Assembly-continued -706880897

TM 5-4210-233-14&P-1

5-39. STEERING GEAR-Continued

(7) Assembly 34 balls (52) into the ball return guides (51) and rack piston (46). Drop the balls through

the hole provided in the ball return guides. As you drop the balls, rotate the worm shaft/input shaft

(1) to pull the balls down into the grooves.

WARNING

Do not turn the worm shaft or allow the rack piston to move

after you remove the pencil. If the worm shaft or rack piston

move before ball return guides are in place, a ball may move

into the dead track beyond the ball return guides. This can

result in a steering lockup, which could cause an accident.

(8) For ball return guides which do not have the hole in top, follow this procedure. Insert the eraser

end of a pencil into one ball return guide hole of the rack piston as far as it will go. Drop 22 balls (of the

34 total) into the other ball return guide hole of the rack piston. Turn the worm shaft input shaft (1 6) to

advance the balls toward the other hole. You willfeel resistance at the pencil after you drop the 22nd

ball. At this time, a ball will be visible at the base of each hole. Remove the pencil.

(9) Coat the ball return guides (51) liberally with grease and insert the remaining 12 balls into a guide half.

Join the guide halves together and install this subassembly into the rack piston.

WARNING

Rotate the worm shaft from end of travel to end of travel, to

make certain that you have installed the balls properly. If you

cannot rotate the shaft, you will have to remove the balls and

reassemble them. If you install the gear on a truck with the shaft

unable to rotate, the gear will not function, which could cause an

accident.

(10) Install the ball return guide clip(48) so that both bolt hole faces are in full contact with the rack

piston (46) surface. Install two hexagon head bolts (50). Torque the bolts to 14-22 ft. Ibs. (1 9-30

N.m). Finish by bending up the lock tabs on the ball return guide clip against the bolt heads.

CAUTION

Be certain that the seal enters the long end last; otherwise, a

large section of the seal will be cut and the vehicle will have no

power steering assist.

(11) Position the housing (18) securely in a vise as it was for the disassembly procedures. Apply a

generous amount of clean grease to the Teflon rack piston seal (47) and to the housing cylinder

bore. Install the rack piston (46) worm shaft/input shaft (1) assembly into the long end of the

housing so that the Teflon rack piston seal goes in last.

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