's interesting. How many turns of the steering wheel does it take to go from full left to full right?

Randy,
It takes 2 1/2 turns of the steering wheel to go from full left to full right. On my 13 it takes one turn of the steering wheel to do the same.

That makes it 10:1, which is what I chose for my '37 Ford steering setup. I really like it.

How is that one anchored to the frame, to minimize frame twist? It must be by the two curved arms. How are they attached to the frame?

I anchored mine to the block, but not real happy with that.

rdr

That curved arm goes forward and is clamped under the engine pan mount bracket on the front cross member. This unit I believe is designed for the early style mount as they used a rear spring u-bolt to secure the steering. This is unbelievable to drive.

Thanks for the pix, Dennis.

Now that's something to reproduce, It might be a costly Item but I think it would make a safer drive. How has the hutspa (spelling) to try.

Bob

There are plenty of 1937-48 Ford steering gears available, thanks to takeouts from streetrods.

If you want a worm-nut steering on your Ford, buy a Model A. That will also give you distributor and waterpump :-)

model A's have crappy steering too. the 37 has a roller bearings for the sector to run on the worm. they really are good. disturbutator and flowing water is nice too

Bob
I am making progress (slowly) on making 10 ROSS steering boxes. The boxes them selves are made as well as the worms. The sectors are next. So maybe in the next year they will be done. I am "updating" them with tapered roller bearings on the sector and needle roller bearings for the sector.
I had a ROSS to copy. I did not have a SPRAGUE to copy.

OOOOOOH what I would give for a Sprague steering box!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To correct my posting, I am putting tapered roller bearings on the WORM!! I need to read my own stuff better. The Ross is 2 turns lock to lock. Interestingly the Ross worm is variable ratio. The angle is such that the arms moves slower in the middle and faster at the ends. It wasn't too hard to do on a CNC, but must have been fun in the old days.

Does anybody know what they used for bearings on the worm in the Sprague steering box? I have one that I am rebuilding and am modifying it so I can put in tapered roller bearings. The worm looks like it has a bearing race on each end that ran on balls. When I got this it was all there except the worm and steering shaft were out of the unit and no sign of any bearings.

Thanks, Ken

Ken
The original Ross had ball bearings. They ran right on a surface machined on the worm. The worm is hardened. There was no room to install a inner race. The original bearings on the Ross were contained in a metal cage. It is possible to buy individual balls from better bearing suppliers. You will want to figure out what size balls fit the race. Probably somewhere around 3/16 to 1/4" diameter but this is just a guess. You can then stick the balls in place with a thick grease while you assemble the unit. If you are determined to install tapered roller bearings then that is another issue.
I ultimately stumbled onto a OEM spec bearing that again requires the worm to be machined as the inner race and case hardened. Any ball or roller bearing MUST have the balls or rollers run on a hardened surface (probably case hardened).
I hope this helps you.

Les,
Are you doing the Ross steering box in right hand drive or left?
Lindsay.