Ford 5000 - steering wheel play

[Ohio-Dave]

I have a '70 Ford 5000, basically the tractor is in good shape, but there is about 1/3 of steering wheel play. I was told that this was common on the 5000 & I probably need to re-build the steering box... Any suggestions where to start without taking the whole tractor apart? Or what to do 1st? I want to fit it.

 

[Ron-MO]

Wish I could help out....I have a similar problem with my 5000, except I have about 1/2 turn of play in it (horrible at road speeds). Mine is an older model near beginning of production with the cylinder under the radiator. That is about the only thing I dislike about the tractor - the steering setup. Someday I would like to fix, but afraid it is not going to be easy nor cheap to fix. I already tried to pull the cylinder out to rebuild, and finally gave up trying to remove it, and needed to bale hay and couldn't spend days trying to rebuild a hydraulic cylinder. I was thinking that they changed the steering by 1970.

 

[Ohio-Dave]

I have the cylinder you refered to, I assume this is0 where the steering wheel play0 is comming from, it looks like you have to remove the sheetmetal & gas tank to get to it. I"ll post how it goes.

 

[Ohio-Dave]

I was talking to a guy that claims he has 3 of these 5000 & he said that the loose steering is a common problem & then he said that all of his had the loose steering & he fixed one of his by rebuilding the cylinder & it only lasted for a year. I find that hard to believe. Have you ever talked to anyone else familiar with this tractor that has has a similiar problem?

 

[awhtx]

When I bought my '67 5000 the steering was "loose as a goose". I rebuilt the cylinder and replaced the tie rod ends. That was 3 or 4 years ago and everything still works. In a hard left turn the "power" steering runs out and reverts to "armstrong" steering. Some have posted here that it is due to worn pins or bushings in the system.
There is a sheetmetal plate in front of the radiator that you can remove and see the cylinder. I couldn't see my cylinder because that entire compartment was full of a mixture of dirt and PS fluid. I removed the hood and radiator (not the fuel tank) to gain easy access for the removal of the steering components.

 

[Ohio-Dave]

It's supposed to rain here tomorrow & I am planning to dig into this, thanks for the remarks.

 

[Ron-MO]

Dave, let us know how it comes out. I may have missed something when it was apart. I did change the large bushing under the radiator. Helped some, but not much. Been about 4 years since I was into it so memory is foggy on what I went through, but between frustration, and needed to start haying I bolted everything back and been herding it around since. I'd like to fix it this spring.

 

[Bern]

In September of 1970, Ford switched to the integral power steering box, a better and more reliable saystem in my opinion than the system it replaced, which put the cylinder and control valve under the radiator.

Having said that, other than all of the linkage associated with that system, it is actually a decent system once everything is tightened up and adjusted properly. I've worked on many of those systems, and, while some things can be hard to get apart, it really does work well once it's set up and adjusted the way it's supposed to be.

If you have the earlier system, odds are good the problem is under the radiator, and not in your box. Have someone (with the engine off) turn the steering wheel back and forth while you look for "lost motion" between the steering wheel and the tires.

 

[Ohio-Dave]

Will do, just got home & dug out my IT manual to see what I gotta do. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Ohio-Dave]

I started in on front end saturday, I took off the front grill & cover plate, removed the mouse nest & cleaned everything up a little, had my wife turn the steering wheel with the engin off & with a flashlight watched everything move back & forth & up and down, the steering arm, actuating arm, tie rods & the power cylinder itself. Guess that's why I have so much play in the steering wheel. I plan to order & replace the center tie rods, they were loose as a goose & see what that does. If there is still considerable play, I plan to remove the power cylinder assembly (need to take the radiator out to get to it) & then I guess replace everything that has wear or play in it.

 

[Ohio-Dave]

Will do, just got home & dug out my IT manual to see what I gotta do. I'll keep you posted.