When I back out of a driveway or sometimes even make slower turns in a parking lot, I can hear some kind of knocking/loose sound from the front end. So I jacked it up and had someone turn the wheel back and forth while I checked the suspension. You can hear something is definitely loose but none of the arms or suspension pieces seem loose to me. The noise seems like its coming from the steering box itself. Could it be low fluid or is it even possible for a loose/knocking sound to be coming from inside the box?

Manual or power?

sorry, manual

Sounds like your steering box needs adjusting. The first adjustment to make is the sector mesh preload adjustable at the input face of the box (the part that faces the firewall). You loosen the lockring (a hammer and punch works), tighten the box "lid" by carefully tapping it clockwise with your hammer and punch until it seats, then back it off very slightly and hold it in position while tightening the lockring.

THEN, you set the cross-shaft preload which is the screw on top of the box. You loosen the locknut and hold it in place while you snug the screw, then back it off about 1/8 turn and hold it in place while you tighten the locknut. Both of these adjustments need to be made with the load off the wheels, so the car should be lifted slightly off the pavement. (By rights, you're supposed to disconnect the pitman arm so there's no load on the steering box).


These adjustments are described and illustrated in the factory service manual.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

And that adjustment may not do any good. Just about every manual steering A-body I have owned over the past 35 years has some "knock" when turning the wheels from a stationary position. It's just the way they are.

Check the clearance of the exhaust pipe with the steering pitman arm...

Saggy engine mounts will lessen this clearance.

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Thanks for the tips guys. My attention has turned to the rust around my windshield at the moment but as soon as I get this done I'll be back on the suspension.

The knock is something that developed recently. Its especially noticable when backing out of a driveway and off the curb. Its a decent sounding thunk that happens when dropping off the curb and when stopping and putting it in drive quickly.

Get that gnome out of your steering gearbox! He's banging on the wall to let you know he's in there.

Dont drive it off the curb and put it in drive quickly.Off the curb?

Just want to update that I did the adjustment Dan talked about and it dimished the knock to the point where it doesn't bother me anymore and it tightened up my steering a ton. For the results I got, that was probably the easiest thing I've done to my car. Thanks!