Sector shaft breakage

[Ned Kelly]

I have a friend that has broken 2 sector shafts on his 6" lifted '77 F250 with 36" tires. Scarey.

I haven't seen any sector shaft breakage on the square bodies, even when I got into the square bodies back in the early 80's. Some of my friends were running 8-10-12" of lift and 40" tires. I'm sure many old timers here remember that decade....it really was a fun and magical time with those simple sky high lift kits, turbine rims, 40" tires that only came in Gumbo Mudder and Ground Hawgs, and by todays standard, archaic steering blocks (which I still have on one of my 1 tons!).
Wow, how simple my life was back then!

That said, anyone run into sector shaft breakage?

 

[diesel4me]

I haven't had a steering box "fail",but have had a few that wandered and or felt stiff ,or would let the truck dart around suddenly,felt like it was steering itself..

You have to realize these trucks are now approaching 40+ years of age,and nothing lasts forever..GM's P/S boxes were pretty overbuilt & beefy and few failed though--but time takes its toll on everything..


We got away with scary lifts and huge tires back then mostly because the parts were still "new" and tight...(and laws against jerry rigged suspensions and steering setups were not as anal as today's,and rightly so,for the most part..in general,we got away with a lot of automotive things back in the 70's...

I'm sure many square bodies were totaled due to the huge tires on 10 bolts and steering failures from lifts done improperly,and the crude engineering at the time--but we didn't hear about them all that much..
Also the fact cops raked in a lot of money handing out "excessive height" tickets was a factor why so many lifted trucks were not pulled off the road,no doubt..

I know someone who had a '77 K5 on 44" tires and a 12" lift kit with the stock 10 bolt axles years ago...it was common to see those K5's around back then....one day the rear axle tube on the right side started leaking where it is pressed and plug welded into the diff housing,it had twisted itself loose--he had it "professionaly" welded up and the welds looked perfect...

However,2 days later,the tube failed completely about 1/2" from the weld,it cracked all the way around,and the truck crashed to the ground going 60+ mph on the highway...gas tank had no skid plate,and was ground away and all the gas came out and the gas ignited,luckily the truck "outran" the spill and fire,and landed in the breakdown lane..driver was uninjured,but needed new undershorts..

When he fixed the truck,he decided to remove the lift and big tires,said it never did drive "good",and once he backed up onto the hood of a Toyota Celica with it and "barely felt anything"..the truck stopped when it hit the windshield,and he drove away,not knowing it was not a curb he had backed into,but a car!..cops chased him down and pulled him over about 3 miles away..
He tired of being harrassed by the cops for it being "too high",(even though he bought it from a cop in another town!)--he liked his fathers '78 K5 that was bone stock better for a daily driver,so he bought used stock springs from a salvage yard to put the truck back to "normal"--only left a 3" body lift on it...

 

[black dawg]

I have a friend that has broken 2 sector shafts on his 6" lifted '77 F250 with 36" tires. Scarey.

I haven't seen any sector shaft breakage on the square bodies, even when I got into the square bodies back in the early 80's. Some of my friends were running 8-10-12" of lift and 40" tires. I'm sure many old timers here remember that decade....it really was a fun and magical time with those simple sky high lift kits, turbine rims, 40" tires that only came in Gumbo Mudder and Ground Hawgs, and by todays standard, archaic steering blocks (which I still have on one of my 1 tons!).
Wow, how simple my life was back then!

That said, anyone run into sector shaft breakage?

Is that the manual box with the factory ram assist, or the normal integral p/s box. I have abused/seen abused many of those trucks. never saw a broken shaft other than from being wrecked.

 

[blazinzuk]

It's a pretty common break. Fords have a long sector shaft. I've seen several break.

 

[Ned Kelly]

Just a regular integral steering box.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

It's a pretty common break. Fords have a long sector shaft. I've seen several break.

Yep, not common but I've seen that happen ten times or so. Scary, a couple were rusty inside the crack so had been cracked for a while before breaking.

Hydro assist is your friend with big tires!

 

[scouthead]

Yeah- ive seen pictures of old ford steering boxes-tAll. Long secter shafts. Lots of flex and have been told they were always leak prone, and easier to twist and break than shorter designs.

- is the body of the box on top of the frame, with long secter shaft going down along the outside of frame, and pitman arm below?